From Air Horns to Mass Notification How JFKs New Terminal One Elevated Construction Safety

Lessons learned from implementing site-wide emergency notification during construction of one of the largest airport terminal projects in North America

• By Cory Sherman
• Sep 21, 2026

The construction of The New Terminal One at John F. Kennedy International Airport is one of the largest infrastructure projects currently underway in the United States. The first phase alone encompasses approximately 1.8-million square feet, including new arrivals and departures halls and the first 14 gates of the future terminal. With more than 3,000 workers spread across an 88-acre construction site, project leaders faced a critical safety challenge: how to rapidly communicate emergency information and coordinate site-wide evacuations in the event of a fire, severe weather event, medical emergency, or other crisis.

Traditional emergency communication methods, including compressed-gas air horns, were already being used during evacuation drills. However, project leaders recognized significant limitations: air horns could not deliver specific instructions, would be difficult to hear in certain areas of the sprawling site, and offered no practical means of coordinating a large-scale evacuation across multiple work zones. For Joe Schwed, whose previous experience included working at the World Trade Center reconstruction project, the need for a more robust solution was clear.

“Air horns simply weren't going to be enough,” explained Schwed, who currently serves as Head of Health, Safety and Wellbeing for the New Terminal One project. “We needed a way to communicate instantly across the entire project and evacuate the site in an organized manner in the event that a real emergency occurred.”

Searching for a Better Solution

Drawing on his experience with large-scale construction projects, Schwed began researching emergency mass-notification systems. One of the first requirements was reliability. He knew that conventional Wi-Fi-based communication systems could be problematic in a dense construction environment where interference is common. Instead, he focused on systems operating on dedicated 400-MHz frequencies that could provide dependable coverage across the site.

After identifying a potential solution – wireless emergency notification systems from Safety Systems Management -- Schwed and his team took a cautious approach. Rather than immediately purchasing the system, they conducted a series of demonstrations and field tests to verify that it would perform under real-world conditions. Initial demonstrations generated interest, but project leaders wanted proof that the system would actually work across the full construction site. Additional units were brought in and strategically positioned throughout the project. The team then conducted extensive field testing to evaluate coverage, functionality, and tower placement.

The tests confirmed that the system could deliver clear audio and visual alerts throughout the project area, giving leadership confidence that it could perform when needed most.

Deploying a Site-Wide Safety Network

Following the successful testing phase, The New Terminal One team implemented a full emergency notification network consisting of 25 mobile communication towers and supporting base stations. At the center of the system is a command station located within the project's medical trailer. Acting as the operational hub, the base station allows the safety team to manage communications across the entire network. The system provides several key capabilities:

• Site-wide voice announcements delivered through all communication towers.
• LED message boards capable of displaying emergency instructions and safety information.
• Immediate emergency broadcasts initiated from a dedicated handset.
• Pull-pendant activation devices located on each tower, allowing workers in the field to trigger alerts if necessary.
• Bilingual emergency announcements delivered in both English and Spanish.

The towers have been deployed throughout Phase A of the project and will remain in operation until that phase reaches completion. As subsequent phases begin, the units will be relocated and redeployed throughout Phases B1 and B2, extending protection across the construction site through the terminal's projected completion in 2030.

Putting the System to the Test

Once fully deployed, the project team incorporated the notification network into a series of large-scale emergency evacuation drills. The first full evacuation exercise took place in July 2025, followed by another drill in March 2026. By the time the system was fully operational, approximately 1,000 workers were already active on site. As workforce numbers increased, the drills became increasingly important.

The results demonstrated the system's effectiveness. During one exercise, more than 2,000 workers were successfully evacuated from the 88-acre site and directed to designated muster points in approximately 10 minutes. For project leadership, the drills validated the decision to move beyond traditional air horn-based emergency procedures and into a new phase of clear and immediate crisis communications. Rather than relying solely on personnel to physically move through the site sounding alarms, safety managers could instantly communicate evacuation instructions to workers across the entire project from a central location.

While the system was implemented primarily for emergency response, project leaders quickly found additional uses. The network became a valuable tool for communicating routine safety information and heat-stress alerts during periods of extreme weather. Safety teams used the system to remind workers about personal protective equipment requirements and to announce the availability of cooling resources such as water, ice, and electrolyte products. These regular communications helped reinforce safety awareness while ensuring that workers received timely information about changing jobsite conditions.

Lessons Learned

The deployment was not without challenges. One obstacle involved securing a dedicated operating frequency within the highly regulated airport environment. Another challenge involved ownership and maintenance of the towers themselves: because the system was not originally included in construction contracts, responsibility for power connections and protection of the units was sometimes unclear. In some instances, towers were accidentally unplugged or damaged as work progressed around them. Project leaders plan to address these issues in future phases by incorporating responsibility for the system directly into contractor agreements, ensuring proper power connections and ongoing maintenance.

For Schwed, the decision ultimately came down to preparedness.

“Large, complex construction projects create unique emergency-response challenges. Traditional methods that may work on smaller sites can quickly become inadequate when thousands of workers are spread across millions of square feet of active construction. By implementing a site-wide emergency notification network, The New Terminal One established a centralized method for communicating with workers, conducting large-scale evacuations, and delivering critical safety information across one of the nation's most ambitious airport construction projects.”

As construction continues through 2030, the system will remain a key component of the project's overall safety strategy, helping ensure that every worker can receive clear instructions when seconds matter most.