NYC1

The staff at the lounge doesn�t know what will happen to them (ie will they be moved to T1 or laid off). Considering that they were out of a job for quite a while when the lounge was being redone and that the move is less than 2 months away, it�s a pretty sad situation. They�re good people.

Nick Art

It's a shame really, I only have good memories of them.
I think my earliest memory would be 2006 when I was allowed to enter the Lounge with my parents, despite only my dad having FTL and only having one Business ticket between the three of us. This was one of my earliest Lounge visits and is what partially sparked my fascination with frequent flying, status and lounges...

I know it's not very likely, but I hope they are moved to T1 where LX will hopefully get their own Lounge again, at least once the T1 renovation is done.
I would be thankful if somebody informed could keep us up to date on this aspect and maybe put in a good word or two.

I'm having a bit of a d�ja vu, as I think something similar happened in Saudi Arabia once, when LH took over LX and just cut the LX flights entirely (in favor of LH flights) and If I remember correctly they just fired all of the old LX ground staff.
I'm hoping there is a more positive outcome in this situation.

oliver2002

Since there is nearly no 'ground staff' except for 2-3 shift supervisors/managers employed by LX in outstations there should be not impact as such. You still need staff to dispatch the flights, so the contract labor just moves to a different terminal or the previous contractor reassigns the staff to a different airline.

MichielR

LX has (had?) a �Maitre de Lounge� for JFK and ORD combined. Employee of LX, previously employed by KL, as he told me. He helped making JFK the best LX outstation, in my opinion.

I hope he will be alright.

LukasNied

Hi All!

Yes this really a shame! I have not been in Swiss since the pandemic started. My last flight was in Feb 2020 and I just booked Swiss Frist from JFK to GVA in mid Feb 2022 for my entire family (yes I splurged on paying $26,000 and our direct flight had been already cancelled, so I am dealing with involuntary changes now). Anyway I was looking so much to visit Swiss lounge staff. As many before me pointed they are one of the best! Maybe it will be delayed, just by one month please.

T4 was a great terminal, before DL moved in and messed-up.

In my opinion, Swiss had a slight competitive advantage, in terms of quality of ground service at JFK, not being jammed into T1. I remember flying LX, and SN out of an old, old T4 (that was a 'third-world" scene that everyone would be complaining about and now we are ll nostalgic about!). A few, or half-dozen years ago, they did move to T1 already and after a few months moved back to T4. Do you remember that mobile boarding messiness? Now, as always in the airline industry, the cabin crew will have to deal with angry, mal-treated pax by ground mess. Where is the 'wing-to'wing' thinking, that Swiss (and Swissair) was known for???

Regarding First Class on LH. Actually LH operates only one flight our of JFK now with F: It's LH401 at 4pm in the winter 2021/2022 season. So that is why they do not open the F-floor. I would hope that with Swiss move they will open at least Sen floor. A few times I flown with LH out of T1 the escort always walked me through the special VIP security space. Is it still in operation?

Best to all of you! Happy Holidays!!!
Lukas N.

Nick Art

While the staff was employed by the contractor, they still exclusively handeled the LX flights and lounges if I am not mistaken. So losing them would still be a huge loss, not only in experience, but also in ground service quality, imho.

I hope they will keep him, because if they do I am confident the experience at T1 will be improved, at least partially or as much as possible given the infrastructure...

NYC1

Lots of stuff going on here...

Not sure how big your family is, but assuming we're talking 4 people or more, 26K isn't so bad.

I doubt they'll push the date.

LH is not operating any F flights from JFK for now and it's no longer in the winter schedule; they haven't operated F from JFK since they cut/changed the schedule early in 2020. They were supposed to, but kept pushing it. There's only F from EWR.

They should open the F floor for HONs but that's a separate debate. And they should definitely open it once Swiss moves to T1. All my recent flights on Swiss from/to JFK have been 8/8 in F. The SEN floor is now open. The special security service is open.

oliver2002

After spending millions on T7 BA is moving to AA in T8:

San Gottardo

Yes, Thomas, I cannot remember his family name. Very tall gentleman, who was great at welcoming and taking care of regular visitors. He was Maitre de Lounge for New York and Chicago.

Thomas retired, some time before Covid. I was in the JFK Lounge on his last day of work. Already then I felt he was a loss to the LX experience.

My feelings about the LX experience at JFK are quite mixed. Going through security always a pain, a massive push and shove bazar; the lounge felt somewhat cramped, and the food was OK-ish, but not great. On the other hand: the team made the best out of all of this. Knew their frequent pax (how many times have you been welcomed back by the station manager with a big hug after having been away for three weeks? She was a character�), the escorting through security was as efficient as possible, and the atmosphere in the lounge always warm and welcoming. Never had such a good experience with LH at JFK. The F/HON floor also was a disappointment, but clearly better than not having it at all.

NYC1

I am not sure if your experience is recent or from a while ago. More recently, security at T4 has been pretty good and they take you to the front of the line. The new lounge is nice and doesn�t feel cramped (pretty insane how it was just redone and will now be abandoned). I agree the food is still �ok-ish� and the team is very good. Security at T1 is almost always a zoo. I actually like the F/HON floor at the LH lounge. Now, they just have to reopen it! But capacity will be a huge problem assuming LH brings back F to JFK!!!

Nick Art

I guess today marks the day.

Did they manage to keep the awesome swissport staff? And how is/will the ground service and lounge situation develop?

I'm willing to give the LH ground staff a chance, but it will be hard to compare to how great and heartwarming the LX/Swissport staff was... not to mention the downgrade terminal and lounge wise.

LHSEN

Will LX F get to use VIP-One in T1?

NYC1

I can't imagine it wouldn't be offered since you get it with LH. Let's see who gets to test it first...

shipsmail

I will be there later this month. But it will be definitely the LH lounge. While both the LX and LH website still mention the LX-F-lounge in T4 and no F-lounge in T1, I think they will reopen or have reopened the LH-F-lounge in T1. Then only HON and the F-pax of LX will use this F-part of the lounge, as long as LH has no F-flights from JFK.

as of today both LH and LX have updated their weibsite saying that the LH F-Lounge will be open from 5 p.m. As LX has a flight to ZRH at 04:25 p.m, on a few days per week, I hope they will open then earlier. That was also the case in the last days of the F-LX lounge in T4.

Nick Art

I'm looking forward to hearing your experience as I will only be there in June.

I'm really wondering/worried what happened to the former Lx/Swissport ground staff...