In April 2024, Steve Thody was appointed Chief Executive Officer of JFK Millennium Partners (JMP) at Terminal 6. Twenty-five years prior to his role as the new CEO at Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Thody lived in the United Kingdom and began his career there as a finance analyst for FedEx.
As fate would have it while discussing how he landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport during an interview with Metropolitan Airport News, Thody remarked, “Once you get jet fuel in your veins, its really hard to back out and go somewhere else, so I fell into my role at FedEx for a couple of years and then I decided that I wanted to go into passenger aviation.”
Following his muse, he applied for a position at British Airways and spent the next eighteen and a half years with the airline – two years in the UK and sixteen and a half years in New York, where he moved in 2003.
Thody filled various roles throughout the organization, including several senior roles in and outside of finance. His last role with British Airways was as General Manager of Terminal 7 (T7) at JFK. Thody then met the Vantage Airport Group as part of his role at T7, and later, an opportunity came up for him to join Vantage. As soon as he met George Casey, the CEO of Vantage Airport Group, and some of the other senior executives, he knew that their corporate culture was a perfect fit for him because it was all about letting people collaborate and try new things while looking at the customer journey through a different lens. “Airlines can be very much cost-focused. Working as a terminal operator with a lot of events under an airline isn’t the same as when you work for a company that is truly a terminal operator, where their core business is to deliver a world-class guest experience for everybody that arrives at the curb and leaves through the gate, or comes from the gate and leaves through the curb. You want that to be the best experience possible,” explained Thody.
When he joined the Vantage Airport Group, Thody went to LaGuardia’s Terminal B and spent a few years there. “I take absolutely no credit for LaGuardia Terminal B,” he emphasized, “that program was well underway before I got there, but it gave me an opportunity to see the executive team and how they look at the Airport and the way they look at innovation, trialing new technology, and new ways to enhance the guest experience…which is different from the way an airline looks at the Airport. It just really works for me as an individual.”
In 2022, Thody had the opportunity to jump across and help with the $4.2 billion Terminal 6 (T6) Redevelopment Project at JFK and get it to financial close that November. He immediately took on the role of Chief Operating Officer at JFK Millennium Partners (JMP) leading up to January 2024, when he became the interim CEO of T6. Thody was appointed as the permanent CEO at JFK Millennium Partners (JMP) Terminal 6 in April.
JMP is developing the new Terminal 6 in two phases. The first new gates will open in 2026, and construction will be completed in 2028. The new terminal will create an anchor for passenger travel on JFK’s north side, spanning the sites of the former Terminal 6 (torn down in 2011) and the existing Terminal 7. JMP is managing T7 until the 50-year-old facility is demolished in 2026 to make way for the second phase of construction.
When planning the transformation of JFK International Airport into a world-class gateway, Thody and the JMP team looked at the $19 billion public/private redevelopment program as a whole. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) had taken some of the learnings from the LaGuardia Airport redevelopment project by seeing how much an airport can be completely transformed in a relatively short period of time through a P3 (Public/ Private Partnership) – changing LaGuardia from being considered the worst Airport to the best Airport in the world in 2023 at Terminal B.
Steve Thody’s philosophy as a leader is to create a Northstar for his team. “It’s really good when your Northstar is to build a brand new terminal at JFK, the United States’ largest international gateway for passengers. Create a Northstar so everybody rallies behind that,” said Thody.
It is an immense project. At JFK, in addition to the T6 redevelopment program, are the expansions at JFKIAT4 and Terminal 8 and the New Terminal One (NTO) on the southern premise. Also, while T6 partner JetBlue will remain in its domicile at the adjacent Terminal 5, the airline will have new airside and landside connections to the new T6.
In discussing this connection, Thody remarked, “While all of the terminals at JFK Airport stand alone, as the redevelopment of T6 progresses, the connection with JetBlue at the adjacent Terminal 5 begins to do one thing that the Airport has struggled with in the past – the interconnectivity of transferring passengers. Having T6 as the terminal that will handle airlines largely from an international perspective, and that would likely have some connecting traffic with JetBlue, we will be able to seamlessly connect people, as the AirTrain does.
So now, if you are arriving on JetBlue as a domestic passenger and transferring to an international flight, you can literally walk down the corridor onto your international flight without exiting the Air Train or going back into TSA. All of that takes a lot of time, and one of the things Vantage looks at is how we de-stress the passenger journey and what T6 will do that is different from other terminals to provide a better connecting platform for passengers.
It’s a lot bigger an area than Terminal 7, more than twice the square footage, and that is a testament to the way aviation has grown – it being seat density, larger aircraft, flying long ranges, quick turnarounds of aircraft, all of those arriving to the passenger demand. It is also the biochemistry of the traveling public – having natural light coming through the windows and being able to connect with the daytime and nighttime that actually has physical effects on the human body. So, T6 is moving away from a concrete T7 to this big, airy structure with lots of windows and natural light, including two large oculus’ in the roof, allowing the natural light to come down into the main areas. That is going to be a big change,” said Thody.
Challenges & Milestones
Progression on the construction of T6 has been tremendous since its groundbreaking in February 2023. Progress on a project of this magnitude while operating an airport presents its share of challenges, as well as its share of milestones.
Thody said, “We have a lot of concrete that is poured across the different levels, which allows us to get to a place where we can walk around the building without it being a dangerous construction site because before they are laid down, you have lots of different things to go around. For me, probably the most exciting thing that has changed in weeks is the glass exterior wall. When you start seeing the glass go in, and it’s going in at a very quick rate, it really makes the building come to life and you can start to see everything. The concrete floors with the windows start to signal that we are not far away from being able to tour the inside of the building, which is always exciting because it’s constantly changing!”
In connecting with P3 Partner JetBlue at Terminal 5, there is work to be done in moving Gate 30 to its new position. This was a key challenge to work through and get out of the way in order to allow the finish of construction.
While construction at T6 is quite visible to anyone within the airport’s perimeter, the baggage handling system in the building is less visible to the public, with much of its installation now done ahead of schedule.
Another interesting and very visible challenge in the entire $19 billion P3 redevelopment at JFK Airport is that there are three different major parties that are impacting the road system. As roadways and infrastructure start to go in around the new T6, the new building will get a brand new roadway infrastructure across three different levels that will allow a good flow of traffic. Coordination between the NTO, Terminal 6, and the Port Authority’s road system is a top priority. Thody emphasized, “We are all changing roads, and we have to make sure that we carefully coordinate between us to ensure that the public traveling today, and the staff who are coming in and out of the airport know where they are going and that it will make sense.”
Additionally, T6 will be the only terminal at JFK Airport with access to two AirTrain stations, one adjacent to Terminal 5, located on the eastern side of the T6 check-in hall, and the second, set to open in the western T6 check-in area (where the current T7 station is).
As construction on the new Terminal 6 grows, gate capacity at the adjacent T7 will be reduced, putting some pressure on T7 operations. “We have that very well planned in terms of how we will accommodate all the carriers and passengers in the building. Obviously, fewer gates create more challenges in the operation,” said Thody.
A Triumphant Terminal 7
With the financial closing of the T6 project in November 2022 and JFK Millennium Partners taking over the Terminal 7 operations in December when British Airways left the terminal, Thody said, “We were fortunate to stand up a really, really good team and spent a lot of time ensuring that we selected the right people who bring in the same culture from the Vantage standpoint – collaboration and team effort. For me, as a leader, it is really about letting people release. Everybody knows how to do their job. It’s about me ensuring and providing some guard rails to keep people going in the right direction. We’ve learned over the last year that if you show people where you are heading and you let them go there, they will.”
Laying the target out as a team when JMP took over T7 showed a significant improvement over the way the old terminal was before, resulting in it being the most improved terminal across the Port Authority network in 2023, winning several awards. “We created a bit of a buzz around how we work with our airline customers and how we are transforming and changing the building.” said Thody, “Even British Airways staff who had worked in the building for 20 years came back to see the building, and they were like, ‘This doesn’t even feel like the same building.’ It was a testament to the entire team at the airport and the terminal that they put effort into every aspect of the journey,” exclaimed Thody.
T7 is setting the bar high by taking on additional flights and airlines while seamlessly managing operations. The most recent new airlines joining T7 are Frontier, which began its first service out of JFK this month, and HiSky, which offers flights to and from Bucharest, Romania.
Sustainability Highlights
Sustainability has been built into the design of Terminal 6, with more than 6,000 rooftop solar panels being installed. A gray water capture system will also help with this initiative. Large, floor-to-ceiling windows and two giant oculus skylights will provide ample natural light and warmth during the winter. In addition, all T6 ramp vehicles and ground handling equipment will be electric, according to Thody – with the RFP for that work coming out shortly.
Rishali Chaplot, Manager, Environment & Sustainability, is part of the team working on in-terminal sustainability and certifications and how JMP will partner with their concessioners, as much of the waste generated in the building comes through vendors that provide food and beverage options to the traveling public. To address this critical issue, JMP will focus on reducing the quantity of non-recyclable materials and aim to organize the recyclables to simplify the process for their partner, Royal Waste, to sort and recycle them effectively and maximize the amount of materials that can be reused.
Upon completing the first phase of construction on the new Terminal 6 in 2026, the adjacent T7 will close and subsequently come down. It will be an overnight change, whereas the carriers there will transfer to the brand-new T6. Once that is done, the decommissioning of T7 will begin by emptying the building and tearing down some internal structures. At that point, the old T7 will be pulled down, and all its debris will be carted away and recycled. With this being another point of sustainability comes the realization of recycling old concrete by taking it, crushing it, cleaning it, and reusing some of it.
Design & Technology Goals
‘’We aim to be another 5-star Startrax-rated terminal. If we fall anything short of that as a team, we will feel we missed the mark. So we’re fully focused on and dedicated to that,” asserted Thody.
There is a big push on technology, an opportunity to provide guests with options and account for the different traveling personas, hence, a business traveler versus the family traveler versus the group of people traveling together. “I use myself as an example,” said Thody. “If I travel on my own on business, I travel very differently than when I travel with my wife and two kids. So, I have two very different traveler personas depending on the type of trip. So, how do we account for those throughout the journey; how do we use technology to enable those different travel personas to interact with the terminal in the way they want to? Is that complete self-service, is it biometrics, or somebody who wants to talk to somebody at every step of the journey, or to be reinforced because they are a nervous traveler? How do we think about the ADA travel journey? Ensuring that everything we introduce has an ADA aspect to ensure that we are accounting for another traveler type.” Whether from technology to design, from the restrooms to the air circulation in the building, everything is designed to account for all these different travelers.
On Track Diversity Initiatives
The T6 redevelopment program is on track to achieve or exceed MWBE (Minority/ Women-owned Business Enterprise) goals. There is a big focus on local businesses and MWBEs with elected officials. ‘’There have been many engaging conversations around ensuring that when we allow local businesses to come and be part of this journey, that we are doing it in a responsible way,’’ emphasized Thody
The next phase of the concessions implementation is specifically focused on the local community and will be launched this summer (2024) in three parts.
The first is the food hall area, which is all local businesses, ACDBEs (Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprises); the second part is larger restaurants, Duty-Free, news & convenience shops. All those require at least 35% ACDBE participation to ensure they are part of the program; the third part being launched is the Institute of Concessions, which is a program run by the Port Authority that is designed to equip local and diverse businesses with the skills and competencies to compete for and successfully operate at the world-class JFK International Airport. “There is a whole training syllabus. We are dedicating five spaces to this; three are actual spaces, and two are kiosks in the building that JFK Millennium Partners is funding. We are providing the capital that allows these businesses to come into the airport at a lower risk, where they just bring their merchandise, point of sale, and branding signage. They get the opportunity to experience working in the airport without needing to re-mortgage their house.”
Arts & NY Culture
In the surrounding areas of the T6 building, JMP has commissioned about 20 art pieces thus far in partnership with The Public Art Fund, which will help curate some world-class designs and art that will placed throughout the journey in various mediums to allow customers to decompress and look at what’s going on around them. Even if just passing by, it will be different than being in a regular terminal. While the selection process is not finished yet, several artists have been selected, and JMP is working with them on the process of how to refine and ensure that the artworks fit in suitable spaces and have the proper lighting for that experience so that the pieces will supplement the airport journey and overall vibe.
On the airside, post-security, there will be something like the water feature at LaGuardia, something different that keeps people entertained or makes them feel relaxed or engaged. “Our view is that a lot of people think about their journey where their vacation starts when they get on the plane. We like to think about their journey starting when they are in the airport and how we make that experience just as pleasant as the rest of their vacation, or where they are going,” stated Thody, adding, “Rick Cotton, PANYNJ Executive Director, has a very strong view that people should know that they’re in a New York airport.
So, while not everything is to be part of New York, you need to have enough elements so people know that if you take a picture in the terminal and post it online, people will say, ‘That’s JFK’s Terminal 6 !” With all the incredible progress and milestones achieved in little over one year since the groundbreaking of the new Terminal 6 at JFK, its Northstar draws closer each day, alongside the promise of an outstanding and impressive world-class global gateway – one that New York truly deserves.
