JFK Airport Terminal 1

From Terminal 1 the easiest way to get to Terminal 2 is walking.

TV news announced that JFK is to reopen at 10am.

The airport is closed!
My parents are waiting at the airport for already 10 hours to fly to Holland!

There is nothing that we can do about this here on this forum. All you can do is go to the airport and recover your bags. If you flew with Lufthansa they are the ones who were responsible for your bags and they can help you.

Timeline of events for myself:

Mon 27 Dec
• 1635 Flight AF0010 from Paris Charles De Gaulle to JFK New York delayed due to JFK being closed because of adverse weather.
• 2050 departure from Paris.
• 2200 arrival in JFK.
• 2200 until 0330 stationary on the tarmac.

Tue 28 Dec
• 0500 through security and notified that our luggage would not be taken off the plane
• 0530 given the choice of (i) waiting to get our luggage at 1400 that day, or (ii) receiving our luggage at our final destination, for me a hotel in New York.

Wed 29 Dec-Sun 2 Jan
Every day in New York I would phone the lost baggage number at JFK, but only got a recorded message that sought to assure passengers that ‘everything was being done to ensure that they received their luggage as quickly as possible’.

Mon 3 Jan
I deliberately went to JFK very early on Monday 3 January when I was departing, in the hope that I would receive my luggage then. I was told by an Air France employee that my luggage had been picked up by "Perfect Courier" firm on 29 Dec. I have since found out that the said firm were given the WRONG hotel address and that I should have received my baggage many days previous to that. I further understand that my baggage was then forwarded to my Hotel once I had checked out

Tue 4 Jan
An Air France representative phoned me at home to assure me that they were searching for my bag as a matter of urgency and that it would be delivered to my home address ASAP.

Wed 5 Jan
I phoned Air France and was told that my luggage had been forwarded from New York to Paris and then will be forwarded to my home.

Thu 6 Jan
I received it on Thursday at 1300.

It only took Air France 12 days to return my luggage to me. In that period I was offered numerous reassurances that I would receive my luggage; e.g. at 1400 on Tue 28 Dec, ‘within two days’ of landing, etc etc.

I have a number of issues with Air France that I want to make clear.
1) I have spoken to Colin Smith, Regional Director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He said in an email that: “Air France normally operates to and from Terminal 1. I can only assume that your very late disembarkation from the aircraft was the reason for accessing Terminal 4, which has 24-hour customs and immigration facilities. This could explain why the airline seemed ill-prepared, but it does not explain why it has taken so long for you to receive your luggage”. I have still not yet received an explanation why we were kept on the tarmac for 5 ½ hours. I would value an explanation on this. More so I cannot understand why Air France would be ill-prepared for the arrival of the flight. If the okay was given for it to fly out on Mon night from Paris, there must have been some preparation for it to land? Again please answer this question.

2) I understand that the severe and adverse weather circumstances could not be controlled for. But we were permitted entry into the USA and no-one was ready for us. The responsibility here lies with Air France. The duty of an airline is to get the passenger and their luggage through security and customs at the same time. Air France failed on one of those accounts.

3) For passengers to not receive their luggage at all while being on vacation was all the more unacceptable. I met people who had medications locked away in their suitcases and were unable to access them. Withholding people’s luggage for any amount of time is not just a nuisance but can have potentially life threatening consequences.

4) On Tuesday 28 December there was a lack of communication amongst the Air France staff at JFK, and they appeared to have a policy of merely offering value-less guarantees to try to placate the angry passengers.

5) The weather could not be controlled for. But what would happen after it to ensure the smooth running of the airport could. Air France had no contingency plans in place for dealing with the ensuing problems that resulted from the adverse weather and its knock on effects.

I have been truly sickened by the treatment I have received from Air France as a whole on my vacation. I do not hold any individual employees responsible for anything – the blame must lie with management who failed to have any adequate plans place for coping with the consequences of the snow in JFK. Snow storms were forecast in the North East before they occurred, and so plans could have and should have been in place to cope with it after it ended. But no. There was something resembling chaos when we arrived at Kennedy.

Due to Air France inability to react positively to the adverse weather, I and hundreds of other people did not receive our luggage during our vacation in New York. I had to go out and buy new clothes for my vacation as well as toiletries.

Hi,
I was in the same flight. Did your baggages has come yet, cuz mines havent arrived yet and it has been like a week. Did you find any number to call someone cuz every number I have tried it has a voice mail. Please repley to my message and help me if you got your luggages back.

Thank you!!!