NEWS |
67-00: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , May 10, 2000
The easy-to-see signs have debuted at LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal Building and in Terminal A at Newark Airport. The Port Authority is exploring ways to expand the program to other terminals.
The program is the latest in a series of major customer-service improvements at all three airports - a key part of the Port Authority's unprecedented $15 billion public-private redevelopment program that is transforming Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia. Other customer service improvements include new cleanliness standards for airport restrooms, and more than 200 red-jacketed Customer Service Representatives who provide quick, courteous service on a wide range of subjects.
"The nearly 90 million passengers who rely on our airports each year deserve the very best in customer service," said Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle. "Our new system of illuminated signs sets a standard unmatched by any other airports in the world."
The Port Authority created the system in response to comprehensive customer surveys, said Port Authority Director of Aviation William R. DeCota.
"Our customers have told us that better signs are among the most important ways that we can improve service," Mr. DeCota said. "Our customers' priorities are our priorities."
Before creating the new program, the Port Authority analyzed signs in airports that earn high marks in passenger surveys. The Port Authority then designed a system tailored to the needs of passengers at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia - with clear, concisely worded signs that give passengers a consistent guide to where they need to go.
The agency tested its new system in parts of LaGuardia's Central Terminal Building, where it received excellent ratings in surveys conducted by the prestigious firm J.D. Power and Associates.
The Port Authority's new system has three designs:
ˇ Yellow signs direct passengers to airline gates, ticketing and other flight services.
ˇ Green signs direct passengers to ground transportation services.
ˇ Black signs lead to restrooms, telephones and other passenger amenities.
"It's a very simple system, and it eliminates confusion," Mr. DeCota said. "Yellow signs lead passengers into airport terminals. Green signs lead them out of the terminals. Black signs lead to important airport services."
The Port Authority showed off the new signs today in LaGuardia's Central Terminal Building, where the agency has partnered with MarketPlace Development, Inc., to lead an $18 million development program that will ultimately create nearly 50 new shops and eateries covering 45,000 square feet of retail space.
Also today, MarketPlace announced that a new bistro, Todd English's Figs restaurant, will open in the Central Terminal Building this summer - the first Figs to open in an airport anywhere in the world. The restaurant is one of several new shops and services opening over the next few months in the Central Terminal Building.
Private operators run 15 of the 17 permanent passenger terminals at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia. Most service providers are private contractors, hired by the Port Authority or by private terminal operators. Port Authority contracts require that airport service providers maintain high standards of courtesy, cleanliness and quality.
The Port Authority's airports have been recognized for excellence in several recent surveys of passengers and aviation industry leaders.
In a recent independent poll of 1,000 New York voters, conducted by the research firms of Peter D. Hart and Robert M. Teeter, more than 50 percent of all respondents said Kennedy and LaGuardia airports are well run. Only 8 percent felt Kennedy and LaGuardia are poorly run.
Another poll, by Quinnipiac College, found that most New York City and New Jersey voters approve of the Port Authority's management of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports - and oppose city control of the airports.
JFK and Newark airports collected three first-place awards in the prestigious Airport Retail News Best Concessions 2000 competition. Terminal operators and vendors at Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia also earned seven second-place, third-place and fourth-place finishes in the competition judged by aviation experts.
Reader surveys in the British editions of Business Traveller and Condé Nast Traveller in 1998 ranked Kennedy among the best airports in North America and the world.
And Asian air cargo industry leaders ranked Kennedy and Newark among North America's best facilities in last year's 13th annual Asian Freight Industry Awards survey by Cargonews Asia magazine.