Originally Posted by
jkearns
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Does anybody know the official PANYNJ/JFK rules/policies/practices regarding (airside) terminal hours?
I work as a Travelers Aid volunteer at JFK, and I can tell you from experience, each terminal has its own management that sets its own policies about these kinds of things. Some terminals have extremely picky management; other terminals less so. The property is owned by PANYNJ, but each terminal operates as a separate entity, with all of the vendors and airlines reporting to terminal managers.
About 02:00 they came to over and made us leave the airside part of the terminal until 03:30. At first they said it was so they could clean.
Who is "they?" I'm guessing you're talking about the private contracted security personnel in the black jackets? The private folks are the ones who patrol the terminal throughout the day. (PAPD officers show up only when there's a call.)
We said we would gladly move (although there were no janitorial staff in sight.) No dice. On the way out we asked the TSA agent (who appeared to just be surfing on his computer); he said it was a requirement and standard practice.
I believe that the TSA checkpoint closes down for a few hours in the middle of the night. I suppose that during that time, if you don't have a reason for being airside, they might want you to leave. Probably not TSA, but rather AA terminal management directive, being enacted by the private security officers who patrol the terminal. With so few staff (airline or security contractors) on duty at that hour, it makes sense to keep the airside area free of passengers.
We ended up riding the Airtrain for 90 minutes just to pass the time.
Good idea! The AirTrain is fun.
It is interesting that there is a cafe that is open 7X24 on the airside. Why would that be the case if the airside closes every night? Would we have been ok if we simply sat in the food court?
Plenty of maintenance, janitorial, and ramp workers who have night shifts at T8 and would like refreshments during breaks.