# Better JFK Airport

> Independent guide to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York. Live flight boards, airline-to-terminal lookup, terminal guides, and practical pre-flight steps. Built by Lawrence Hitches (https://www.lawrencehitches.com). Not affiliated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

JFK has five active terminals (1, 4, 5, 7, 8) connected only by the AirTrain. Live flight data is licensed from AeroDataBox and cached briefly; delay conditions reference the FAA National Airspace System status. Terminal assignments shift during the New Terminal One construction, so the live boards are the tiebreaker.

## Airport status right now

- [JFK conditions](https://betterjfkairport.com/conditions): one live verdict combining the delay index (share of departures currently delayed or cancelled), FAA ground stops and delay programs in plain language, weather at the field with an is-this-delay-weather interpretation, active weather alerts, and transit alerts for the A/E/J/Z subway lines and LIRR that connect to the AirTrain. Refreshes every 10 minutes.

## Live boards

- [JFK departures](https://betterjfkairport.com/flights/departures): every departure today with terminal, gate, status
- [JFK arrivals](https://betterjfkairport.com/flights/arrivals): every arrival today
- Per-terminal boards: /flights/terminal-{1,4,5,7,8}-departures and -arrivals
- Per-airline boards: /flights/{airline-slug}-departures and -arrivals for all 70 carriers

## Airport navigation

- [Which terminal is my airline?](https://betterjfkairport.com/which-terminal): every JFK airline mapped to its terminal
- [Airlines at JFK](https://betterjfkairport.com/airlines): directory of all 70 carriers with terminal, alliance, and live boards
- Terminal guides: /terminals/terminal-{1,4,5,7,8}

## About the airport (entity reference)

- [About JFK Airport](https://betterjfkairport.com/about-jfk): the airport-entity reference page. Key facts: IATA JFK / ICAO KJFK; opened July 1, 1948 as New York International Airport ("Idlewild"); renamed for President John F. Kennedy in December 1963; owned by the City of New York, operated by the Port Authority of NY & NJ; 63.3 million passengers in 2024 (busiest US international gateway); five active terminals (1, 4, 5, 7, 8); 4 runways; site of the first commercial Boeing 747 flight (Pan Am, 1970) and the Saarinen TWA Flight Center (1962, now the TWA Hotel). A $19 billion rebuild is consolidating the airport; the $9.5 billion New Terminal One opens its first 14 gates in 2026 and completes in 2030.

## Project

- [About this site](https://betterjfkairport.com/about): who runs the site, data sources, independence