Flying into JFK Airport (New York City) - Looking for advice

[Peter R.]

My father will be traveling via JetBlue in a couple of weeks. His
itinerary contains a four hour layover at JFK airport. Rather than let him
sit there for the four hours on a Tuesday evening, I am considering flying
my Bonanza into JFK to pick him up.

Does anyone have any GA advice or experience to share regarding GA flights
into and out of JFK? Specifically, I am interested in whether there are
significant ATC delays imposed on GA aircraft getting into or out of the
airport during the evening push (disregarding low cigs/visibility and
thunderstorms), as well as any unusual pitfalls.

I do have several flights of experience flying into Boston Logan and
Baltimore Washington, but JFK certainly has a much more complex taxiway
system than either of those airports and perhaps is busier, too.
Nevertheless, the challenge of flying into JFK does appeal to me.

Additionally, I am aware of the $100 surcharge to fly into JFK between
3:00p and 10:00p (my relative is arriving around 7:30p). In comparison, a
cab at rush hour to take my father to the class C airport about 19 miles
east of JFK would probably cost close to that surcharge and add more than
an hour to his trip, perhaps negating the advantage of me picking him up.

Thanks in advance.

--
Peter
























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[Denny]

Check with JFK tower for a landing slot...

denny

[Marco Leon]

Have you considered having your father take the AirTrain to the Long Island
Railroad to KFRG? The entire trip will be around 45 mins and cost $11.50. If
you park your bird at Atlantic Aviation or Long Island Jet Center, they
usually can pick up your father at the LIRR train station 5 mins away. You
may spend 45 minutes (or close to it) just negotiating the taxiways. The
AirTrain stops at every terminal and it's really easy to find.

Remember, you will also have to negotiate your way from GA parking at JFK to
his terminal too. I believe it's Signature at JFK. If it is, add $30-$45 for
their ramp fee.

Marco Leon

"Peter R." > wrote in message
...
> My father will be traveling via JetBlue in a couple of weeks. His
> itinerary contains a four hour layover at JFK airport. Rather than let
him
> sit there for the four hours on a Tuesday evening, I am considering flying
> my Bonanza into JFK to pick him up.
>
> Does anyone have any GA advice or experience to share regarding GA flights
> into and out of JFK? Specifically, I am interested in whether there are
> significant ATC delays imposed on GA aircraft getting into or out of the
> airport during the evening push (disregarding low cigs/visibility and
> thunderstorms), as well as any unusual pitfalls.
>
> I do have several flights of experience flying into Boston Logan and
> Baltimore Washington, but JFK certainly has a much more complex taxiway
> system than either of those airports and perhaps is busier, too.
> Nevertheless, the challenge of flying into JFK does appeal to me.
>
> Additionally, I am aware of the $100 surcharge to fly into JFK between
> 3:00p and 10:00p (my relative is arriving around 7:30p). In comparison, a
> cab at rush hour to take my father to the class C airport about 19 miles
> east of JFK would probably cost close to that surcharge and add more than
> an hour to his trip, perhaps negating the advantage of me picking him up.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> --
> Peter
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[Ron Garret]

In article >,
"Peter R." > wrote:

> My father will be traveling via JetBlue in a couple of weeks. His
> itinerary contains a four hour layover at JFK airport. Rather than let him
> sit there for the four hours on a Tuesday evening, I am considering flying
> my Bonanza into JFK to pick him up.
>
> Does anyone have any GA advice or experience to share regarding GA flights
> into and out of JFK?

A friend flew me into JFK from a regional airport near Boston (can't
remember which one now) in his Comanche about ten years ago. It was a
surprisingly non-big-deal. I would strongly recommend going IFR rather
than just calling up the tower and announcing "inbound with November".
You need a landing reservation, which at the time we were actually
unable to get. My friend filed to Teterborough and then changed
destinations to JFK in the air. We were both surprised when that
actually worked, and my friend said so to the controller, who replied,
"No big deal, we like people coming in to JFK."

I was there to catch a transatlantic commercial flight. Getting from GA
to the commercial terminal was a simple matter of getting a cab.

Getting out of JFK was a much bigger hassle than getting in. My friend
told me afterwards that he was idling on the taxiway for a very long
time before they finally let him go.

All this was ten years ago so YMMV. But from my experience there's no
reason to be intimidated by JFK (except for the steep landing fees).

rg

[Peter R.]

Marco Leon <mmleonyahoo.com> wrote:

> Have you considered having your father take the AirTrain to the Long Island
> Railroad to KFRG? The entire trip will be around 45 mins and cost $11.50.

No, I had not considered this option as I was unaware of it. Thank you for
the suggestion.

--
Peter
























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[Peter R.]

Ron Garret > wrote:

> I would strongly recommend going IFR rather
> than just calling up the tower and announcing "inbound with November".

Most definitely.

> You need a landing reservation, which at the time we were actually
> unable to get. My friend filed to Teterborough and then changed
> destinations to JFK in the air. We were both surprised when that
> actually worked, and my friend said so to the controller, who replied,
> "No big deal, we like people coming in to JFK."

No sarcasm in the controller's voice? :-)

<snip>
> Getting out of JFK was a much bigger hassle than getting in. My friend
> told me afterwards that he was idling on the taxiway for a very long
> time before they finally let him go.

That is a big concern for me. One time I was flying an Angel Flight from
Boston to Philadelphia International. Upon reaching the runway at BOS,
tower notified us of a ground stop for all aircraft going to PHL. He had
us park out of the way. This being my first encounter with a ground stop,
I had no idea of what to expect, so there I sat idling.

About 1/2 hour later, I was getting concerned about the engine so I did a
quick mag check and sure enough, one or more of my plugs had fouled.
After clearing the plugs, I again asked the AF patient if we could change
destinations (the AF patient was an older gentleman who at first told me
that he had to go to PHL, but then later realized he could call his family
to meet him at North Philly). He finally agreed and we were able to
change our destination to nearby North Philly to get out of BOS.

The next day I spoke with a CFI from my home airport, who coincidentally
was also at BOS trying to fly to PHL. I explained my experience of sitting
on the ground for almost an hour. He replied that when they were given the
ground hold, they immediately changed destinations to get out of BOS, then
asked PHL approach to land at PHL instead of their destination upon
checking in. This was approved by ATC.

This was a good example of an inexperienced instrument pilot. :)

--
Peter
























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[John Doe]

"Peter R." > wrote in message
...
> My father will be traveling via JetBlue in a couple of weeks. His
> itinerary contains a four hour layover at JFK airport. Rather than let
> him
> sit there for the four hours on a Tuesday evening, I am considering flying
> my Bonanza into JFK to pick him up.
>
> Does anyone have any GA advice or experience to share regarding GA flights
> into and out of JFK? Specifically, I am interested in whether there are
> significant ATC delays imposed on GA aircraft getting into or out of the
> airport during the evening push (disregarding low cigs/visibility and
> thunderstorms), as well as any unusual pitfalls.
>
> I do have several flights of experience flying into Boston Logan and
> Baltimore Washington, but JFK certainly has a much more complex taxiway
> system than either of those airports and perhaps is busier, too.
> Nevertheless, the challenge of flying into JFK does appeal to me.
>
> Additionally, I am aware of the $100 surcharge to fly into JFK between
> 3:00p and 10:00p (my relative is arriving around 7:30p). In comparison, a
> cab at rush hour to take my father to the class C airport about 19 miles
> east of JFK would probably cost close to that surcharge and add more than
> an hour to his trip, perhaps negating the advantage of me picking him up.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> --
> Peter
>

The only thing I do different flying out of major airports is to bring a
handheld radio to talk to ATC without the engine running. Pays for itself
after a couple of uses waiting for clearance. I haven't had any major IFR
delays arriving.

[Ron Garret]

In article >,
"Peter R." > wrote:

> > You need a landing reservation, which at the time we were actually
> > unable to get. My friend filed to Teterborough and then changed
> > destinations to JFK in the air. We were both surprised when that
> > actually worked, and my friend said so to the controller, who replied,
> > "No big deal, we like people coming in to JFK."
>
> No sarcasm in the controller's voice? :-)

Not that either one of us noticed.

rg

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Ron Garret wrote:
>>> You need a landing reservation, which at the time we were actually
>>> unable to get. My friend filed to Teterborough and then changed
>>> destinations to JFK in the air. We were both surprised when that
>>> actually worked, and my friend said so to the controller, who replied,
>>> "No big deal, we like people coming in to JFK."
>>
>> No sarcasm in the controller's voice? :-)
>
> Not that either one of us noticed.


My one trip into JFK I brought a C-414 in to drop off some folks. On my way
back out, I was trying to copy my clearance but the guy was going too fast for
me. I told him: "I'm from South Carolina; you can give that to me once slow or
five times fast". He slowed down.

Clearances are a lot easier to copy when you know the area. I didn't / don't.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN