John F. Kennedy International Airport
JFK airport's terminal 4 built in 2001
IATA: JFK – ICAO: KJFK – FAA LID: JFK – WMO: 74486
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		City of New York[1]
Operator		Port Authority of New York and New Jersey[1]
Serves		New York City
Location		Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, United States
Hub for		Passenger American Airlines Delta Air Lines JetBlue Airways Cargo Evergreen International Airlines Polar Air Cargo Kalitta Air
Elevation AMSL		13 ft / 4 m
Coordinates		40°38′23″N 073°46′44″W / 40.63972°N 73.77889°W / 40.63972; -73.77889Coordinates: 40°38′23″N 073°46′44″W / 40.63972°N 73.77889°W / 40.63972; -73.77889
Website		www.panynj.gov
Maps
FAA airport diagram as of 8 March 2012.
JFK Location within New York City
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
4L/22R	11,351	3,460	Asphalt
4R/22L	8,400	2,560	Asphalt
13L/31R	10,000	3,048	Asphalt
13R/31L	14,572	4,441	Concrete
Helipads
Number	Length		Surface
	ft	m
H1	60	18	Asphalt
H2	60	18	Asphalt
H3	60	18	Asphalt
H4	60	18	Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Aircraft operations (ACI)[2]			408,913
Passengers (ACI)[2]			47,683,529
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[3]

Map showing New York City and the locations of JFK (1), LaGuardia (2) and Newark (3) airports

John F. Kennedy International Airport (IATA: JFK, ICAO: KJFK, FAA LID: JFK) is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Lower Manhattan. In 2011 it was the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North America.^[4] It is also the leading freight gateway to the country by value of shipments.^[5] In 2011, the airport handled 47,809,910 passengers,^[2] making it the 17th busiest airport in the world and sixth busiest in the United States in terms of passenger traffic. The New York City metropolitan area's JFK International, LaGuardia, and Newark International airports combine to create the largest airport system in the United States, second in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and first in the world in terms of total flight operations. In the last few years it has made extensive improvements to terminals, roadways and inter-terminal transportation.^[6]

The airport was originally known as Idlewild Airport until 1963, when it was renamed after John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States.^[7]

Over ninety airlines operate out of JFK. It is the base of operations for JetBlue Airways and is a major international gateway hub for American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. In the past, it has been a hub for Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines, Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines.

History[link]

Construction[link]

John F. Kennedy International Airport was originally known as Idlewild Airport (IATA: IDL, ICAO: KIDL, FAA LID: IDL) after the Idlewild Golf Course that it displaced. The airport was originally envisioned as a reliever for LaGuardia Airport, which had insufficient capacity in the late 1930s. Construction began in 1943 by local firms such as the Edenwald Group headed by the late Charles Follini Sr., a decorated former FDNY fireman; about $60 million was initially spent, but only 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land on the site of the Idlewild golf course were earmarked for use.^[8]

The project was renamed Major General Alexander E. Anderson Airport in 1943 after a Queens resident who had commanded a Federalized National Guard unit in the southern United States and who had died in late 1942. In March 1948 the New York City Council again changed the name to New York International Airport, Anderson Field, but the airport was commonly known as "Idlewild" until 1963.^[9]

The Port Authority leased the airport property from the City of New York in 1947 and maintains this lease as of the late 2000s.^[1] The first commercial flight at the airport was on July 1, 1948; the opening ceremony was attended by President Harry Truman.^[8] The Port Authority cancelled foreign airlines' permits to use LaGuardia, effectively forcing them to move to the new airport during the next couple of years.^[10]

The airport opened with six runways and a seventh under construction;^[11] runways 1L and 7L were held in reserve and never came into use as runways. Runway 31R (originally 8,000 ft/2,438 m) is still in use; runway 31L (originally 9,500 ft/2,896 m) opened soon after the rest of the airport and is still in use; runway 1R closed in the 1950s and runway 7R closed around 1966. Runway 4 (originally 8,000 ft, now runway 4L) opened June 1949 and runway 4R was added ten years later.

The Avro Jetliner landed at Idlewild on April 18, 1950 and maybe in January 1951; a Sud Aviation Caravelle prototype was the next jet airliner to land at Idlewild, on May 2, 1957. Later in 1957 the USSR sought approval for two Tupolev Tu-104 flights carrying Soviet diplomats to Idlewild; the Port Authority did not allow them, saying noise tests had to be done first. (The Caravelle had been tested at Paris.)

The airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963, one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.^[12]

Development[link]

The Port of New York Authority originally envisioned a single 55-gate terminal for the airport, but the major airlines of the time did not agree with this plan, arguing that the terminal would be far too small for future traffic.^[13] Architect Wallace Harrison then designed a master plan under which each major airline at the airport would be given its own space to develop its own terminal design.^[14] This scheme made construction more practical, made terminals more navigable and introduced incentives for airlines to compete with each other for the best design.^[13] The revised master plan met airline approval in 1955, with seven terminals initially planned---five for individual airlines, one developed for 3 airlines, and an international arrivals building. (National Airlines and British Airways arrived later.)^[9]

• The International Arrivals Building, or IAB, was the first new terminal project at the airport, opening in December 1957. Stretching nearly 700 meters (2,300 ft) parallel to runway 7R where Terminal 4 is now, it was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and featured "finger" piers constructed at right-angles to the main building. These allowed a greater number of aircraft to park, a major innovation at the time.^[9]
• United Airlines opened Terminal 7 (later renumbered Terminal 9), a Skidmore design similar to that of the IAB, in October 1959. Eastern Airlines opened its Chester L. Churchill-designed Terminal 1 one month later.^[9][15]
• American Airlines opened its Terminal 8 in 1960. The terminal was designed by Kahn and Jacobs^[9] and became known for its 317 feet (97 m) stained glass facade designed by Robert Sowers, which was the largest stained glass installation in the world until 1979. The facade was removed in 2007 as the terminal was demolished to make room for the new Terminal 8; American cited the prohibitive cost of removing the enormous installation.^[16]
• Pan American World Airways opened the Worldport (now Terminal 3) in 1960. It featured a large, elliptical roof suspended by 32 sets of radial posts and cables; the roof extended 114 feet (35 m) beyond the base of the terminal to cover the passenger loading area. It was one of the first airline terminals in the world to feature Jetways that connected to the terminal and that could be moved to provide an easy walkway for passengers from the terminal to a docked aircraft, rather than having to board the plane outside via airstairs, which descend from an aircraft, via truck-mounted mobile stairs, or via wheeled stairs.^[17]
• Trans World Airlines opened the TWA Flight Center in 1962, designed by Eero Saarinen with a distinctive winged-bird shape. With the demise of TWA in 2001, the terminal remained vacant until 2005 when JetBlue Airways and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) financed the construction of a new 26-gate terminal partly encircling the Saarinen building. Called now Terminal 5 (or simply T5), the new terminal opened October 22, 2008. T5 is connected to the Saarinen central building through the original passenger departure-arrival tubes which connected the building to the outlying gates; the Port Authority is working on renovations of the remaining original Saarinen terminal, also known as the head house.^[18]
• Northwest Airlines, Braniff International and Northeast Airlines opened a joint terminal in 1962 (now Terminal 2).^[17]
• National Airlines opened the Sundrome (now Terminal 6) in 1970. The terminal was designed by I.M.Pei. It was unique for its use of all-glass mullions dividing the window sections, unprecedented at the time.^[19] In 2001, United Airlines planned to redevelop this terminal and the TWA Flight Center as a new United terminal,^[20] Terminal 6 was used by JetBlue Airways from 2001 through 2008 and vacated when JetBlue moved to Terminal 5.

JFK was designed for aircraft up to 300,000-pound (140,000 kg) gross weight^[21] and had to be modified in the late 1960s to accommodate Boeing 747s.^[22]

In 1951 Idlewild averaged 73 daily airline operations (takeoffs plus landings); the October 1951 Airline Guide shows nine domestic departures a day, on National and Northwest. (Some of TWA's transatlantic flights had domestic segments but carried no domestic passengers.) When Newark closed in February 1952 much of its traffic moved to Idlewild, which averaged 242 daily airline operations in 1952. L-1049 Constellations and DC-7s appeared in 1951–53 and didn't use LGA for their first several years, bringing more traffic to IDL. The April 1957 OAG shows two departures a week on Aerolineas Argentinas, 24 on Air France, 164 American, 6 Avianca, 42 BOAC and BWIA, 35 Capital, 7 Cubana, 252 Eastern, 2 El Al, 2 Iberia, 7 Icelandic, 17 KLM, 2 LAI, 6 LAV, 9 Lufthansa, 156 National, 75 Northwest, 131 Pan American, 9 Sabena, 26 SAS, 6 Swissair, 95 Trans-Canada, 115 TWA, 90 United and 3 Varig. (For most airlines the counts are for the beginning of April, but some transatlantic airlines only show their expanded schedules starting later in the month.)

Airlines began scheduling jets into Idlewild in 1958–59; LaGuardia didn't get jet airliners until 1964, so Idlewild soon became New York's busiest airline airport. In 1962–67 it had more airline takeoffs and landings than LGA and EWR combined and was the second-busiest airline airport in the country, peaking at 403,981 airline operations in 1967. During 1960–66 LaGuardia got a new terminal and longer runways, and by the middle 1970s the two airports had roughly equal passenger airline traffic (by flight count, not passenger count). (Until the 1980s Newark was always third place, except during LGA's reconstruction.) The supersonic Concorde, operated by Air France and British Airways, provided scheduled trans-Atlantic supersonic service to JFK from November 22, 1977 until October 24, 2003, when Concorde was retired by both carriers.^[23][24][25]

JFK went through a $10.3 billion redevelopment. The airport began construction of the AirTrain JFK rapid transit system in 1998; completed in December 2003, the rail network links each airport terminal to New York City subways and regional commuter trains at Howard Beach and Jamaica, Queens. The airport opened a new Terminal 1 on May 28, 1998, and the $1.4 billion replacement for the International Arrivals Building, Terminal 4, opened on May 24, 2001.^[26][27] Construction has been completed on JetBlue Airways's new Terminal 5, which incorporates the historic landmark TWA FlightCenter terminal, while Terminals 8 and 9 were recently demolished and rebuilt as a unified Terminal 8 for the American Airlines hub. In 2008 the Port Authority Board of Commissioners approved a $20 million planning study for the much needed redevelopment of Terminals 2 and 3, the hub of Delta Air Lines.^[28]

On March 19, 2007, JFK became the first airport in the United States to receive the Airbus A380 with passengers aboard. The route-proving flight with more than 500 passengers was operated jointly by Lufthansa and Airbus and arrived at Terminal 1. On August 1, 2008, JFK received the first regularly scheduled commercial A380 flight to the United States, operated by Emirates on its New York–Dubai route using Terminal 4.^[29] This service was suspended in 2009, due to poor passenger demand.^[30] Re-introduced in November 2010, Emirates operate their A380 aircraft to JFK.

Previous terminals[link]

Eastern Air Lines terminal[link]

This terminal, which sat on the site of today's Terminal 1, opened in 1959 and was demolished shortly after the collapse of Eastern Air Lines in 1991.

Terminal 6 (Sundrome)[link]

Terminal 6 had 14 gates. Designed by I. M. Pei, it was built in 1970 as the National Airlines Sundrome. Later, Trans World Airlines used it. On June 1, 2006, JetBlue Airways began service from Terminal 6, opening a temporary complex that increased its capacity by adding seven gates. After JetBlue vacated the terminal, these were demolished.^[31] The original building has been demolished to allow for greater expansion at the airport.^[32]

The former Terminal 6 site will be part of an extension of Terminal 5 dedicated to JetBlue international service, 5I.^[33]

Old Terminal 8 and 9[link]

The original Terminal 8 opened in 1960 and was notable for having a stained-glass facade, the largest in existence at the time, and was used by American Airlines for the duration of its existence. During its later years, it was used by other oneworld airlines that did not utilize Terminal 7. Terminal 9 opened in 1959 and was used by United Airlines^[9] until it vacated the terminal in 1991 and became a tenant at British Airways' Terminal 7. Terminal 9 then became the home of American Airlines' domestic operations and American Eagle flights for the remainder of its life. The terminals were demolished in the early-to-mid 2000s and replaced with a new Terminal 8.

Tower Air terminal[link]

The Tower Air terminal, unlike other terminals at JFK airport, sat outside the Central Terminals area in Building 213 in Cargo Area A. Originally used by Pan Am until the expansion of the Worldport (now Terminal 3), it was later used by Tower Air until its collapse in 2000. Building 213 has not been since 2000. It is located next to the Delta Air Lines employees parking lot number 7 which was once the Tower Air terminal parking lot.

Runways and operational infrastructure[link]

Four runways (two pairs of parallel runways) surround the airport's central terminal area.^[34]

JFK has over 25 miles (40 km) of taxiways to move aircraft in and around the airfield. The standard width of these taxiways is 75 feet (23 m), with 25-foot (7.6 m) heavy-duty shoulders and 25-foot (7.6 m) erosion control pavements on each side. The taxiways have centerline lights and are generally of asphalt concrete composition 15 to 18 inches (460 mm) thick. An illuminated sign system provides directional information for taxiing aircraft.

The Air Traffic Control Tower, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and constructed on the ramp-side of Terminal 4, began full FAA operations in October 1994.^[37] An Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) radar unit sits atop the tower. A gas-fired electric cogeneration plant generates electricity for the airport, with an output of about 90 megawatts. It uses thermal energy from the capture of waste heat to heat and cool all of the passenger terminals and other facilities in the central terminal area.^[38]

Aircraft service facilities include seven aircraft hangars, an engine overhaul building, a 32-million-US-gallon (120,000 m³) aircraft fuel storage facility, and a truck garage.^{[citation needed]}

Terminals[link]

A map of JFK's terminals

JFK has seven terminals (ten until the late 1990s and nine until early 2000s) containing 151 gates, numbered 1-8, but skipping Terminal 6, the former Sundrome, which was demolished in 2011 after Terminal 5 was expanded (the number will remain disused and skipped). The number of terminals will decrease to six following the expansion of Terminal 4 (currently in progress), at which point Terminal 3 will be demolished (slated for completion by 2015).

The terminal buildings, with the exception of the former Tower Air terminal, are arranged in a deformed U-shaped wavy pattern around a central area containing parking, hotels, a power plant, and other airport facilities. The terminals are connected by the AirTrain system and access roads. Wayfinding signage throughout the terminals was designed by Paul Mijksenaar.^[39] A 2006 survey by J.D. Power and Associates in conjunction with Aviation Week found JFK ranked second in overall traveller satisfaction among large airports in the United States, behind McCarran International Airport which serves the Las Vegas metropolitan area.^[40]

Until the early 1990s, the terminals were known by the primary airlines that served it, except for Terminal 4, which was known as the International Arrivals Building. In the early 1990s, all of the terminals were given numbers except for the Tower Air terminal, which sat outside the Central Terminals area and was not numbered.

Terminal 1[link]

Terminal 1

The original Terminal 1, built for Eastern Airlines, was demolished circa 1995.^[41]

The current Terminal 1 was opened in 1998, 50 years after the opening of JFK, at the direction of the Terminal One Group, a consortium of four key operating carriers: Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Lufthansa.^[42] This partnership was founded after the four airlines reached agreement that existing international carrier facilities were inadequate for their needs.^[43][44][45] Terminal 1 has the capability to handle Airbus A380 aircraft from Air France on the route from Paris Charles De Gaulle, Lufthansa on the route from Frankfurt Airport and Korean Air on the route from Incheon Airport; it is one of two terminals (along with Terminal 4) having the capacity to carry the superjumbo aircraft. Terminal 1 has 11 gates.

Terminal 2[link]

Terminal 2 was opened in 1962 as the home of Northeast Airlines, Braniff and Northwest Airlines. After the demise of Northeast Airlines and Braniff, the building was taken over by Pan American World Airways, and subsequently by Delta Air Lines. It has 7 Jetway-equipped gates (20–22, 26–29) and 17 stands for Delta Connection carriers (23A–H, 23J, 25K–N, 25P–S). Delta is currently in the progress of connecting T2 with T4. It is also currently moving its international operations into T4 and demolishing T3. The project was approved by the Port Authority on August 5, 2010.^[46]

Terminal 3[link]

The original configuration of the Pan Am Worldport at JFK airport, now simply known as Terminal 3.

Terminal 3 was built as the Worldport in 1960 for Pan American, and substantially expanded for the introduction of the 747 in 1970. Delta Air Lines currently uses the entire terminal, and has a connector to Terminal 2, its other terminal at JFK. Terminal 3 has 16 Jetway equipped gates: 1–10, 12, 14–18 with two hardstand gates (Gate 11) and a helipad on Taxiway 'KK'.

A $1.2 billion project is under construction, which Terminal 4 is being expanded, while Delta is moving its current T3 operations. Terminal 3 will be demolished after Terminal 4's expansion is complete in 2013 to provide additional aircraft parking stands to speed up ground handling, and construct a connector between T2 and T4 for Delta transfers. T3 would be entirely demolished in 2015, including the 'flying saucer' roof.^{[47][48][49][50]}

Terminal 4[link]

Terminal 4 replaced the former International Arrivals Building in May 2001

Terminal 4, the international terminal, is able to handle the Airbus A380 and was developed by LCOR, Inc and is managed by the Schiphol Group. It was the first airport terminal in the United States to be managed by a foreign airport operator. Terminal 4 is the major gateway for international arrivals at JFK. Opened in 2001, the new 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m²) building was built at a cost of $1.4 billion and replaced JFK's old International Arrivals Building, or simply IAB, which opened in 1957. Terminal 4 has 17 gates in two concourses: A2–A7, B20, B22–B31. The number of gates will be expanded for all of Delta Air Lines international flights to be operated from Terminal 4 in the future. A photo was released which shows additional expansion of T4 to include "regional jet" gates, although this phase has not yet been officially confirmed.^[51][52] As of 2012, the work on the Delta hub has commenced, with funding primarily from $900 million in special-project bonds.^[53]

Concourse A has six gates, numbered A2–A7. Concourse B has eleven gates, numbered B20–B31, with the exclusion of B21. As Terminal 4 was built during the construction of the AirTrain, the AirTrain station was built inside the terminal building. Other AirTrain stations are built across from terminal buildings. Terminal 4’s expansive shopping mall offers a wide range of retail options before security so passengers and their families can enjoy shopping and dining together. Four chapels are located on the fourth floor (departure level). Delta Air Lines has also moved its operations to T4, as it expands operations beyond T2.

The terminal is currently being expanded, including nine new international gates, additional baggage space, customs and border-security facilities,^[54] and serves many international airlines daily, including Aer Lingus, Brazilian leading carrier TAM Airlines, and several from the east, such as EgyptAir, Emirates, and Etihad Airways.

Terminal 5[link]

TWA Flight Center (old Terminal 5)

Terminal 5 is home to JetBlue Airways. The terminal is known for its many gift shops and gourmet restaurants, including a steak house and a sushi restaurant. It sits behind the preserved Eero Saarinen-designed terminal originally known as the TWA Flight Center, which is now connected to the new structure and is considered part of T5. The Saarinen building is currently closed for refurbishment; it is unclear when the building will reopen or what purpose it will have. Saarinen also designed the terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport; at the Noyes House dormitory at Vassar College, the lounge is affectionately called The Jetsons lounge because of its curved architecture. The active T5 building has 26 gates: 1–12, 14–27.There is no gate 13 at T5. The terminal will also be used by Hawaiian Airlines, which recently announced a partnership agreement with JetBlue.^[55]

Terminal 7[link]

Terminals 6 and 7

Terminal 7 was built for BOAC and Air Canada in the early 1970s. It is currently owned and operated by British Airways. This terminal is the only terminal owned and operated by a foreign carrier on US soil. A variety of Oneworld alliance carriers operate out of Terminal 7 at this time, including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia (which is owned by the same parent company as British Airways), and Qantas. Star Alliance carriers United Airlines, US Airways and ANA also use the terminal. In 1997, the Port Authority entered an agreement with British Airways to expand the terminal. The renovated terminal has 12 gates.^[56] On May 21, 2008, British Airways announced that it would undertake a $30 million, 18-month-long project to enhance its premium ground facilities at the terminal. British Airways is currently evaluating the future of Terminal 7, as its lease with the Port Authority ends in 2015.

Management has indicated a desire to relocate British Airways/Iberia's operations to a new pier located east and connected to Terminal 8, pending approval of an alliance with American Airlines.^[57]

Terminal 8[link]

In 1999, American Airlines began an eight-year program to build the largest passenger terminal at JFK, designed to replace both Terminal 8 and Terminal 9. The new terminal was built in four phases, which involved the construction of a new midfield concourse, demolition of the old Terminal 9, and finally demolition of the old Terminal 8. It opened in stages between 2005 and had its "official" opening in August 2007.^[58] It is a major Oneworld hub, and American Airlines is the major Oneworld carrier at Terminal 8. American is the largest carrier in Terminal 8 and is the third largest carrier at JFK. In addition to operations at Terminal 7, some Oneworld airlines including Finnair, Royal Jordanian Airlines, and LAN Airlines (and its affiliates)^[59] operate out of Terminal 8. Jet Airways and Qatar Airways also operates its flights out of Terminal 8.

The terminal is twice the size of Madison Square Garden. It offers dozens of retail and food outlets, 84 ticket counters, 44 self-service kiosks, 10 security checkpoint lanes and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that can process more than 1,600 people an hour. Terminal 8 has an annual capacity of 12.8M passengers.^[60] It has two American Airlines Admirals Clubs and a Flagship Lounge for premium class passengers.

Terminal 8 has 29 gates: 12 gates in Concourse B (1–8, 10, 12, 14, and 16) and 17 gates in Concourse C (31–47).^[61] Gate 31 is further subdivided into 5 regional service gates for small jets, 31A–31E. Gate 32 is subdivided into 4 regional service gates for small jets, 32F–32I. The total number of jetbridges is, therefore, 36. Passenger access to Concourse C is by an underground tunnel which includes moving walkways. Of interest are a history of American Airlines logos on display between the security checkpoint and the concourses.

Airlines and destinations[link]

All flights to Cuba are operated as special-authority charters. International arrivals can be handled at any terminal except Terminals 2 and 5.

Notes

• ^2 These flights may make a stop between New York and the listed destination. However, the airlines do not have the rights to transport passengers solely between New York and the intermediate stop.

Parts of this article (those related to section) are outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (June 2011)

Cities outside the US and Canada served by direct flights from JFK

Other facilities[link]

North American Airlines has its headquarters in Building 141 along Federal Circle, on the airport property.^[63] North American Airlines is one of the building's tenants; the building also has Servisair and VOA as tenants and Port Authority storage, and serves as a storage lot for airport buses.^[64] Building 141 was originally a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) administration building.^[65] In the 1990s it served as the PANYNJ police headquarters.^[66] In 2000 an $800,000, 5,000 square feet (460 m²) annex of the building opened to serve students of Aviation High School in Long Island City.^[65] In 2003 Building 141 was dedicated in honor of Morris Sloane, a PANYNJ aviation employee.^[67]

Currently Nippon Cargo Airlines has its New York City branch in Cargo Building 66.^[68] Previously it was in Building 79.^[69]

When Tower Air existed, its head offices were in Building 178 and later in Hangar 17 at JFK Airport.^[70][71] When Metro International Airways existed, its head office was in Building 178.^[72]

Information services[link]

In the immediate vicinity of the airport, parking and other information can be obtained by tuning to a highway advisory radio station at 1630 AM.^[73] A second station at 1700 AM provides information on traffic concerns for drivers leaving the airport.

Kennedy Airport, along with LaGuardia and Newark airports, uses a uniform style of signage throughout the airport properties. Yellow signs direct passengers to airline gates, ticketing and other flight services; green signs direct passengers to ground transportation services, and black signs lead to restrooms, telephones and other passenger amenities.

New York City traffic reporter Bernie Wagenblast provides the voice for the airport's radio stations and the messages heard on board AirTrain JFK and in its stations.^[74]

Traffic and statistics[link]

In 2011, JFK handled 47,683,529.^[75]

The airport contributes about $30.1 billion in economic activity to the New York City region, generating 229,000 jobs and about $9.8 billion in wages and salaries. About 35,000 people are employed at the airport.^[76]

In 2011, the ten carriers with the largest percentage of passengers flying into, out of, or through JFK are as follows:

Nearly 100 airlines from over 50 countries operate regularly scheduled flights from JFK. The JFK-London Heathrow route is the leading U.S. international airport pair with over 2.6 million passengers in 2011. Domestic travel also accounts for a large share of airport traffic, particularly transcontinental and Florida service.^[4]

Air freight[link]

JFK is the nation’s busiest international air freight gateway by value of shipments and the second busiest overall by value including all air, land and sea U.S. freight gateways. Over 21% of all U.S. international air freight by value and 11% by tonnage moved through JFK in 2003.^[5]

The JFK air cargo complex is a Foreign Trade Zone which legally lies outside the customs area of the United States.^[80] JFK is a major hub for air cargo between the United States and Europe. London, Brussels and Frankfurt are JFK's three top trade routes.^[5] The European airports are mostly a link in a global supply chain, however. The top destination markets for cargo flying out of JFK in 2003 were Tokyo, Seoul and London. Similarly, the top origin markets for imports at JFK were Seoul, Hong Kong, and Taipei, with London taking the fourth spot.^[5]

Nearly 100 cargo air carriers operate out of JFK,^[5] among them: Air China Cargo, ABX Air, Asiana, Atlas Air, CAL Cargo Air Lines, Cargolux, Cathay Pacific Cargo, China Airlines, EVA Air, Emirates SkyCargo, Evergreen International Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines, FedEx Express, DHL Air UK, Kalitta Air, Korean Air, Lufthansa Cargo, United Cargo, UPS, Southern Air, World Airways. Top 5 carriers together transported 33.1% of all “revenue” freight in 2005: American Airlines (10.9% of the total), FedEx Express (8.8%), Lufthansa Cargo (5.2%), Korean Air Cargo (4.9%), China Airlines (3.8%).^[81]

Most cargo and maintenance facilities at JFK are located north and west of the main terminal area. DHL, FedEx Express, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Nippon Cargo Airlines and United Airlines have cargo facilities at JFK.^[5][82] In 2000, Korean Air Cargo opened a new $102 million cargo terminal at JFK with total floor area of 81,124 square feet (7,536.7 m²) and capability of handling 200,000 tons annually.^[83] In 2007, American Airlines opened a new priority parcel service facility at their Terminal 8, featuring 30-minute drop-offs and pick-ups for priority parcel shipments within the US.^[84]

Scheduled cargo airlines and destinations[link]

Ground transportation[link]

Rail[link]

The Howard Beach-JFK Airport subway station in Howard Beach

JFK is connected to New York's subway and commuter rail system by AirTrain JFK. AirTrain stops at all terminals, parking lots, hotel shuttle areas, car rental lots, 2 subway stations & the Long Island Rail Road. It is free within the airport. Travel time between JFK and Midtown Manhattan is about 40 minutes (depending on the originating/terminating terminal at JFK) using AirTrain and the Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica Station; or about 60–70 minutes between JFK and Downtown Manhattan using AirTrain and the New York City Subway A train at Howard Beach – JFK Airport station or the E (to Midtown Manhattan), J and Z (to Downtown Manhattan) trains at Sutphin Boulevard station.^[85]

A Lower Manhattan – Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project has been proposed to connect the AirTrain to Lower Manhattan.

Bus[link]

Several city bus lines link JFK to the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road, including the Q3, Q6, Q7, Q10 (Local/Limited), and B15, with free transfers provided for subway connections. The B15, Q3, and Q10 buses all serve the Central Terminal Area via Terminal 4 (connection to other terminals via AirTrain JFK), while the Q6 serves only eastern Cargo Area D, and the Q7 serves only Cargo Area C. There are also many private bus lines operating express buses to Manhattan, the Hudson Valley, and Long Island.

Taxi[link]

New York City's yellow cabs, licensed by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, offer a flat rate service of $45 from JFK airport to Manhattan, excluding tips and tolls. Since November 30, 2006, this flat rate fare (excluding tips and tolls) applies to travel from Manhattan to JFK as well. Depending on the time of day, taxi travel from JFK to Midtown Manhattan can be as quick as 35 minutes. Door-to-door Car Service is another popular transportation option.

Car[link]

JFK Airport is easily accessible by car and is located in southern Queens on the Van Wyck Expressway (I-678), which can be accessed from the Belt Parkway, the Grand Central Parkway and Queens Boulevard. A ring road connects the airport terminals to the Belt Parkway and the Van Wyck Expressway. The airport offers customers over 17,000 parking spaces, included in multi-level parking garages, surface spaces in the Central Terminal Area, a long-term parking lot and valet parking.^[86] There are also private off-site parking operators near the airport.

Van Wyck Expressway twists through the terminal nucleus and turns into the JFK Expressway. This four-lane expressway allows for more convenient access to the airport for Long Island users via the westbound Belt Parkway. Because it lies almost entirely within Kennedy Airport, the JFK Expressway was constructed, and is maintained by the Port Authority. The expressway was built as part of an ongoing, multi-billion overhaul of Kennedy Airport that began in the late 1980s. It was designed to relieve up to 30 percent of the traffic volume from the Van Wyck Expressway.^[87] Approximately 6 major rental car companies serve JFK Airport, with rental locations located on and off the airport. Each terminal's arrivals level (usually near the baggage carousel) has either a rental car counter or courtesy telephone for each of the car rental companies.

Helicopter[link]

US Helicopter departing from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport

US Helicopter operated regularly scheduled flights every hour between Terminal 3 and the East 34th Street Heliport. Passengers traveling by helicopter to the airport passed through a security checkpoint at the heliport, not at JFK. On May 14, 2007, US Helicopter moved its operations from Terminal 9 to Terminal 3.^[88] US Helicopter announced that it was temporarily suspending operations on September 25, 2009 due to financial difficulties.^[89]

New York Airways provided helicopter service from JFK to other area airports and heliports from 1955 to 1979, and Pan American World Airways continued Manhattan helicopter service during the 1980s in order to feed its JFK flights. During the 1970s, New York Helicopter offered JFK flights from the top of the then-Pan Am Building in midtown Manhattan, but this service was cancelled after a major accident in 1977.^[90]

Accidents and incidents[link]

Wikinews has related news: Four arrested in plot to bomb infrastructure at JFK International Airport, New York City Four arrested in plot to bomb infrastructure at JFK International JFK airport terminal evacuated due to suspicious package

JFK has been the site of several notable aviation accidents and incidents.

• On 19 October 1953, an Eastern Airlines flight from Idlewild International Airport (the former name of JFK) to San Juan, Puerto Rico, operated by Lockheed L-749A Constellation N119A crashed on take-off. Two passengers were killed.^[91]
• December 18, 1954 – a Linee Aeree Italiane Douglas DC-6 crashed on its fourth approach attempt to land at Idlewild, after circling for 2.5 hours. 26 of the 32 passengers on board were killed.
• November 10, 1958 – Vickers Viscount, CF-TGL of Trans-Canada Air Lines was destroyed by fire after it was struck by Lockheed L-749 Super Constellation N6503C of Seaboard & Western Airlines which had crashed on take-off.^[92]
• December 16, 1960 – a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 bound for Idlewild collided with a TWA Super Constellation bound for La Guardia; the United jet crashed in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the TWA plane on Staten Island, killing 127 people on board and five on the ground.
• March 1, 1962 – American Airlines Flight 1,^[93] a Boeing 707 crashed on takeoff from Idlewild after its rudder separated from the tail. All 95 passengers and 12 crew members were killed.
• November 30, 1962 – an Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-7 crashed into the ground during a missed approach.
• February 8, 1965 – an Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-7 crashed off Jones Beach after takeoff when the pilots found themselves on an apparent collision course with an inbound Pan Am Boeing 707 and made evasive maneuvers.
• 1967 – The Air France Robbery targeted $420,000 in cash brought in as Air France cargo, Lucchese crime family associates Henry Hill, Robert McMahon, Tommy DeSimone and Montague Montemurro carried out the robbery.
• September 8, 1970 – a Trans International Airlines DC-8-63CF ferry flight to Dulles International Airport crashed on takeoff from runway 13R, killing all 11 crewmembers on board. The DC-8 freighter started rotating in a nose-high attitude 1,500 feet (460 m) into the take-off. After becoming airborne at 2,800 feet (850 m) down the runway, the aircraft climbed to about 300–500 feet, rolled 20 degrees to the left, crashed and caught fire. The loss of pitch control was caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer.
• December 1, 1974 – Northwest Orient Flight 6231 a Boeing 727 chartered to pick up the Baltimore Colts in Buffalo crashed near Thiells, New York. The flight departed John F. Kennedy International Airport with only the cockpit crew on board. The pitot heat was not turned on and the tube iced over during climb out making the airspeed readings unreliable. The plane stalled passing 23,000' and the crew was unable to regain control. All 3 crewmembers on board were killed.
• June 24, 1975 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727 on final approach from New Orleans, crashed into the runway lights short of runway 22L, killing 112 passengers and crew. The cause of the crash was wind shear during a heavy thunderstorm.
• December 11, 1978 – The Lufthansa heist targeted over $5 million in cash and jewels on a Lufthansa flight arriving from Germany. The crime was planned by Jimmy Burke, an associate of the Lucchese crime family, and carried out by several of his associates; at the time, it was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil.
• January 25, 1990 – Avianca Flight 52, a Boeing 707-321B arriving from Bogotá and Medellin, crashed at Cove Neck, Long Island, after a missed approach to runway 22L at JFK and subsequently running out of fuel. 73 passengers and crew perished. 85 survived.^[94]
• July 30, 1992 – TWA Flight 843, a Lockheed L-1011 departing for San Francisco, aborted takeoff shortly after liftoff. There were no fatalities among the 280 passengers, although the aircraft was destroyed.^[95]
• November 12, 2001 – American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 crashed while en route to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. During climb, the aircraft lost most of its vertical fin due to overcontrol of the rudder while encountering wake turbulence, and crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens. The crash killed all 260 people on the plane and five people on the ground.

Other accidents and incidents involving JFK include:

• Sabena Flight 548 (1961), outbound from JFK, crashed while trying to land in Brussels, Belgium
• Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (1972), outbound from JFK, crashed while trying to land in Miami, Florida
• Pan Am Flight 1736 (1977), originated from LAX and stopped at JFK, collided with another 747 at Tenerife
• LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 (1980), outbound from JFK, crashed while trying to land in Warsaw, Poland
• Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (1983), originated from JFK, shot down by Soviet jet interceptors off the coast of Sakhalin after it strayed into prohibited Soviet airspace because of a navigational error
• Pan Am Flight 103 (1988), bound for JFK, with continued service to Detroit, exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland
• TWA Flight 800 (1996), outbound from JFK, bound for Paris, exploded soon after takeoff, and crashed off the coast of Long Island
• Swissair Flight 111 (1998), outbound from JFK, bound for Geneva, crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia
• EgyptAir Flight 990 (1999), outbound from JFK, bound for Cairo, crashed off the coast of Nantucket
• Air France Flight 4590 (2000), a Concorde bound for JFK, crashed in Gonesse, France
• Korean Air Flight 85 (2001), bound for JFK on September 11, was escorted by fighter jets to Whitehorse International Airport during Operation Yellow Ribbon on fears it may have been hijacked. This was not the case; the plane was low on fuel, and according to a public affairs official at the airport, there was also a communication problem with the air crew. When the plane landed, witnesses reported that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ordered the crew out at gunpoint. The entire incident was a misunderstanding caused by a malfunctioning transponder.
• JetBlue Airways Flight 292 (2005), was bound for JFK when the nose landing gear twisted 90 degrees to the right, perpendicular to the way the wheels normally face. The Airbus A320 had taken off from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, and then made a successful emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Of the 140 passengers and 5 crewmembers on board, no one was injured.
• On June 2, 2007, federal authorities announced that four people had been arrested in connection with an alleged terror plot to attack JFK Airport. FBI officials say the men, one of whom was a former air cargo employee at the airport, planned to blow up terminal buildings and jet fuel infrastructure.^[96]

In popular culture[link]

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As one of the major international gateways in the United States, JFK Airport has a high profile in popular culture.

The Beatles arrive at JFK Airport

Motion Pictures[link]

Many motion pictures have used JFK Airport as a location for action. For example, a demolition explosion there was used for a plane explosion on the movie Final Destination.

Novels[link]

Many of the scenes in the first two chapters of the novel Fear of Flying by Erica Jong took place at the Kennedy Airport. The main character of the novel, Isodora Wing, is quite afraid that her flight will crash into Jamaica Bay immediately after takeoff.

Games[link]

• The 2008 video game, Grand Theft Auto IV, the TWA terminal exterior was used in the game's fictional Francis International Airport

Music[link]

Performers[link]

• The British Invasion began with the arrival of The Beatles at JFK in 1964, who held their first American press conference at the airport.

Songs and albums[link]

• JFK Airport is mentioned in songs by U2, Joe Purdy, Pet Shop Boys, Prefuse 73, Paul Simon, Barry Manilow, and rapper Notorious B.I.G..

Stage productions[link]

• In his one-man show, Red diaper baby, Josh Kornbluth's eccentric communist father insists on referring to JFK Airport as the "Bay of Pigs Memorial Airport".

Television[link]

• The theme song of the 1960s comedy TV series Car 54, Where Are You? contained the line: "There's a scout troop short a child, [Nikita] Khrushchev's due at Idlewild," referring to this airport's previous name.
• In I Love Lucy, Lucy misses the SS Constitution bound for Europe and is forced to take a helicopter out of Idlewild Airport.
• In Twilight Zone, episode The Odyssey of Flight 33 a Boeing 707 jet airliner of the fictional "Global Airlines" bound for Idlewild from London is caught in a mysterious "tailwind" and winds up in the past.
• The British television series, The Saint, season 1, episode 4 (1962), begins its story with a shot of the terminal 3 building and a superimposed title, "Idlewild International Airport", a long pan of the area, and then an announcement for Pan Am flight 114 to Paris
• Friends (2004) (series finale)
• JFK is used frequently in the Law & Order franchise.
• JFK (then known as Idlewild) is used frequently in the ABC show Pan Am. The Worldport serves as one of the main settings in the series.
• JFK has been seen in some episodes of Seinfeld.

References[link]

External links[link]

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	New York City portal
	Aviation portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John F. Kennedy International Airport

• John F. Kennedy International Airport (official site)
• Terminal4 JFK International Airport (official site)
• New York State DOT Airport DiagramPDF
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 31 May 2012
• FAA Terminal Procedures for JFK, effective 31 May 2012
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KJFK
  • ASN accident history for JFK
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KJFK
  • FAA current JFK delay information
  • OpenNav airspace and charts for KJFK
• John F. Kennedy International Airport travel guide from Wikitravel
• JFK Airport Monitor (from Passur.com)
• How to get to JFK Airport via the Subway and other mass transit
• JFK WiFi Service Guide
• JFK Airport Plane Spotting Guide
• JFK Airport Reviews on LateDeparture.com
• Heli Flights Heliports and Helipads near Manhattan (New York City Helicopter landing pads)

v t e Airports in the New York City area Major commercial airports John F. Kennedy LaGuardia Newark Liberty Secondary commercial airports Long Island MacArthur Stewart Westchester County General aviation airports Brookhaven Danbury Essex County Linden Morristown Republic Teterboro Trenton-Mercer Sikorsky Heliports Downtown E 34th St W 30th St Transportation AirTrain JFK AirTrain Newark Transportation to New York City area airports

John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States
In office January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963
Vice President	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Succeeded by	Lyndon B. Johnson
United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office January 3, 1953 – December 22, 1960
Preceded by	Henry Cabot Lodge
Succeeded by	Benjamin Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th district
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	James Curler
Succeeded by	Tip O'Neill
Personal details
Born	John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-05-29)May 29, 1917 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 22, 1963(1963-11-22) (aged 46) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Bouvier
Children	Arabella (1956 stillborn) Caroline B. (b. 1957) John F., Jr. (1960–1999) Patrick B. (1963 "2 days old")
Alma mater	Harvard College
Profession	Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1941–1945
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109
Battles/wars	World War II Solomon Islands campaign
Awards	Navy and Marine Corps Medal Purple Heart American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3 bronze stars) World War II Victory Medal[1]

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy  pronunciation (help·info) (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.

After military service as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated then Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. He was the youngest elected to the office, at the age of 43,^[2][a] the second-youngest President (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president.^[3] Kennedy is the only Catholic president, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.^[4] Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War.

Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the crime, but was shot and killed two days later by Jack Ruby before a trial could take place. The FBI, the Warren Commission, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin, with the HSCA allowing for the possibility of conspiracy based on disputed acoustic evidence.^[5] Today, Kennedy continues to rank highly in public opinion ratings of U.S. presidents.^[6]

Early life and education[link]

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917,^[7] the second son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and Rose Fitzgerald; Rose was the eldest child of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a prominent Boston political figure who was the city's mayor and a three-term member of Congress. Kennedy lived in Brookline for ten years and attended Edward Devotion School, Noble and Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School, through 4th grade. In 1927, the family moved to 5040 Independence Avenue in Riverdale, Bronx, New York City; two years later, they moved to 294 Pondfield Road in Bronxville, New York, where Kennedy was a member of Scout Troop 2.^[1] Kennedy spent summers with his family at their home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, and Christmas and Easter holidays with his family at their winter home in Palm Beach, Florida. For the 5th through 7th grade, Kennedy attended Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys. For 8th grade in September 1930, the 13-year old Kennedy attended Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. In late April 1931, he required an appendectomy, after which he withdrew from Canterbury and recuperated at home.^[8]

In September 1931, Kennedy was sent to The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, for his 9th through 12th grade years. His older brother, Joe Jr., had already been at Choate for two years, a football star and leading student. Jack spent his first years at Choate in his brother's shadow, and compensated for this with rebellious behavior that attracted a coterie. Their most notorious stunt was to explode a toilet seat with a powerful firecracker. In the ensuing chapel assembly, the strict headmaster, George St. John, brandished the toilet seat and spoke of certain "muckers" who would "spit in our sea". The defiant Jack Kennedy took the cue and named his group "The Muckers Club", which included roommate and friend Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings. While at Choate, Kennedy was beset by health problems that culminated in 1934 with his emergency hospitalization at Yale – New Haven Hospital. In June 1934 he was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and diagnosed with colitis. Kennedy graduated from Choate in June 1935. For the school yearbook, of which he had been business manager, Kennedy was voted the "most likely to succeed".^[9]

In September 1935, he made his first trip abroad, with his parents and sister Kathleen, to London, with the intent of studying under Harold Laski at the London School of Economics (LSE), as his older brother Joe had done. Ill health forced his return to America in October 1935, when he enrolled late and spent six weeks at Princeton University. He was then hospitalized for observation at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He convalesced further at the Kennedy winter home in Palm Beach, then spent the spring of 1936 working as a ranch hand on a 40,000 acres (160 km²) cattle ranch outside Benson, Arizona.^[10]

In September 1936, Kennedy enrolled at Harvard College, where he produced that year's annual "Freshman Smoker", called by a reviewer "an elaborate entertainment, which included in its cast outstanding personalities of the radio, screen and sports world".^[11] He tried out for the football, golf, and swim teams and earned a spot on the varsity swim team.^[12] In July 1937 Kennedy sailed to France—bringing his own his convertible—and spent ten weeks driving through Europe with Billings.^[13] In June 1938 Kennedy sailed overseas with his father and brother Joe to work with his father, who was then Franklin D. Roosevelt's U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, at the American embassy in London.^[14] In 1939 Kennedy toured Europe, the Soviet Union, the Balkans, and the Middle East in preparation for his Harvard senior honors thesis. He then went to Czechoslovakia and Germany before returning to London on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. On September 3, 1939, the family was in the House of Commons for speeches endorsing the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Germany. Kennedy was sent as his father's representative to help with arrangements for American survivors of the SS Athenia, before flying back to the U.S. from Foynes, Ireland, to Port Washington, New York on his first transatlantic flight.

As an upperclassman at Harvard, Kennedy became a more serious student and developed an interest in political philosophy. In his junior year he made the Dean's List.^[15] In 1940 Kennedy completed his thesis, "Appeasement in Munich", about British participation in the Munich Agreement. The thesis became a bestseller under the title Why England Slept.^[16] He graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelors of Science cum laude in international affairs in 1940. Kennedy enrolled and audited classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business that fall.^[17] In early 1941, he helped his father write a memoir of his three years as an American ambassador and then traveled throughout South America.^[18]

Military service[link]

Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy (standing at right) with his PT-109 crew

In September 1941, after medical disqualification by the Army for his chronic lower back problems, Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy, with the influence of the director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, former naval attaché to Joseph Kennedy.^[19] Kennedy was an ensign serving in the office of the Secretary of the Navy when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. He attended the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center, was assigned duty in Panama and later in the Pacific theater, where he earned the rank of lieutenant, commanding a patrol torpedo (PT) boat.^[20]

Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, the PT-109

On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's boat, PT-109, along with PT-162 and PT-169, were performing nighttime patrols near New Georgia in the Solomon Islands,^[21] when PT-109 was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.^[22] Kennedy gathered his surviving crew members together in the water around the wreckage, to vote on whether to "fight or surrender". Kennedy stated, "There's nothing in the book about a situation like this. A lot of you men have families and some of you have children. What do you want to do? I have nothing to lose." Shunning surrender, the men swam towards a small island.^[23] Kennedy, despite re-injury to his back in the collision, towed a badly burned crewman through the water with a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth.^[24] He towed the wounded man to the island, and later to a second island, from where his crew was subsequently rescued.^[25] For these actions, Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal with the following citation:

For extremely heroic conduct as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 following the collision and sinking of that vessel in the Pacific War Theater on August 1–2, 1943. Unmindful of personal danger, Lieutenant (then Lieutenant, Junior Grade) Kennedy unhesitatingly braved the difficulties and hazards of darkness to direct rescue operations, swimming many hours to secure aid and food after he had succeeded in getting his crew ashore. His outstanding courage, endurance and leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

In October 1943, Kennedy took command of a PT boat converted into a gun boat, PT-59, which took part in a Marine rescue on Choiseul Island that November.^[26] Kennedy was honorably discharged in early 1945, just prior to Japan's surrender. Kennedy's other decorations in World War II included the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, and the World War II Victory Medal.^[1] When later asked how he became a war hero, Kennedy joked: "It was easy. They cut my PT boat in half."^[27]

In April 1945, Kennedy's father, a friend of William Randolph Hearst, arranged a position for his son as a special correspondent for Hearst Newspapers; the assignment kept Kennedy's name in the public eye and "expose[d] him to journalism as a possible career."^[28] He worked as a correspondent that May, covering the Potsdam Conference and other events.^[29]

Congressional career[link]

House of Representatives[link]

While Kennedy was still serving, his older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., was killed in action on August 12, 1944, while part of Operation Aphrodite. Since Joe Jr. had been the family's political standard-bearer, the task now fell to John.^[30]

In 1946, U.S. Representative James Michael Curley vacated his seat in the strong Democratic 11th Congressional district in Massachusetts—at Joe's urging—to become mayor of Boston. Kennedy ran for the seat, beating his Republican opponent by a large margin.^[31] He served as a congressman for six years.

Senate[link]

In the 1952 election, he defeated incumbent Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for the U.S. Senate seat. The following year he was married to Jacqueline.^[32]

Kennedy underwent several spinal operations over the following two years. Often absent from the Senate, he was at times critically ill and received Catholic last rites. During his convalescence in 1956, he published Profiles in Courage, a book about U.S. Senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs, and which received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957.^[33] Rumors that this work was co-authored by his close adviser and speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, were confirmed in Sorensen's 2008 autobiography.^[34]

At the 1956 Democratic National Convention, Kennedy was nominated for Vice President on a ticket with presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, but finished second in the balloting to Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Kennedy received national exposure from that episode; his father thought it just as well that his son lost, due to the political debility of his Catholicism and the strength of the Eisenhower ticket.

One of the matters demanding Kennedy's attention in the Senate was President Eisenhower's bill for the Civil Rights Act of 1957.^[35] Kennedy cast a procedural vote on this, which was considered by some as an appeasement of Southern Democratic opponents of the bill.^[35] Kennedy did vote for Title III of the act, which would have given the Attorney General powers to enjoin, but Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson agreed to let the provision die as a compromise measure.^[36] Kennedy also voted for Title IV, termed the "Jury Trial Amendment". Many civil rights advocates at the time criticized that vote as one which would weaken the act.^[37] A final compromise bill, which Kennedy supported, was passed in September 1957.^[38] In 1958, Kennedy was re-elected to a second term in the Senate, defeating his Republican opponent, Boston lawyer Vincent J. Celeste, by a wide margin.

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a friend of the Kennedy family; Joseph Kennedy, Sr. was a leading McCarthy supporter, Robert F. Kennedy worked for McCarthy's subcommittee, and McCarthy dated Patricia Kennedy. In 1954, when the Senate voted to censure McCarthy, Kennedy drafted a speech supporting the censure. The speech was not delivered, because he was in the hospital. Though absent, he could have participated procedurally by "pairing" his vote against that of another senator, but did not do so. He never indicated how he would have voted, but the episode damaged Kennedy's support among members of the liberal community, including Eleanor Roosevelt, in the 1956 and 1960 elections.^[39]

1960 presidential election[link]

On January 2, 1960, Kennedy initiated his campaign for President in the Democratic primary election, where he faced challenges from Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon. Kennedy defeated Humphrey in Wisconsin and West Virginia, Morse in Maryland and Oregon, as well as from token opposition (often write-in candidates) in New Hampshire, Indiana, and Nebraska. Kennedy visited a coal mine in West Virginia; most miners and others in that predominantly conservative, Protestant state were quite wary of Kennedy's Roman Catholicism. His victory in West Virginia confirmed his broad popular appeal. At the Democratic Convention, he gave his well-known "New Frontier" speech, saying: "For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won—and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier ... But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises—it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them."^[40]

John and Jacqueline Kennedy campaigning in Appleton, Wisconsin, March 1960

With Humphrey and Morse eliminated, Kennedy's main opponent at the Los Angeles convention was Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Kennedy overcame this formal challenge as well as informal ones from Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956, Stuart Symington, and several favorite sons, and on July 13 the Democratic convention nominated Kennedy as its candidate. Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice Presidential candidate, despite opposition from many liberal delegates and Kennedy's own staff, including his brother, Robert. He needed Johnson's strength in the South to win what was considered likely to be the closest election since 1916. Major issues included how to get the economy moving again, Kennedy's Roman Catholicism, Cuba, and whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. To address fears that his being Catholic would impact his decision-making, he famously told the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960, "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters – and the Church does not speak for me."^[41] Kennedy questioned rhetorically whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Catholic, and once stated that, "No one asked me my religion [serving the Navy] in the South Pacific."^[42]

President Dwight D. Eisenhower meets with President-elect John F. Kennedy on December 6, 1960

In September and October, Kennedy appeared with Republican candidate Richard Nixon, then Vice President, in the first televised U.S. presidential debates in U.S. history. During these programs, Nixon, with a sore injured leg and his "five o'clock shadow", looked tense, uncomfortable, and perspiring, while Kennedy, choosing to avail himself of makeup services, appeared relaxed, leading the huge television audience to favor Kennedy as the winner. Radio listeners either thought Nixon had won or that the debates were a draw.^[43] The debates are now considered a milestone in American political history—the point at which the medium of television began to play a dominant role in politics.^[33] Kennedy's campaign gained momentum after the first debate, and he pulled slightly ahead of Nixon in most polls. On November 8, Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century. In the national popular vote Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while in the Electoral College he won 303 votes to Nixon's 219 (269 were needed to win). Another 14 electors from Mississippi and Alabama refused to support Kennedy because of his support for the civil rights movement; they voted for Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia, as did the elector from Oklahoma.^[44] Kennedy was the youngest man elected president, succeeding Eisenhower, who was then the oldest (Ronald Reagan surpassed Eisenhower as the oldest president in 1981).^[45]

Presidency[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address

John F. Kennedy takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren on January 20, 1961, at the Capitol

John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President at noon on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." He asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself". He added: "All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin." In closing, he expanded on his desire for greater internationalism: "Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you."^[46]

The address reflected Kennedy's confidence that his administration would chart a historically significant course in both domestic policy and foreign affairs. The contrast between this optimistic vision and the pressures of managing daily political realities at home and abroad would be one of the main tensions running through the early years of his administration.^[47]

Kennedy brought to the White House a stark contrast in organization compared to the decision making structure of the former general, Eisenhower; and he wasted no time in dismantling Eisenhower's methods.^[48] Kennedy preferred the organizational structure of a wheel, with all the spokes leading to the president. He was ready and willing to make the increased number of quick decisions required in such an environment. He selected a mixture of experienced and inexperienced people to serve in his cabinet. "We can learn our jobs together", he stated.^[49] There were a couple instances where the president got ahead of himself, as when he announced in a cabinet meeting, without prior notice, that Edward Lansdale would be Ambassador to South Vietnam, a decision which Secretary of State Rusk later had Kennedy alter.^[50] There was also the case of Harris Wofford, who was summoned to the White House for swearing in without knowing which position he was to assume.^[51]

Much to the chagrin of his economic advisors, who wanted him to reduce taxes, he quickly agreed to a balanced budget pledge. This was needed in exchange for votes to expand the membership of the House Rules Committee in order to give the Democrats a majority in setting the legislative agenda.^[52] The president focused on immediate and specific issues facing the administration, and quickly voiced his impatience with ponderings of deeper meanings. Deputy national security advisor Walt Whitman Rostow once began a diatribe about the growth of communism, and Kennedy abruptly cut him off, asking, "What do you want me to do about that today?"^[53]

Foreign policy[link]

Foreign trips of John F. Kennedy during his presidency

President Kennedy's foreign policy was dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy contests in the early stage of the Cold War. In 1961, Kennedy anxiously anticipated a summit with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The President started off on the wrong foot by reacting aggressively to a routine Khrushchev speech on Cold War confrontation in early 1961. The speech was intended for domestic audiences in the Soviet Union, but Kennedy interpreted it as a personal challenge. His mistake helped raise tensions going into the Vienna Summit of June 1961.^[54] On the way to the summit, Kennedy stopped in Paris to meet Charles de Gaulle, who advised Kennedy to ignore Khrushchev's abrasive style. The French president was nationalistic and disdainful of the United States' presumed influence in Europe. Nevertheless de Gaulle was quite impressed with the young president and his family. Kennedy picked up on this in his speech in Paris, saying he would be remembered as "the man who accompanied Jackie Kennedy to Paris."^[55]

On June 4, 1961, the president met with Khrushchev in Vienna and left the meetings angry and disappointed that he had allowed the Premier to bully him, despite the warnings he had received. Khrushchev, for his part, was impressed with the president's intelligence, but thought him weak. Kennedy did succeed in conveying the bottom line to Khrushchev on the most sensitive issue before them, a proposed treaty between Moscow and East Berlin. He made it clear that any such treaty which interfered with U.S access rights in West Berlin would be regarded as an act of war.^[56]

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, Kennedy, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the White House Cabinet Room on April 13, 1962

Shortly after the president returned home, the U.S.S.R. announced its intention to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. Kennedy, depressed and angry, assumed his only option was to prepare the country for nuclear war, which he personally thought had a one in five chance of occurring.^[57]

In the weeks immediately after the Vienna summit, more than 20,000 people fled from East Berlin to the western sector in reaction to statements from the USSR. Kennedy began intensive meetings on the Berlin issue, where Dean Acheson took the lead in recommending a military buildup alongside NATO allies.^[58] In a July 1961 speech, Kennedy announced his decision to add $3.25 billion to the defense budget, along with over 200,000 additional troops, saying an attack on West Berlin would be taken as an attack on the U.S. The speech received an 85% approval rating.^[59] The following month, the Soviet Union and East Berlin began blocking any further passage of East Berliners into West Berlin and erected barbed wire fences across the city, which were quickly upgraded to the Berlin Wall. Kennedy's initial reaction was to ignore this, as long as free access from West to East Berlin continued. This course was altered when it was learned that the West Berliners had lost confidence in the defense of their position by the United States. Kennedy sent Vice President Johnson, along with a host of military personnel, in convoy through West Germany, including Soviet armed checkpoints, to demonstrate the continued commitment of the U.S. to West Berlin.^[60]

Kennedy gave a speech at Saint Anselm College on May 5, 1960, regarding America's conduct in the emerging Cold War. The address detailed how American foreign policy should be conducted towards African nations, noting a hint of support for modern African nationalism by saying that "For we, too, founded a new nation on revolt from colonial rule".^[61]

Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion[link]

The prior Eisenhower administration had created a plan to overthrow the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba. The plan, led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with help from the U.S. military,^[62] was for an invasion of Cuba by a counter-revolutionary insurgency composed of U.S.-trained anti-Castro Cuban exiles^[63] led by CIA paramilitary officers. The intention was to invade Cuba and instigate an uprising among the Cuban people in hopes of removing Castro from power.^[64] On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered what became known as the "Bay of Pigs Invasion": 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans, called "Brigade 2506", landed on the island. No U.S. air support was provided. Allen Dulles, director of the CIA, later stated that they thought the president would authorize any action required for success once the troops were on the ground.^[65] By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors. After twenty months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine.^[66] The incident made Castro wary of the U.S. and led him to believe another invasion would occur.^[67] According to biographer Richard Reeves, Kennedy primarily focused on the political repercussions of the plan rather than the military considerations; when it failed, he was convinced the plan was a setup to make him look bad.^[68] But he took responsibility for the failure, saying, "... We got a big kick in the leg and we deserved it. But maybe we'll learn something from it."^[69]

In late 1961, the White House formed the "Special Group (Augmented)", headed by Robert Kennedy and including Edward Lansdale, Secretary Robert McNamara, and others. The group's objective—to overthrow Castro via espionage, sabotage, and other covert tactics—was never pursued.^[70]

Cuban Missile Crisis[link]

	Address on the Buildup of Arms in Cuba Kennedy addressing the nation on October 22, 1962 about the buildup of arms on Cuba
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Meeting Nikita Khrushchev in 1961

On October 14, 1962, CIA U-2 spy planes took photographs of intermediate-range ballistic missile sites being built in Cuba by the Soviets. The photos were shown to Kennedy on October 16; a consensus was reached that the missiles were offensive in nature and thus posed an immediate nuclear threat.^[71] Kennedy faced a dilemma: if the U.S. attacked the sites, it might lead to nuclear war with the U.S.S.R., but if the U.S. did nothing, it would be faced with the increased threat from close range nuclear weapons. The U.S. would as well appear to the world as less committed to the defense of the hemisphere. On a personal level, Kennedy needed to show resolve in reaction to Khrushchev, especially after the Vienna summit.^[72]

More than a third of the members of the National Security Council (NSC) favored an unannounced air assault on the missile sites, but for some of them this conjured up an image of "Pearl Harbor in reverse".^[73] There was as well some reaction from the international community (asked in confidence) that the assault plan was an overreaction in light of U.S. missiles that had been placed in Turkey by Eisenhower. And there could be no assurance that the assault would be 100% effective.^[74] In concurrence with a majority vote of the NSC, Kennedy decided on a naval quarantine. On October 22 he dispatched a message to Khrushchev and announced the decision on TV.^[75]

The U.S. Navy would stop and inspect all Soviet ships arriving off Cuba, beginning October 24. The Organization of American States gave unanimous support to the removal of the missiles. The president exchanged two sets of letters with Khrushchev, to no avail.^[76] United Nations (UN) Secretary General U Thant requested both parties reverse their decisions and enter a cooling off period. Khrushchev said yes, but Kennedy said no.^[77] One Soviet-flagged ship was stopped and boarded. On October 28 Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missile sites subject to UN inspections.^[78] The U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba and privately agreed to remove its missiles in Turkey, which were by then obsolete and had been supplanted by submarines equipped with UGM-27 Polaris missiles.^[79] This crisis brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point before or since. In the end, "the humanity" of the two men prevailed.^[80] The crisis improved the image of American willpower and the president's credibility. His approval rating increased from 66% to 77% immediately thereafter.^[81]

Latin America and communism[link]

Arguing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable,"^[82] Kennedy sought to contain communism in Latin America by establishing the Alliance for Progress, which sent aid to troubled countries and sought greater human rights standards in the region. He worked closely with Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Muñoz Marín for the development of the Alliance of Progress, and began working towards the autonomy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

When the president took office the Eisenhower administration, through the CIA, had begun formulating plans for the assassination of Castro in Cuba and Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Kennedy privately instructed the CIA that any such planning must include plausible deniability by the U.S. His public position was in opposition.^[83] In June 1961 the Dominican Republic's leader was assassinated; in the days following the event, Undersecretary of State Chester Bowles led a cautious reaction by the nation. Robert Kennedy, who saw an opportunity for the U.S., called Bowles "a gutless bastard" to his face.^[84]

Peace Corps[link]

File:Executive Order 10924 from NARA.jpg Executive Order 10924	Establishment of the Peace Corps John F. Kennedy's announcement of the establishment of the Peace Corps
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As one of his first presidential acts, Kennedy asked Congress to create the Peace Corps. His brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, was the first director.^[85] Through this program, Americans volunteer to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. The organization grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the following year.^[86] Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 139 countries.

Southeast Asia[link]

When briefing Kennedy, Eisenhower emphasized that the communist threat in Southeast Asia required priority; Eisenhower considered Laos to be "the cork in the bottle" in regards to the regional threat. In March 1961, Kennedy voiced a change in policy from supporting a "free" Laos to a "neutral" Laos, indicating privately that Vietnam, and not Laos, should be deemed America's tripwire for communism's spread in the area.^[87] In May 1961 he dispatched Lyndon Johnson to meet with South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. Johnson assured Diem more aid in molding a fighting force that could resist the communists.^[88] Kennedy announced a change of policy from support to partnership with Diem in defeat of communism in South Vietnam.^[89]

Kennedy initially followed Eisenhower's lead, using limited military action to fight the communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh.^[90] Kennedy continued policies that provided political, economic, and military support to the South Vietnamese government.^[90] Late in 1961 the Viet Cong began assuming a predominant presence, initially seizing the provincial capital of Phuoc Vinh.^[91] Kennedy increased the number of helicopters, military advisors, and undeclared U.S. Special Forces in the area, but he was reluctant to order a full scale deployment of troops.^[92][93] Kennedy formally authorized escalated involvement when he signed the "National Security Action Memorandum – Subversive Insurgency (War of Liberation)" in early 1962.^[94] Secretary of State Dean Rusk voiced strong support for U.S. involvement.^[95] "Operation Ranch Hand", a large-scale aerial defoliation effort, began on the roadsides of South Vietnam.^[96][b]