JFK Airport Reports Worst Freight Year Since 1987

New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport reported its lowest total freight tonnage in nearly a quarter century, with a 21.6 percent drop last year that surpassed even the decline in business in 2001.

Even a 17.1 percent surge in December from the same month a year ago left the major East Coast gateway with just a little more than 1.16 million tons for international and domestic freight.

The last time airport tonnage was that low came in President Reagan’s second term, when the largest carriers at JFK were Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines.

The overall decline was also the worst in recent history for the airport, and deeper than JFK’s 18.4 percent decline in 2001, when the September 11 terror attacks drastically cut into shipping demand already weakened by a faltering economy.

But the airport also appeared to turn the corner in December after a steep decline earlier in 2009.

The international freight at the heart of JFK’s cargo operations grew 22 percent year-over-year in the last month of the year, and the tonnage edged up about 4 percent from November to December to 112,192 tons, the highest total of the year.