The T4 state of mind: A bold new vision for JFK T4, led by Roel Huinink

JFK Terminal 4 is the largest terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and is also the only privately operated terminal in the United States. The terminal houses 22 airlines, 12,000 employees and serves more than 28 million passengers and 18 million checked bags per year.

At the helm of the gateway to the Big Apple is Roel Huinink, President and CEO. Roel, who has a mechanical engineering background, felt early-on in his career that transportation, whether ports, rail or aviation, was his true interest.

Before JFKIAT, Roel spent 15 years at Royal Schiphol Group where he had many opportunities to see different sides of the business, including as Managing Director of Arlanda Schiphol Development Company, a retail management enterprise in Sweden, and as Director of Parking & Mobility Services at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands. It is at Royal Schiphol that he homed in on his love for aviation, or “plane cocaine” as he jokingly calls it.

“When we hire staff, we tell them that either you won’t like it at all and you’ll run away, or if you’re still here after a year, you’ll probably be here forever!”

Bringing a customer-centric approach

Having pioneered the public private partnership (PPP) model in the United States, Roel believes that they are bringing a different approach at JFKIAT.

“PPP’s advantages are increased funding, faster project completion, and improved management flexibility. They have a customer-centric approach focused on streamlined decision-making processes, reducing bureaucratic hurdles, and enabling quicker responses to operational needs.. We are also backed by Schiphol, so there’s a lot of knowledge exchange and collaboration, which we benefit from.”

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is currently in the midst of a historic $19 billion transformation of JFK Airport, with the goal of transforming it into a world-class airport, including the building of two new terminals – the New Terminal One and Terminal 6.

Terminal 4 itself recently saw the completion of its expansion, adding 10 gates in the space of 14 months. Work included extending the reclaim area, renovating restrooms, upgrading the quality and feel of areas such as gate holds. In addition, JFKIAT invested heavily in technology focusing on operational excellence, including passenger flow management, turnaround management systems, and passenger facing technology, including self-service bag-drop, and a near fully-biometric passenger journey.

A T4 state of mind: A new vision

Central to Roel’s vision as JFK T4’s CEO is the new north star vision for the terminal

For those who are unfamiliar, a north star vision is a long-term guiding principle for a company that is designed to provide direction, a sense of purpose and inspiration towards a common goal. The next phase of Terminal 4’s transformation is the launch of its north star vision and experience strategy, which Roel says is crucial “because even though we are infrastructure providers, we are in a people and hospitality business.” The work consisted of aligning that vision with the stakeholders, partners and employees – all of whom are part of the T4 community, to reveal the true soul of the terminal and shape the future of our terminal experience through experience pillars (employee experience, passenger experience, airline experience, commercial experience, terminal ambiance).

JKFIAT has enlisted the help of Designit, subsidiary of WIPRO Ltd, that has been a strategic partner for JFK Terminal 4 on sustainability, digital strategy and innovation, including JFKIAT’s AI roadmap ,. This is part of an existing project which includes creating an AI-enabled data approach and supporting the business with a roadmap for carbon reduction, to meet its sustainability targets.

But why are they doing this?

“We created the north star for our teams in partnership with the T4 community to stand behind, to ensure that they feel included and aligned. Our north star says that we design customer experiences to represent the T4 state of mind through pride, community and innovation. Secondly, we empower people to come forward with good ideas and think out of the box. We want to improve our communication with the community, to really collaborate, because in aviation, if you want to get things done, you need to work together, which people say, but not a lot of people do. Thirdly, is pride. We wish for the T4 employees to take pride in working at T 4, serving our customers.”

So, why now?

“All the terminals at JFK Airport are competing with one another, and we have to make sure that our passengers and airlines actually choose us,” is Roel’s candid response.

“I believe that people make the difference. Yes, infrastructure is important, but if you don’t have the right culture, you can’t make a difference. Putting that into a vision that is tangible to people, that they can rally behind and become involved with, whether you are a direct employee, an airline, a business or commercial partner – that is what will really help to drive things forward.”

A new commercial and technology offering

A just walk out automated retail concept at JFK T4.
Credit: JFKIAT.

Incorporating a sense of place is nothing new in airports, but New York is a special place.

The New York borough of Queens is widely recognised as the most ethnically diverse urban area on the planet, with over 47% of its residents born outside of the United States. Therefore, the passengers that travel through JFK are also very diverse, and this is what Roel wishes to reflect in their new concessions programme in the terminal.

“We want to create that sense of place, but evolve this further, translating it into several elements. For instance, if you open a Starbucks, you could open a standard Starbucks, or you could ask, how can we make this Starbucks represent Brooklyn and the people that live there?”

Those who have visited New York will know that every borough, such as Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, each have a distinct vibe.

“We’ve divided the terminal into different boroughs, allowing passengers to feel those different vibes in the different areas of the terminal. We hope this innovative angle will cause passengers to say, ‘hey, this is something really new’.”

Roel acknowledges that every traveller is different and has different expectations: “Some want fast and efficient experiences, so you need high technology solutions like Hudson and Amazon Go. Yet other travellers want to sit down.” On the T4 website, it helpfully lists your food options depending on how much time you have.

“We are developing concepts that are either from New York, or represent the history of New York. We’ve also incorporated local businesses through our redevelopment programme, with  more than 40% of the work allocated to minorities and women business enterprises (MWBEs). We also have the airport concessions disadvantaged business enterprise programme (ACDBE), which we’ve upped from 20% to over 30%.”

Starbucks – but make it Brooklyn. Credit: JFKIAT.

Passenger experience initiatives

Above: A holographic Bronx Zoo exhibition at JFK T4. Credit: JFKIAT.

Being a large international hub, T4 describes itself as ‘the terminal that never sleeps in the city that never sleeps’. This means passengers who have a lot of time to spend in an airport must be entertained. Would you expect to see life-size colouring book experience, pop-up selfie stations and automated retail concepts in an airport? These are all examples of passenger experience initiatives that have appeared at the terminal, which create those unexpected ‘wow’ moments for passengers.

These elements were all realised as part of the T4 arts and culture programme. Current installations include a holographic Bronx Zoo exhibition, a one-of-a-kind Queens-centric mural and a series of photographs captured by T4 employees who share their passion for aviation.

Sustainability progress

Roel says that being co-owned by Schiphol Group, and the topic of sustainability being hotter in Europe than the United States, has contributed to the air terminal operator’s energetic pursuit of sustainability. The operator is committed to reaching net zero carbon by 2050. Despite President Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time, JFKIAT’s comprehensive sustainability programme follows, guided by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the Paris Climate Agreement guidelines.

In 2017, T4 became the first air terminal to earn the LEED Gold certification for existing buildings: operations and maintenance in the U.S., an achievement Roel is hugely proud of. In 2022 JFKIAT achieved T4’sLEED Platinum certification for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, making it the first and only existing airport terminal in the US to achieve that honour from the U.S. Green Building Council.

In 2024, JFKIAT invested in Green-e® certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), reducing their scope 2 electricity emissions to net zero and enabling a 16% reduction in the terminal facility’s carbon footprint when compared to its baseline.

RECs are one of many initiatives that JFK Airport as a whole is running. As part of the $19 billion transformation, the Port Authority is investing in electric ground service equipment and solar power projects on top of the new terminals and over a long-term parking garage at JFK. The agency currently operates the largest electric bus fleet serving any airport in the United States.

T4 has also been the recipient of the 2023 Greenest Airport Terminal Award by the Green Restaurant Association, an award which highlights how the terminal has more Certified Green Restaurants® than any other airport terminal in North America. The company also recently purchased 8,736 gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in collaboration with Delta Airlines to offset scope 3 business travel emissions and encourage other companies to use environmentally friendly jet fuel.

The above initiatives show a forward-looking approach that seeks to care for T4’s & JFK Airport employees and the wider Queens community, as well as the future of the aviation industry.

Challenges

With an uncertain time ahead for all airports, it is no wonder that Roel cites economic uncertainty as one of the challenges for the year ahead. However, he goes on to say that JKIAT is still in ‘transformation mode’. The terminal handled 27.7 million passengers in 2024, the highest number of passengers ever recorded, and they are expecting to handle even higher numbers this year – all while embarking on the north star programme and new mission statement, which means that this year will be crucial for Roel as an airport leader.

“I want to include our T4 staff more in the culture and really drive innovation – that will be the challenge with sustainability and technology implementation. The task is keeping your team focused on so many things simultaneously. The time when airports could focus on one thing is over. Airports, indeed most businesses nowadays, must focus on all the different facets of the business to be truly successful. For me as a leader, it is very important that we focus on data, facts and implementing. As a leader in aviation, you need to stand firm on these elements and really drive them in your organisation.”

With a distinguished track record in shaping strategy, driving innovation and spearheading business growth, Roel Huinink brings strong and capable stewardship to JFK T4.

Under his direction, T4 is well positioned to thrive in one of the world’s most dynamic and demanding markets. Fortunately for Roel, New York offers no shortage of inspiration and talent – a city defined by ambition, resilience, and an unrivalled work ethic and which has been the subject of many movies, novels and song lyrics – and there’s no better stage for bold leadership than the Empire State.