Power outages at JFK Airport’s Terminal 1 continue to plague travelers

NEW YORK — Terminal 1 at John F. Kennedy International Airport was still not operational late Thursday night after an early morning fire caused a power outage.

It has caused all sorts of delays and cancellations, with some travelers being bussed to different terminals and others to different airports.

The Port Authority has worked with passengers who would fly out of Terminal 1. Some were bussed to Terminal 4.

“It feels like a movie, like it’s not real. I’m still waiting for them to say it’s a joke,” said student Isabella Bivas.

Unfortunately, what happened on Thursday is no laughing matter. Passengers flying out of Terminal 1 were told their flights had been cancelled.

‘I was surprised that we were notified so close to the time of the flight, because the fire was last night. So if I had known sooner, I would have tried to book a flight from Newark or figure out another way to cross the Atlantic,” said traveler John Helyar.

The FDNY said it tended to set fire to a small paint can in a utility room at 3 a.m. The Port Authority said a fault in the electrical panel overnight caused the fire. There were no inbound or outbound flights to Terminal 1 for the rest of the day.

“Frankly, it’s just awful that the whole terminal is shutting down,” says college student Jackson Snyder.

There were also problems in the air. An Air New Zealand flight that had been traveling for eight hours to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand.

CBS2 saw a line of passengers waiting to be bussed to Stewart International Airport in Orange County to board their flight to London, which is delayed by seven hours.

“It won’t ruin my vacation. I’m still going to have a good time,” said traveler Jeffrey Fisher.

Other travelers said they don’t know when they will get out.

‘I just do not know. Looks like we’ll get a hotel if we have to stay overnight to sort it out,’ Ana Larochelle said.

Travelers are urged to contact their carriers.