Q&A With the Airport Director: Sarah McKeon, C.M., P.E.

Sarah McKeon, C.M., P.E., was named Director of aviation for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) on March 1, 2025. She is responsible for ensuring the safe, secure and efficient operation of PANYNJ’s airport system — John F. Kennedy International (JFK), Newark Liberty International (EWR), LaGuardia (LGA), New York Stewart International (SWF) and Teterboro (TEB) airports. McKeon joined PANYNJ in 2004, rising from an
engineering trainee to become general manager of the agency’s New Jersey airports, then serving as the agency’s first deputy director of aviation before being named director.

You oversee five airports serving about 150 million annual commercial passengers. How do they work together as a system of aviation facilities serving the New York City metropolitan region?

JFK is the New York metro region’s primary international/long-haul airport and large air cargo center; EWR is the all-purpose domestic/international airport and small-package hub; LGA is the region’s primary short-haul domestic airport; SWF serves as a regional airport for leisure travel; and TEB is our reliever airport (and the nation’s busiest general aviation facility).

During the spring and summer, there were well publicized ATC issues at Newark Liberty. How do you work with FAA to overcome these and what are your views on ATC modernization?

This issue didn’t start in the spring of 2025. The FAA has had a slot waiver in place due to ATC staffing issues that go back to 2023. Nationwide air traffic control staffing shortages and outdated equipment have impacted operations, particularly at EWR. We remain focused on supporting the FAA and the Department of Transportation in addressing these issues. Recent federal efforts to modernize air traffic systems and boost staffing are already delivering measurable improvements with the overall goal of improving operational reliability, particularly in restoring Newark Liberty’s airspace to its full potential and expanding flight options. Making full use of our facilities is the best path to enabling greater customer access and robust airline competition.

PANYNJ is unique in that many of your passenger terminals are run by third parties. Can you share the thinking behind this and why it works?

The Port Authority essentially created this model in the 1960s at JFK, when PanAm, TWA and others built and operated their own terminals under lease agreements with us. Over time, we sadly abdicated control and saw the customer experience deteriorate, but that has changed in recent years as we took a more active role, what we call “governance,” by integrating standards, accountability mechanisms and key performance indicators into all agreements at our airports to allow us to enforce a world-class operation at every level and maintain our redeveloped infrastructure in excellent condition for years to come.

PANYNJ airports had one of their busiest summers ever. How do you keep up with the growth?

It was more than a busy summer: August 2025 set an all-time high of 13.8 million total passengers, making it the busiest month for air passengers in our agency’s history of running airports, which dates to the 1940s. The record also included a new high of 5.5 million international passengers served in a single month.

Keeping up with growth requires investing in your facilities so that they provide the highest levels of service while also anticipating future capacity needs. Everyone in the airport business must be a bit of an oracle — we need to see into the future to prepare our facilities for the decades ahead. Here in the NYC metro region, for example, we’ve seen a shift in airline fleet usage, with carriers relying on larger aircraft, which we refer to as upgauging. This has implications for what airport infrastructure will look like, as in the upcoming New Terminal One at JFK, which will offer 22 all-widebody gates to accommodate larger aircraft. We also need to create the highest levels of efficiency, which highlights the importance of airfield infrastructure like high-speed taxiways.

What challenges did you face managing traffic throughout the height of summer travel and the height of construction activity at JFK?

We had a record-breaking summer at JFK, with 18 million passengers. Nine of the airport’s 10 busiest days in its 77-year history occurred this summer (in terms of enplanements), including the Top 5 all-time. This happened against the backdrop of unprecedented construction. And yet, we spent 2,179 hours (98.5 percent) in “Code Green” and just 34 hours (1.5 percent) in Code Yellow or Amber across the entire summer. And under half of those hours were due to on-airport issues.

AirTrain JFK exceeded a million paid riders in each of June, July and August, with a record 1.17 million in August. For the whole summer, paid riders were up 26 percent vs. 2024 (2.6 million to 3.3 million). Ridership broke records in all three months and was up 11 percent overall vs. 2024, due in part to our half-fare program which ran from July 4th weekend through Labor Day. Our comprehensive mitigation plan worked well because we took an “all of the above” approach, implementing elements such as remote busing and for-hire vehicle pick-up lots, a paid communications outreach program, reduced AirTrain fares and 24/7 traffic management by our Airport Operations Center.

How do you attract and retain both new airlines and have existing airlines increase their service levels?

Our No. 1 priority as an airport operator is to maximize choices to ensure the most competitive airline ticket pricing for our customers. We’re fortunate with our three major airports that many airlines want to serve New York. We’re always trying to do better by looking for opportunities to serve new markets and for airlines to fly fringe and off-peak periods. And that’s not just the big hub partners that everyone knows. For some carriers, serving the fringe/off-peak periods can provide an important foothold for future growth and, of course, creates competition.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention New York Stewart International, our airport north of New York City in the mid-Hudson Valley. We’re focused on air service development there and have counted some wins in recent years. We’ve made considerable investments over the years, about $200 million in all, to make the airport as attractive as possible to potential carriers.

How do you motivate your staff?

We all need to have a purpose, so it’s incumbent of me to provide clarity on what’s expected and be consistent in my communications. I try to be intentional in my outreach to staff and set them up for success. I think I’ve done a good job throughout my career in being approachable and open to hearing whatever ideas staff want to share. Strong leaders should always try to ensure their people feel like they have a voice. Leave room for dissenting opinions and welcome input from all levels of staff, whether that’s a 30-year vet or an intern, because you never know where the next great idea will come from.

It’s also important to take time to recognize people’s good work. So much good work goes on every day and there’s a danger that it can blend into the background and go unnoticed. Look at what happened with EWR earlier this year. We’re getting vilified by the press, your family is asking you why their flight is delayed, and no one recognizes all the work that’s being done to make improvements quickly and resolve major issues, some of which are way beyond our control. Expressing regular and sincere gratitude for a job well done can feel like a small gesture but can make a huge difference.

What are you focused on for the future?

Setting up the department for future success underpins everything we do. Our capital investment program is designed to provide world-class facilities offering world-class service not just for today, but for years to come. A forward-looking approach is indispensable as we seek to meet future demand and changes in our industry, like preparing for the expansion of Advanced Air Mobility. It’s not just facilities, either. Taking an inward view is important, too. Looking at our teams, here in NYC and more broadly, across the country and around the world, we need to ask ourselves, “How do we build talented rosters and prepare people for bigger roles?” Our day-to-day obligations don’t often include things like succession planning, but we  must have a plan for when senior staff retire. Who are tomorrow’s airport executives? Have we prepared the next generation to assume control and responsibility? And just as important, have we set them up to succeed?

At PANYNJ, we have partnerships with places like Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, which is located literally across the street from LaGuardia Airport. We collaborate on scholarship and internship programs, host tours and job fairs, and work to stay engaged with young people, including middle schoolers. Even one-off events like Take Your Children to Work days provide excellent opportunities to introduce young people to the world of aviation.

What advice do you have for those starting out in the airport operations and management field?

Be relentlessly curious and cultivate cross-disciplinary skills — operations, finance, technology, customer experience. Seek out mentors across every department and volunteer for stretch assignments. And most importantly: never lose sight of the human element. Airports are about people — both those who work here and the travelers we serve.

What advice do you have for those starting out in the airport operations and management field?

Default to yes. Take every opportunity that comes your way. Always go for any training that’s offered. Get your C.M. from AAAE. Spend time with field staff outside your specialty. If you’re in ops, spend time with maintenance and vice versa. Spend time with ARFF. Learn about procurement, learn about budgets. Even if you never do that on a full-time basis, knowing how budgets work, how dollars are spent, will help you understand how to ask for and get what you need. Having spent some time engaged in that process, I have a strong understanding that enables me to refine my approach on budgetary issues.

What is one fun thing someone wouldn’t know about you?

How about two? I’ve climbed Mt. Fuji and I was active in my high school drama club.

If you weren’t working at the airport what would be your dream job?

I would love to own a flower shop. I worked in one as a teenager, and while I didn’t love scrubbing out the dirty flower buckets, I genuinely enjoyed  preparing for events. You see so much humanity in a flower shop, these glimpses of big moments in people’s lives, whether it’s a celebration or a mourning. Flowers bring joy and comfort, don’t they? As an aside, I’m proud that we play a small part in spreading that joy and comfort: Last year,  via air cargo, our airports helped import more than 8,000 tons of cut flowers and buds for bouquets to our region.

Where is your dream-travel destination and why?

Australia and New Zealand. Especially the landscape of New Zealand. I love the fact that it’s warm in January and cold in July, so if you plan your  travel right, you can get two summers in one year!