June 5, 2025 • 17 mins
Jennifer Aument, CEO of the New Terminal One at JFK | CEO's You Should Know
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of CEOs. You should know.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I am Eric Lemieux, and I am here today with
Jennifer Aument, CEO of the new Terminal one at JFK,
and I got to tell you, unless you've been completely unplugged,
unglued with the headlines, uh, the buzz around the terminal
has been next to impossible to miss. So thank you
so much for joining us today. I'm really excited to
dive in and really get to know.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You a little bit.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, it's great to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Awesome, awesome. So you know, Phase is slated to open
in twenty twenty six. When completed, I guess completely done
twenty thirty correct, and it'll stand as the largest single
assset project financing in US history, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
You've been doing this for a while.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You've been leading these infrastructure projects across highways, rails, airports,
always with a strong focus on private partnerships, and we're
thrilled to have you with us today. Tell us a
little bit about your background, you know what drew you
to this role, what excites you most about lee A
project of this magnitude, it's got to be insane every
day going there.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
So I have to tell you, I grew up my
parents' republic school teachers, and so I sort of grew
up with a service to community mindset. And service to
community can look like a lot of different things, and
for me in my career, it is how do you
work in partnership with government to deliver large transformational projects
that are going to change the way people travel, the
(01:25):
way they work, the way they live. It's going to
create jobs and economic opportunity. And I am addicted to
that the scale of that impact with large, complex infrastructure projects.
And I'm also addicted to the complexity of it when
you're dealing with safety and operations and big macro economic
forces and construction and finance and marketing and retail all
(01:48):
at once and trying to bring all those pieces together
to deliver something that is again transformational. I mean wildhorses
would take me away from this industry.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean talk about an ambition here, like
this is such an ambitious project, the size, the tech integrations.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
How are you keeping it all on track?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
So the most important thing, and I think about it,
I have the pleasure of being a little bit like
a conductor in an orchestra, and when you're building an orchestra.
Just like when you're building a you know, one among
the largest infrastructure projects in the world, you start with
the talent that you have in the seats, right, and
so for the new terminal one, we've been very strategic
(02:27):
in how we put partnerships together to be able to
position us well to deliver what is a very ambitious agenda.
You've got the New York New Jersey Port Authority, there's
a very sophisticated agency with a long track record of
these kinds of projects. And I'll tell you what they've
put on the on what they've put together for in
their ambition for JFK and LaGuardia is really unmatched with
(02:49):
anything I've seen in the world in terms of the
scale of a redevelopment happening all at one time. And
of course, if you moved to the orchestra, we've got
a competishman. You know, I can't new York based contractor
that has built some of the most iconic skyscrapers in
the city and have deep roots in New York City.
And so that's that's, you know, obviously a critical part
(03:10):
of the orchestra. I've got the investors that are behind
our company that you have U LOOKO that invest pension
funds for labor. You've got JLC whose mission is to
deploy minority capital. You've got Carlisle that has done a
deal or two in their time in Frovia, one of
the most accomplished successful contractors in the world, and infrastructure
(03:31):
companies in the world. So we've been very strategic in
how do you put the right players in place. So
you bring in global airport experience, you bring in deep
roots in New York, you bring in technical expertise, and
once you get that done. I don't want to under
understate the complexity of delivery and moving into operations, but
(03:51):
once you had that right experience in the orchestra, then
my job becomes easy. And it's making sure how do
we bring that together into a powerful worse that is
going to deliver this project on time and it's going
to deliver a business it's going to serve New York
for many decades to come.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I love that you're a conductor right here. You're running
this whole show with all these different players. Though, is
keeping it on a timeline That's got to be very difficult.
What is a June twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Yeah, ju June twenty twenty six. It's right in the
middle of the World Cup.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We're working with the port authority now.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
To figure out how to make that a smooth transition
next summer. But it's coming soon, and I think really
it's about again that that integration because we've just been
through this period of time. We've worked you know, about
five or five more than five million work hours so
far since the start of the program. We've got about
(04:42):
four million work hours left to go in the next year.
It is a huge task in front of us. And
the trick to this stage while really sexy stuff is
our you know, the steal and we have as much
steel as five Eiffel Towers, right then the steal and
the glass and that is the sexy stuff. Now we're
moving inside the building where it's all about the volume
(05:03):
of players and people. So all of our one for
retail establishments are flagship airlayer line lounges for airlines like
Air France and Korean Air, and so all of that's happening.
So you're looking at twenty two hundred, twenty three hundred,
even twenty five hundred people all in the building working
on top of each other to deliver our customer vision
(05:25):
now steals in place and contitiamental hate that I say this,
but that's the easy part. Now, it's that customer vision
in the technology and the testing to be able to
then be prepared to open next summer. So the key
to the success and to be able to keeping that
timeline is how do you integrate.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I always tell my.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Team when you have eighty different contractors working towards loading
doc right, and how does everyone compete to do logistically
what you need to do to get this done. That's
what's in front of us over the next year, and
that's a tightly integrated plan to be able to get
to the finish line.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I love what you said.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Five full towers worth of steel.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
All in it. It's not a small project.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And I also read to the security areas the size
of a football field.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Well, I say that goes to our key, a key
to the mission that we're developed delivering here. JFK is
the second largest entryway into the United States of America
and we are really proud to be really the cornerstone
of this redevelopment. And we'll have more than half of
the wide body gates that serve international travelers into the
second largest gateway into the United States, including the whole
(06:30):
Northern and Southern border. Our special sauce, or really what
drives our program is a program that's designed specifically for
international customers. And I tell you, I've spent my whole
career flying long, long haul flights overseas, and there's nothing
worse than getting off a fourteen hour flight. You're exhausted.
You come into an airport, you have no idea where
(06:52):
you are. You climb into the basement and you see
a bunch of angry people there. You're not sure where
to go, and this is where you're welcomed into your destination.
We're going to turn that on its head. So you've
got a gorgeous facility with flooded with light where customers
from all over the world will come in to this
huge area where we've designed specifically to keep customers quickly
(07:14):
moving through Customs and Border Protection. We have such an
amazing partnership with the federal government and Customs and Border
Protection where they're actually like all individuals that serve our
terminal go through the same customer service training, have that
same vision for customer service as everyone that touches the terminal,
and we've got this amazing artwork that gives you that
(07:35):
sense of place and welcome to New York.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And that's is how.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
We're going to greet our customers, including greeting them with
our digital strategy in their native language. And so this
is a fundamental shift in how we think about airport
infrastructure in the US, the level of customer experience. And
we're so proud because we're designing for the international customer
and we've put this time and effort into things that
(07:59):
are neat to that journey. We're really going to change,
you know, how we welcome international travelers into the US.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You're making a destination absolutely well.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
We're actually worried a little bit about TikTok and Instagram
and the sense of place. And of course, you know,
we're so lucky because we've got New York in our
backyard right one of the greatest cities on the planet,
but the sense of place, we're a little bit worried
from a security perspective. When you're in TSA and CPB,
you know, they're not happy with people taking pictures and
all that stuff. So we're going to channel people into
(08:30):
the right places for their TikTok and their Instagram because
it will be an extraordinary moment to remember on the
journey will be that experience in.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
The airport, and not just visually.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
You also get that flavor of queens, the diverse food
or offerings, and then of course that world class luxury
retail experience that you expect in what will be among
the best airports.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
In the world.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
So being such a big part of this project, what
is that one thing that would excite you the most?
Like what can't you wait to see be complete?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Like what's what are you really excited about more than everything?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
So this will surprise you. There's so much to be
excited about in the food and the like. Once seeing
our airline partners come to vision, seeing that vision come
to life is exciting for me because so many of
our airline partners are seeing this as a flagship opportunity
and they're seeing a whole journey that their customers make
(09:25):
and they want the level of service that they provide
in the air to match the level of service on
the ground and the luxury in a terminal like ours.
So seeing that come together is very exciting. But to
be honest, from a personal perspective. We have such an
amazing art program that celebrates New York. We've got world
class artists that we're going to announce this summer and
(09:47):
local artists and we've put them together and it is
spectacular and it celebrates every aspect of New York. And
if I have to be honest, I'm really looking forward
to it. There's one signature piece. It's going to reflect
light all over this gorgeous space. And I have a
little mock up in my office and every day I
get excited toward what is this going to open up
(10:09):
in this grand sort of iconic art space. So the
museum aspect of our terminal excites me a lot.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
That's great. Oh that sounds amazing. I can't wait to
get there. So June twenty twenty six, be ready, Be ready.
So I got to tell you this is like a
career defining project for you. You know, when you think about
the terminal, say like five ten years from now, what
do you hope people will say or feel as they
walk through it. I mean, I feel like in five
ten years it's still going to be jaw dropping for people.
(10:37):
They're not going to people haven't been to an airport
like this.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, well, there is no airport like this in the
United States, right, So we are redefining airport infrastructure in
the US with our partners at the New York New
Jersey Port Authority. So again, we want them to have
an extraordinary moment to remember coming into the terminal, with
the food, with the shopping, with the ambiance, with the
sistance for customers that require passengers that require assistance. We
(11:04):
have a lot of travelers who are leaving travel because
of the challenges of maneuvering through large airport terminals. And
so from our terminal, you'll have biometrics from curb to gate,
you'll have a concierge that will help you through the process.
You'll have a special lounge for passengers requiring assistance that
enables them not just to meet their special travel needs.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
But they can participate in the terminal as well.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
They can order food, they can do shopping. So it's
a really exciting opportunity for all of our customers, and
having that extraordinary moment to remember is really important. But
I'll tell you, if you fast fast forward to five
years from now, what our team really the goal that
we have beyond that customer experience in a bigger goal
(11:50):
is how do we create this domestic proof point about
how public private partnerships can be a powerful tool in
enabling governments to upgrade to their aviation infrastructure. And that
looks like a number of things. Is bringing private capital,
which is a fully funded private project that we're working
on here, but it's also sustainability. More than fifty percent
(12:12):
of our powers coming from our solar installations on our roof,
which is the largest in the New York area. It
is the level of customer service of which we think
will be among the top airports in the world. It's
the innovation and technology that's going to make it much
more efficient for our airline partners to fly and much
more convenient and accessible for our customers. So all of
this together, we really believe it will open up other
(12:37):
opportunities to use this model and be that great domestic
proof point in the United States of how this can
be a really good tool to continue to upgrade aviation infrastructure.
And we see that opportunity. We also have the weight
of that on our shoulders on a big stage that
is New York that it's critical that we make this
a success, that we meet the government's economic and transportation
(13:01):
outcomes that we meet our customer expectations and obviously our
investors' expectations as well.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
To pull all that together to create something that is.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
One of a kind, but that will be a starting
point for a new approach in the US.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Let's go back to you being this, you know, leading
this orchestra, leading a sympathy symphony.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
I love what you said there. You know you've done
this before.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
You've led large teams before, you've collaborated across public and
private sectors. What's like one leadership principle you've relied on
most throughout your career.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
I think I think when you're dealing with a diverse
set of stakeholders on really complex issues, and stakeholders that
come from a dramatically different perspective.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
If you're sitting in.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Government and I've had government roles where you're sitting in
the dais with a lot of hundreds of angry people
in the audience, and the private sector, when you have
that pressure of trying to you know, balance service and
return expectations and you have players in projects like these
that are coming from much different perspectives, you can align
those objectives and when you do, it can be a
(14:04):
really spectacular outcome. But to be able to get that alignment,
you have to take a step back, and you have
to be curious and understand where your counterparties are coming from,
and you have to understand what success looks like for them,
and you have to understand the pressures that they have,
which are different in government and different in the private sector.
But if you stop and understand that and really get
(14:27):
curious and learn where the counter party is coming from
and what they need to be successful, that will then
help you move the project forward when you're sitting across
the table to find that alignment that is necessary to
make these big programs successful. So I'd say stay curious yea,
and ask questions and really really try to understand where
(14:51):
your counter party is coming from.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, that translates well with my every day as well. Yeah,
of course, you know, going back giving you your younger
self one piece of advice, what do you think that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Would make stay young?
Speaker 4 (15:05):
I think the the it was only so easy to
no exactly exactly, to be honest, as we all work
on trying to create a healthy lifestyle that keeps our
bodies and brain strong, and able to be able to
take on complex, big programs like this. I think making
sure that you take time to take care of yourself
(15:28):
is certainly what I would tell my younger self. I
learned that later in my life and am a cancer
survivor and was taught that lesson about how you have
to put your your health first, and so I think
making sure that you have the energy. These projects are complex,
they are they take resilience, they take usually many years
(15:49):
to develop and deliver, and so you've got to make
sure as an executive, as for all of our colleagues,
that you take time to make sure you're fueling your body,
and you're taking time to clear your head, and you're
taking time so that you're strong enough to take on
that mission. And transportation infrastructure requires a lot of resilience
and persistence and that component is really important. So as
(16:12):
we look to this next year toward delivery, one of
the big focus areas is how do we keep our
team moving and how do we make sure that they've
got healthy food, and how do we make sure that
they can take a break and that we're getting each
other's back to be able to be able to get
what we physically have to get done with our bodies
and brains of the course of the next year.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Great advice, great advice. All right, wonderful. Well listen, it
was so great having you here.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Phase A again opens June twenty twenty six, and the
full terminal is supposed to be ready by twenty thirty.
So and I imagine beyond twenty thirty your vision stretches
beyond that of ways to keep up and different things
to do. And I'm sure there's going to be new
additions and different things and new innovations in tech that's
going to be surfacing throughout. But thank you, thank you
(17:00):
so much for joining us today. I really really excited
to have you. I've learned a lot and uh we're
excited to to you know, follow along and watch how
this this thing grows.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Great, Get ready to book your tickets.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh, I'm ready, I'm ready.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Thank you so much,
Welcome to another episode of CEOs. You should know.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I am Eric Lemieux, and I am here today with
Jennifer Aument, CEO of the new Terminal one at JFK,
and I got to tell you, unless you've been completely unplugged,
unglued with the headlines, uh, the buzz around the terminal
has been next to impossible to miss. So thank you
so much for joining us today. I'm really excited to
dive in and really get to know.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You a little bit.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, it's great to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Awesome, awesome. So you know, Phase is slated to open
in twenty twenty six. When completed, I guess completely done
twenty thirty correct, and it'll stand as the largest single
assset project financing in US history, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
You've been doing this for a while.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You've been leading these infrastructure projects across highways, rails, airports,
always with a strong focus on private partnerships, and we're
thrilled to have you with us today. Tell us a
little bit about your background, you know what drew you
to this role, what excites you most about lee A
project of this magnitude, it's got to be insane every
day going there.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
So I have to tell you, I grew up my
parents' republic school teachers, and so I sort of grew
up with a service to community mindset. And service to
community can look like a lot of different things, and
for me in my career, it is how do you
work in partnership with government to deliver large transformational projects
that are going to change the way people travel, the
(01:25):
way they work, the way they live. It's going to
create jobs and economic opportunity. And I am addicted to
that the scale of that impact with large, complex infrastructure projects.
And I'm also addicted to the complexity of it when
you're dealing with safety and operations and big macro economic
forces and construction and finance and marketing and retail all
(01:48):
at once and trying to bring all those pieces together
to deliver something that is again transformational. I mean wildhorses
would take me away from this industry.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean talk about an ambition here, like
this is such an ambitious project, the size, the tech integrations.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
How are you keeping it all on track?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
So the most important thing, and I think about it,
I have the pleasure of being a little bit like
a conductor in an orchestra, and when you're building an orchestra.
Just like when you're building a you know, one among
the largest infrastructure projects in the world, you start with
the talent that you have in the seats, right, and
so for the new terminal one, we've been very strategic
(02:27):
in how we put partnerships together to be able to
position us well to deliver what is a very ambitious agenda.
You've got the New York New Jersey Port Authority, there's
a very sophisticated agency with a long track record of
these kinds of projects. And I'll tell you what they've
put on the on what they've put together for in
their ambition for JFK and LaGuardia is really unmatched with
(02:49):
anything I've seen in the world in terms of the
scale of a redevelopment happening all at one time. And
of course, if you moved to the orchestra, we've got
a competishman. You know, I can't new York based contractor
that has built some of the most iconic skyscrapers in
the city and have deep roots in New York City.
And so that's that's, you know, obviously a critical part
(03:10):
of the orchestra. I've got the investors that are behind
our company that you have U LOOKO that invest pension
funds for labor. You've got JLC whose mission is to
deploy minority capital. You've got Carlisle that has done a
deal or two in their time in Frovia, one of
the most accomplished successful contractors in the world, and infrastructure
(03:31):
companies in the world. So we've been very strategic in
how do you put the right players in place. So
you bring in global airport experience, you bring in deep
roots in New York, you bring in technical expertise, and
once you get that done. I don't want to under
understate the complexity of delivery and moving into operations, but
(03:51):
once you had that right experience in the orchestra, then
my job becomes easy. And it's making sure how do
we bring that together into a powerful worse that is
going to deliver this project on time and it's going
to deliver a business it's going to serve New York
for many decades to come.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I love that you're a conductor right here. You're running
this whole show with all these different players. Though, is
keeping it on a timeline That's got to be very difficult.
What is a June twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Yeah, ju June twenty twenty six. It's right in the
middle of the World Cup.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We're working with the port authority now.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
To figure out how to make that a smooth transition
next summer. But it's coming soon, and I think really
it's about again that that integration because we've just been
through this period of time. We've worked you know, about
five or five more than five million work hours so
far since the start of the program. We've got about
(04:42):
four million work hours left to go in the next year.
It is a huge task in front of us. And
the trick to this stage while really sexy stuff is
our you know, the steal and we have as much
steel as five Eiffel Towers, right then the steal and
the glass and that is the sexy stuff. Now we're
moving inside the building where it's all about the volume
(05:03):
of players and people. So all of our one for
retail establishments are flagship airlayer line lounges for airlines like
Air France and Korean Air, and so all of that's happening.
So you're looking at twenty two hundred, twenty three hundred,
even twenty five hundred people all in the building working
on top of each other to deliver our customer vision
(05:25):
now steals in place and contitiamental hate that I say this,
but that's the easy part. Now, it's that customer vision
in the technology and the testing to be able to
then be prepared to open next summer. So the key
to the success and to be able to keeping that
timeline is how do you integrate.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I always tell my.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Team when you have eighty different contractors working towards loading
doc right, and how does everyone compete to do logistically
what you need to do to get this done. That's
what's in front of us over the next year, and
that's a tightly integrated plan to be able to get
to the finish line.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I love what you said.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Five full towers worth of steel.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
All in it. It's not a small project.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
And I also read to the security areas the size
of a football field.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Well, I say that goes to our key, a key
to the mission that we're developed delivering here. JFK is
the second largest entryway into the United States of America
and we are really proud to be really the cornerstone
of this redevelopment. And we'll have more than half of
the wide body gates that serve international travelers into the
second largest gateway into the United States, including the whole
(06:30):
Northern and Southern border. Our special sauce, or really what
drives our program is a program that's designed specifically for
international customers. And I tell you, I've spent my whole
career flying long, long haul flights overseas, and there's nothing
worse than getting off a fourteen hour flight. You're exhausted.
You come into an airport, you have no idea where
(06:52):
you are. You climb into the basement and you see
a bunch of angry people there. You're not sure where
to go, and this is where you're welcomed into your destination.
We're going to turn that on its head. So you've
got a gorgeous facility with flooded with light where customers
from all over the world will come in to this
huge area where we've designed specifically to keep customers quickly
(07:14):
moving through Customs and Border Protection. We have such an
amazing partnership with the federal government and Customs and Border
Protection where they're actually like all individuals that serve our
terminal go through the same customer service training, have that
same vision for customer service as everyone that touches the terminal,
and we've got this amazing artwork that gives you that
(07:35):
sense of place and welcome to New York.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And that's is how.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
We're going to greet our customers, including greeting them with
our digital strategy in their native language. And so this
is a fundamental shift in how we think about airport
infrastructure in the US, the level of customer experience. And
we're so proud because we're designing for the international customer
and we've put this time and effort into things that
(07:59):
are neat to that journey. We're really going to change,
you know, how we welcome international travelers into the US.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You're making a destination absolutely well.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
We're actually worried a little bit about TikTok and Instagram
and the sense of place. And of course, you know,
we're so lucky because we've got New York in our
backyard right one of the greatest cities on the planet,
but the sense of place, we're a little bit worried
from a security perspective. When you're in TSA and CPB,
you know, they're not happy with people taking pictures and
all that stuff. So we're going to channel people into
(08:30):
the right places for their TikTok and their Instagram because
it will be an extraordinary moment to remember on the
journey will be that experience in.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
The airport, and not just visually.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
You also get that flavor of queens, the diverse food
or offerings, and then of course that world class luxury
retail experience that you expect in what will be among
the best airports.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
In the world.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
So being such a big part of this project, what
is that one thing that would excite you the most?
Like what can't you wait to see be complete?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Like what's what are you really excited about more than everything?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
So this will surprise you. There's so much to be
excited about in the food and the like. Once seeing
our airline partners come to vision, seeing that vision come
to life is exciting for me because so many of
our airline partners are seeing this as a flagship opportunity
and they're seeing a whole journey that their customers make
(09:25):
and they want the level of service that they provide
in the air to match the level of service on
the ground and the luxury in a terminal like ours.
So seeing that come together is very exciting. But to
be honest, from a personal perspective. We have such an
amazing art program that celebrates New York. We've got world
class artists that we're going to announce this summer and
(09:47):
local artists and we've put them together and it is
spectacular and it celebrates every aspect of New York. And
if I have to be honest, I'm really looking forward
to it. There's one signature piece. It's going to reflect
light all over this gorgeous space. And I have a
little mock up in my office and every day I
get excited toward what is this going to open up
(10:09):
in this grand sort of iconic art space. So the
museum aspect of our terminal excites me a lot.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
That's great. Oh that sounds amazing. I can't wait to
get there. So June twenty twenty six, be ready, Be ready.
So I got to tell you this is like a
career defining project for you. You know, when you think about
the terminal, say like five ten years from now, what
do you hope people will say or feel as they
walk through it. I mean, I feel like in five
ten years it's still going to be jaw dropping for people.
(10:37):
They're not going to people haven't been to an airport
like this.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, well, there is no airport like this in the
United States, right, So we are redefining airport infrastructure in
the US with our partners at the New York New
Jersey Port Authority. So again, we want them to have
an extraordinary moment to remember coming into the terminal, with
the food, with the shopping, with the ambiance, with the
sistance for customers that require passengers that require assistance. We
(11:04):
have a lot of travelers who are leaving travel because
of the challenges of maneuvering through large airport terminals. And
so from our terminal, you'll have biometrics from curb to gate,
you'll have a concierge that will help you through the process.
You'll have a special lounge for passengers requiring assistance that
enables them not just to meet their special travel needs.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
But they can participate in the terminal as well.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
They can order food, they can do shopping. So it's
a really exciting opportunity for all of our customers, and
having that extraordinary moment to remember is really important. But
I'll tell you, if you fast fast forward to five
years from now, what our team really the goal that
we have beyond that customer experience in a bigger goal
(11:50):
is how do we create this domestic proof point about
how public private partnerships can be a powerful tool in
enabling governments to upgrade to their aviation infrastructure. And that
looks like a number of things. Is bringing private capital,
which is a fully funded private project that we're working
on here, but it's also sustainability. More than fifty percent
(12:12):
of our powers coming from our solar installations on our roof,
which is the largest in the New York area. It
is the level of customer service of which we think
will be among the top airports in the world. It's
the innovation and technology that's going to make it much
more efficient for our airline partners to fly and much
more convenient and accessible for our customers. So all of
this together, we really believe it will open up other
(12:37):
opportunities to use this model and be that great domestic
proof point in the United States of how this can
be a really good tool to continue to upgrade aviation infrastructure.
And we see that opportunity. We also have the weight
of that on our shoulders on a big stage that
is New York that it's critical that we make this
a success, that we meet the government's economic and transportation
(13:01):
outcomes that we meet our customer expectations and obviously our
investors' expectations as well.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
To pull all that together to create something that is.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
One of a kind, but that will be a starting
point for a new approach in the US.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Let's go back to you being this, you know, leading
this orchestra, leading a sympathy symphony.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
I love what you said there. You know you've done
this before.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
You've led large teams before, you've collaborated across public and
private sectors. What's like one leadership principle you've relied on
most throughout your career.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
I think I think when you're dealing with a diverse
set of stakeholders on really complex issues, and stakeholders that
come from a dramatically different perspective.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
If you're sitting in.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Government and I've had government roles where you're sitting in
the dais with a lot of hundreds of angry people
in the audience, and the private sector, when you have
that pressure of trying to you know, balance service and
return expectations and you have players in projects like these
that are coming from much different perspectives, you can align
those objectives and when you do, it can be a
(14:04):
really spectacular outcome. But to be able to get that alignment,
you have to take a step back, and you have
to be curious and understand where your counterparties are coming from,
and you have to understand what success looks like for them,
and you have to understand the pressures that they have,
which are different in government and different in the private sector.
But if you stop and understand that and really get
(14:27):
curious and learn where the counter party is coming from
and what they need to be successful, that will then
help you move the project forward when you're sitting across
the table to find that alignment that is necessary to
make these big programs successful. So I'd say stay curious yea,
and ask questions and really really try to understand where
(14:51):
your counter party is coming from.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, that translates well with my every day as well. Yeah,
of course, you know, going back giving you your younger
self one piece of advice, what do you think that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Would make stay young?
Speaker 4 (15:05):
I think the the it was only so easy to
no exactly exactly, to be honest, as we all work
on trying to create a healthy lifestyle that keeps our
bodies and brain strong, and able to be able to
take on complex, big programs like this. I think making
sure that you take time to take care of yourself
(15:28):
is certainly what I would tell my younger self. I
learned that later in my life and am a cancer
survivor and was taught that lesson about how you have
to put your your health first, and so I think
making sure that you have the energy. These projects are complex,
they are they take resilience, they take usually many years
(15:49):
to develop and deliver, and so you've got to make
sure as an executive, as for all of our colleagues,
that you take time to make sure you're fueling your body,
and you're taking time to clear your head, and you're
taking time so that you're strong enough to take on
that mission. And transportation infrastructure requires a lot of resilience
and persistence and that component is really important. So as
(16:12):
we look to this next year toward delivery, one of
the big focus areas is how do we keep our
team moving and how do we make sure that they've
got healthy food, and how do we make sure that
they can take a break and that we're getting each
other's back to be able to be able to get
what we physically have to get done with our bodies
and brains of the course of the next year.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Great advice, great advice. All right, wonderful. Well listen, it
was so great having you here.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Phase A again opens June twenty twenty six, and the
full terminal is supposed to be ready by twenty thirty.
So and I imagine beyond twenty thirty your vision stretches
beyond that of ways to keep up and different things
to do. And I'm sure there's going to be new
additions and different things and new innovations in tech that's
going to be surfacing throughout. But thank you, thank you
(17:00):
so much for joining us today. I really really excited
to have you. I've learned a lot and uh we're
excited to to you know, follow along and watch how
this this thing grows.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Great, Get ready to book your tickets.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh, I'm ready, I'm ready.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Thank you so much,
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