JFK Terminal 4: Defining a North Star Vision

As part of a $19B USD investment to modernize JFK Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is building new terminals and infrastructure. To stay ahead, JFK International Air Terminal (JFKIAT) saw the need for a unified terminal vision – one that aligned with the broader PANYNJ ambition to create a world-class airport, while also carving out a distinct experience for Terminal 4’s passengers, employees, airlines, and business partners.

Our key was to find Terminal 4’s sweet spot. This sweet spot should not only elevate the terminal to a world-class experience, backed by the PANYNJ’s vision, but also find the opportunity for Terminal 4 to create a differentiated experience for their diverse passenger and airline mix.

We began by conducting deep research to uncover opportunity areas and inform the vision. This included competitive benchmarking, analysis of existing personas and user data, and interviews and surveys with passengers, employees, and stakeholders. Collaborative workshops with JFKIAT leadership helped define and sharpen the direction, resulting in a clear North Star vision for Terminal 4.

From there, we created an experience strategy guide to show how it translates into real experiences across the terminal. We hosted ideation workshops that generated 500+ ideas, which were synthesized and tested with users. This process led to 18 final experience concepts, all tied back to the North Star.

We also audited existing services and future plans to identify gaps, and built roadmaps to help close them. To bring it all together, we created a visual journey that mapped how the final concepts support the future Terminal 4 experience.