GGA Lauds Addition of More U.S. Customs Officers at Newark and JFK Airports

The Global Gateway Alliance (GGA) praised U.S. Senator Charles Schumer’s announcement of hundreds of new Customs officers being added at Newark International Airport and JFK International Airport in New York.

The announcement came after a GGA study revealed that JFK and Newark had the longest customs wait times in the country last year with passengers left waiting for an average of two hours during peak times.

“This announcement puts into action what we've been calling for – increased Customs staffing at JFK and Newark, the busiest international gateway airports in the country, to ease hours-long Customs wait times that have hurt our region and economy," GGA said in a statement.

It noted that bringing automated customs kiosks to JFK has already helped reduce wait times in the initial months they've been in operation; in fact, the kiosks have cut wait times by more than 50 percent at Terminal 4.

"Senator Schumer's announcement is a big step toward addressing the problem for the long term – the greater staffing power coupled with these new technologies will mean a win-win for passengers and our region’s economy," said GGA's statement. 

Global Gateway Alliance (GGA) was established to address challenges facing the New York City area airports and the related infrastructure. Leaders in business, government, academia, labor and other sectors come together in GGA to advocate for airport improvements and regional business and air travel growth. 

For more information regarding the Global Gateway Alliance, visit www.globalgatewayalliance.org.