Originally Posted by
sailingfun
One of the options looked at would have done exactly that. The new terminal would have gone in on the North side of the airport where cargo is now handled. The check in area would have been Jet Blue's old terminal. Once you checked in there would have been trains under 13l/31R to get you to the main termainal. I think the idea was dropped because the cost of the tunnels would have been huge. JFK is built on reclaimed marshland. Not easy to tunnel in. The cargo area's don't have the roads and infrastructure for a terminal and check in area.
Not to mention the fact that access by aircraft could be either marginal, or horrid, depending on the runway in use. I think the best configuartion to get in and out is between two main runways, with several means of accessing A/B. That's what makes the AMR terminal so good. They can push between their own piers, and go out in two directions at least. Aircraft parked outside of their outer pier can go in/out with even fewer restrictions. Too bad they don't seem to use much of it.
With that being said, a Terminal 4 set-up, with two taxilanes between the fingers, would allow a lot of options to get in and out. The only thing that doesn't work is our current set-up at LA and MB. KK is slightly less convoluted, but there is at least one misguided soul work ramp tower who is determined to make it just as screwed up as the rest. It's the guy who likes to tell you to push back at a 45 abeam your own gate.