Delta Air Lines has unveiled a new virtual tour (above) of its soon-to-be expanded terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, slated for completion in 2013. The $1.2 billion project will add 491,000 square feet to the existing Terminal 4 structure at the airport — already one of the largest air terminals in North America, covering 1.5 million square feet and 165 acres. Delta currently occupies JFK’s Terminals 2 and 3, but the aging No. 3 will be phased out and replaced once Terminal 4 is finished. “This is a game-changing project for our customers and the entire regional aviation system,” Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, said in a statement. — Sarabeth Sanders [more]

Andre Balazs isn’t the only big-name hotelier with his eye on the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s boutique hotel project at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Wall Street Journal dropped a few more hints today as to who might soon be jockeying for the opportunity to build a 150-room hotel adjacent to Eero Saarinen’s Trans World Airlines Flight Center, among them: Donald Trump, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and pod hotel owner-operator Yotel. Comments

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Andre Balazs and the former Trans World Airlines Flight Center

Hotelier Andre Balazs is one of several developers scoping out Eero Saarinen’s vacant terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport after the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey offered up the opportunity to build a new boutique hotel there earlier this month. According to the Wall Street Journal, Balazs’ firm — as well as Hoboken W Hotel builder Ironstate Development and WQB Architecture, which was responsible for the Lambs Club building hotel conversion on West 44th Street — appeared on a list of attendees at a recent site visit. [more]

The famed Trans World Airlines Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport could become part of a new boutique hotel under a plan by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, according to the Wall Street Journal. The agency, which has already poured $20 million into asbestos removal and restoration work at the vacant, Eero Saarinen-designed terminal, is now seeking developers to help recoup some of that money by converting the space into a lobby for a small hotel that would sit adjacent to the new JetBlue building. The lobby would have restaurants and shops, while the hotel would have around 150 rooms, said Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward. [more]

Delta’s Edward Bastian and JFK’s Terminal 4

Delta Air Lines is close to announcing the renovation of its outdated terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Wall Street Journal reported. The airline has been in talks for months with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey about funding the move, which is expected to include demolishing the former Pan Am Worldport — an icon at JFK, famous for its saucer-shaped roof — to make way for new facilities. According to Delta President Edward Bastian, an announcement
is expected within 60 days. “It is the worst facility that we operate,” he said of Delta’s two JFK terminals, which date back to the early 1960s. Among the options under discussion is the expansion of Terminal 4 — a 1,500,000-square-foot international terminal serving nearly 40 airlines — which opened in 2001 and sits next to the terminal that’s expected to be demolished. [WSJ]

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Delta’s Edward Bastian and JFK’s Terminal 4

Delta Air Lines is close to announcing the renovation of its outdated terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Wall Street Journal reported. The airline has been in talks for months with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey about funding the move, which is expected to include demolishing the former Pan Am Worldport — an icon at JFK, famous for its saucer-shaped roof — to make way for new facilities. According to Delta President Edward Bastian, an announcement
is expected within 60 days. “It is the worst facility that we operate,” he said of Delta’s two JFK terminals, which date back to the early 1960s. Among the options under discussion is the expansion of Terminal 4 — a 1,500,000-square-foot international terminal serving nearly 40 airlines — which opened in 2001 and sits next to the terminal that’s expected to be demolished. [WSJ]

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 After almost a decade of failed plans to replace its drab, aging terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Delta Air Lines is pushing ahead with the project once again. The airline is in talks with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to demolish the 1960s-era building and build a new terminal, for which it is hoping to find $1.5 billion in financing, Crain’s reported. That financing is unlikely to come from the state agency, which is already tangled in the expensive effort to rebuild the World Trade Center, but it could come through plane ticket fees that would require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. The Port Authority is the owner of the airport facilities. Delta operates terminals 2, 3 and 4 under a lease agreement. “There’s reasonable speculation that Delta Terminals 2 and 3 would be razed, and a new terminal would be built in its place,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline analyst with Forrester Research. “When you consider that Delta is competing against American Airlines and JetBlue, both of which have new terminals, Delta and the Port Authority have no choice.” Last month, Delta executives reportedly said at an internal meeting that they were looking to start the demolition of Terminal 3 next summer. [Crain’s]