JetBlue gives makeover to T5 at its New York JFK hub

Passengers flying out of JetBlue’s Terminal 5 (T5) at New York JFK now have a smoother, more high-tech path through the ticket lobby.

“The journey from keyboard to curb can be stressful,” said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s Executive Vice President, Customer Experience, “We strive to make it simple and be helpful.”

To do that, JetBlue has overhauled the T5 lobby first opened in 2008, making it more self-service focused, with 70 new kiosks, self-service bag tagging options, and a dozen bag drop locations.

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“We moved some walls around, creating 75% more space in the lobby,” said Geraghty, “We’ve eliminated some lines and now it’s a space where people float through.”

The new lobby has roving greeters and, by the three bays of kiosks, hospitality-oriented JetBlue crew members standing by to help.

“Some airlines see self-service as a cost-saving initiative, but we see this as an opportunity to increase service,” said Geraghty. “There’s no real value in having an airline staff person print a bag tag, but we can add value in a way customers want, expect and don’t even know they need,” such as helping a parent wrangle kids, bags and strollers.

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The makeover not only reflects JetBlue’s goal of marrying hospitality with technology that wasn’t available when T5 first opened, it acknowledges the carrier’s changing business model and customer make-up.

“When we starting designing T5 back in 2004, JetBlue was a domestic airline, smartphones were just coming out and kiosks were still an unknown,” said Ty Osbaugh, Principal, Aviation and Transportation Practice Area Leader for architecture design firm Gensler, which worked on the T5 upgrade as well.

Now the airline has many international flights, which means many passengers arrive at the terminals with more baggage and have check-in processes that can take longer. At the same time, smartphones, new technology and the preference of many passengers to do things on their own creates a high demand for full-service kiosks and a self-serve bag tag and drop system that is simple and easy for both novice and experienced travelers to use.

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The new lobby layout, “creates a series of superhighways for fast passengers and alleyways for people who need more time. That’s the wave of the future, providing both,” said Osbaugh.

For those who use the kiosks but encounter a glitch, there’s a welcome in-between “rework” area.

“In the old days, you’d have to go get in line with everyone else if you had a problem,” said Osbaugh, “We’ve created a second process with a smaller cue so passengers reap the benefits of at least trying,” to use the kiosks.

The new T5 lobby now also offer customers a series of “repack” tables with built-in scales.

“In the past, if your bag was overweight you’d just find a place on the floor and start to pull stuff out,” said Osbaugh. “JetBlue set aside space in the ticket hall for elevated tables where you can repack.”

JetBlue’s T5 makeover is a partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Gensler architecture design firm and kiosk manufacturer Embross. In addition to the new kiosks, rework area and repacking tables, the new design includes redesigned check-in areas for the carrier’s Mint service and Mosaic fliers as well as improved signage.

“Signs are no longer static but are dynamic LEDs that can change the message minute by minute,” said Osbaugh.”It’s something people will notice.”

While JetBlue’s official T5 lobby relaunch is officially Thursday, passengers have been using the new features over the past six weeks as part of a soft-launch and testing program.

The airline is working on a way to make the sure already well-used repacking tables don’t get too nicked, but JetBlue’s Geraghty said “probably the most exciting thing we learned so far is that there are no lines.”

Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.