NY /NJ Airline Airport Affairs Committees 

July 19,2013 

Mr. Patrick Foye 

Executive Director 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 

225 Park Avenue South - 15th Floor 

New York, New York 10003 

Dear Mr. Foye: 

We are writing on behalf of the New York and New Jersey Airline Airport Affuirs 

Committees, representing more than 90 airlines serving JFK, LOA and EWR, to express 

the airlines' collective concerns about the substantial increase in costs associated with 

policing, security, and Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) services at the New 

York airports. The airlines highly value their longstanding cooperative partnership with 

the Port Authority; in particular with the Aviation Department staff and we will continue 

to seek out opportunities for collaboration on many airport related initiatives that serve 

our collective interests. 

At the present moment, however, the airlines are greatly opposed to the significant 

increase in policing, security, and ARFF costs and are very concerned over the nonconsultative approach taken by the P ANYNJ in reaching a settlement with the FAA over 

past and current airport certification infractions. The airlines, who alone are being asked 

to bear these massive cost increases, fmd this situation untenable and unacceptable. 

New ARFF Fire Fighter Cadre 

We were fully briefed by your Aviation Department staff on both the cause of the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed civil penalties and the mitigation requirements 

that were mandated by the Settlement Agreement and Order dated April 8, 2013 

(Settlement). Based on the briefing by the Staff, we understand that the Port Authority's 

pla~ to meet the requirements of the Settlement will increase security costs at the airport 

by approximately $63 million annually. Also it is our understanding that the Port's intent 

is to pass though these costs to be paid by the airlines through the flight fees of the 

NY /NJ airports. 

Using cost data provided by the Port Authority for the new ARFF Cadre Fire Fighters, 

the 2013 Flight Fee impacts (i.e. the airlines' cost) for the Port Authority's airports will 

increase from $22,172,900 to $85,084,376 in 2014- a 284% increase in one year. We 

also understand from speaking with Aviation Department staff that there will be no relief 

in costs from the Public Safety Department to offset this increase, because there will be 

no reductions in the police staff that were formerly assigned to ARFF duties as necessary. 

Furthermore, we undetstand that the Port Authority will continue to train police officers 

on· patrol who are not assigned to ARFF for ARFF duties at the airline's expense via the 
July 19, 2013 

Page2 

flight fees, even though these police officers will no longer be fulftlling that role, since 

there will be a requirement for dedicated staff to make a long term commitment to 

perform ARFF duties. 

We fully support the Port Authority's compliance with all of the mitigation requirements 

outlined by the FAA in the Settlement. However, we cannot support the Port Authority's 

plan to implement the settlement's requirements by unilaterally and unfairly imposing 

significant cost increases on the airlines. This is particularly true since the airlines did 

not cause the problem and had-no input on the Settlement or the Port Authority's plans 

for complying. 

Going forward, and assuming we will reach a fair resolution on the incremental ARFF 

Settlement costs, we are somewhat encouraged by the fact that the new ARFF staff will 

report to the Aviation Department, which should provide the airlines with transparency 

into the details of the costs. We have worked with the Aviation Department staff to try to 

understand the nature of the significant cost increases associated with policing, security, 

and ARFF that we have faced over the past several years, but they did not have the means 

or authorization to provide the detailed information that we request. We have been, and 

continue to be, very interested in working with the Port Authority to understand the 

drivers of these cost increases and to assist in fmding and implementing ways to control 

them. 

Passenger Terminal Securitv Program 

We are also concerned that police and security costs continue to increase 

disproportionately each year. As an example, since 2008, the cost per tour of the 

Passenger Terminal Security Program has increased 27% at JFK and 53% at LGA. 

Additionally, actual overtime hours for the Terminal Security Program at JFK for 2012 

exceeded budgeted overtime hours by over 91%, and it is anticipated that in 2013 

overtime hours will exceed budgeted overtime hours by over 74%. By any measure of 

calculation, these cost increases to the airlines are unreasonable. 

The ever increasing costs at the Port Authority airports are of paramount concern to the 

airlines. This is in addition to the huge capital expenditures anticipated at all Port 

Authority airports in the near future. It is not reasonable, nor is it in the true spitit of our 

long term cooperative partnership, to simply expect that the airlines will bear this most 

recent cost increase due to the ARFF Settlement, or that the airlines will generally 

continue to bear increasing costs. This is particularly important given that the Port 

Authority's airports have among the highest flight fees being paid by the airlines in the 

nation. 
July 19, 2013 

Page 3. 

The Airline Airport Affairs Committees would like to discuss these concerns with you 

and Mr. Joseph Dunne, Chief Security Officer at your earliest convenience. The airlines 

want to work in a collaborative effort with the Port Authority to address the problems 

discussed above. 

Thank you for your consideration and assistance with this important matter. 

Signed on behalf of the New York/New Jersey Airline Airport Affairs Committees: 

Katelyn ~ Yi- United Airlines 

EWR AAAC Chairperson 

J:j~ Duane Slguenza- Delta Air Lines 

LGA AAAC Chairperson 

Kendra 

qlwwAa-~4:1. Kennedy- Amen can ~rlines JFK AAAC Chairperson 

cc: Bill Baroni, Deputy Executive Director 

Tom Bosco, Interim Aviation Director 

David Kagan, Acting Deputy Aviation Director