Zero Unplanned Downtime Across JFK Terminals 1 and 6
Data, security and voice systems for a new terminal, and a fiber demolition strategy for a live one — both delivered without a single unplanned outage.
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey · John F. Kennedy International Airport
The challenge
JFK’s redevelopment put two terminals under construction at once, with very different problems. Terminal 6 was a full-scale redesign — two new terminals, expanded facilities, a new ground transportation centre and a rebuilt roadway network — all of which needed network, security and voice systems integrated and proven before opening day.
Terminal 1 was the harder case. Demolition work threatened to sever network infrastructure that live airport operations depended on, and nobody had mapped a safe path through it. Cutting the wrong fiber would not just delay the schedule; it would take operational systems offline in a working international terminal.
What we did
For Terminal 6, BlackHawk Data designed, configured, tested and installed the data, security and voice systems, integrating every subsystem and validating the whole environment before the terminal opened rather than after.
For Terminal 1, the team reviewed both legacy and new construction plans, traced the existing fiber paths, and built a demolition and migration sequence around what could not be interrupted. Engineers stayed on site through the work to hold uptime and resolve problems as they surfaced instead of after the fact.
Outcomes
- Zero — unplanned downtime across both terminal projects
- 2 — fully segmented networks delivered — Shared Tenant Services and Operations
- On schedule — redevelopment timeline held, avoiding delay penalties
- Pre-opening — switches, firewalls, routers and voice servers tested and online before launch