Amidst much fanfare on a hazy day last month, JFK Airport has offi cially launched the work project to expand and improve runway 13R-31L. The Port Authority said that they expect the fourmonth, $376 million project to dramatically reduce delays once it’s fi nished. Port Authority Director Chris Ward likened the project to having “open heart surgery” on the airport, according to the New York Daily News. As part of the effort, Ward says the runway must close for 120 days next year. The Port Authority’s Ward says: “We’re hopeful with the work that we’ve done with the [FAA] that this will be essentially invisible to the fl ying public. That with the reroute and the condensed time that the work is taking place, we’re hopeful that the flying public really won’t see any significant impact at all.” Newsday says the work will include “upgrades designed to reduce fl ight delays, including holding pads and high-speed runway exits.” That, offi cials estimate, will reduce delays by about 10,500 hours a year. New York Gov. David Paterson was on hand at JFK and said that the project “will change this airport for all time.” As for Jet- Blue, CEO Barger says in a statement that “improvements to runways and taxiways

at JFK are essential to reducing flight delays and increasing the airport’s capacity and effi ciency.” Barger adds that once finished, the improvements “will ultimately benefi t all customers traveling through the gateway airport.” Tutor Perini Corporation a civil and building construction company, (formerly known as Perini Corporation) was awarded the contract and work will begin immediately.

They’re at it again! Those magnifi cent know-nothings in the US Congress, aided and abetted by an unhappy ex-airline “stewardess” are attempting to sneak the Passenger Bill of Rights into the FAA Authorization Bill. The festering issue of whether to enact a Passenger Bill of Rights is on its most aggressive track, both publicly and in Congress. Three weeks ago, the Senate Commerce Committee approved its version of the FAA Reauthorization Bill. Tucked inside was the Boxer-Stowe amendment, which resurrects the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

nearly two years after it first reared its ugly head on Capitol Hill. Among other things, the Boxer-Stowe version requires airlines to let passengers off of an aircraft that is delayed on the tarmac for three hours or more. I ask, is this really a cause for Congress? Is this “issue” worthy of all the angst we see in articles like in the USA Today, which is to my eye drafted to drum up controversy replete with anecdotes and devoid of the relationship to the sheer number of fl ights consumers enjoy. It is anecdotal and emotion driven by a populist appeal that seems to be driving this

Shell opened its second hydrogen fi lling station in the greater New York City area, providing improved access to hydrogen for drivers of fuel cell Chevrolet

Equinoxes participating in Project Driveway. The station was opened and a celebratory event was conducted at Building 141 at the airport. The station opening is a partnership between Shell, General Motors Co., the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the US Department of Energy. “These partnerships are critical to building the infrastructure that will make hydrogen a relevant alternative fuel in the future as well as a key to the ongoing success of Project Driveway,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president of R&D and Strategic Planning. The planned cluster of stations that will provide New York drivers of hydrogen fuelcell vehicles with greater fl

The Port Authority’s EMS unit was presented with a pediatric trauma kit by the LaGuardia Kiwanis club. The Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Kit is a child-sized

ambulance equipment kit which was compiled to meet most onscene emergency needs of children. The kits are donated to fi re departments and ambulance services under the auspices of the local Kiwanis clubs in each community. North Shore University Hospital and the New York District of Kiwanis international created the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center at the hospital in 1991, merging the Kiwanis commitment to serve children and local communities with North Shore’s commitment to medical excellence, outreach, and education. Kiwanis is a global organization made up of volunteers dedicated to making a difference in the world – one child and one community at a time. The LaGuardia Kiwanis Club meets every Thursday at 1 PM at the LaGuardia Marriott Hotel. For more information call 516-967-2375.

Two international carriers – Air Europa and XL Airways France – are joining the roster of more than 35 international and domestic airlines at John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 4, it was announced today by JFK IAT LLC, the private venture that operates the terminal. Terminal 4 is one of the city’s busiest terminals serving over nine million passengers annually.