LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport
FAA airport diagram
IATA: LGA ICAO: KLGA FAA LID: LGA
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of New York
Operator	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Serves	New York City
Location	New York City
Elevation AMSL	21 ft / 6 m
Coordinates	40°46′38.1″N 073°52′21.4″W
Website	www.laguardiaairport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 7,001 2,134 Asphalt/Concrete 13/31 7,003 2,135 Asphalt/Concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface ft m H1 60 18 Asphalt H2 60 18 Asphalt
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

LaGuardia Airport (IATA: LGA, ICAO: KLGA, FAA LID: LGA) (Template:Pron-en) is an airport located in Queens County on Long Island in the the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally named Glenn H. Curtiss Airport after aviation pioneer Glenn Hammond Curtiss then renamed North Beach Airport, then later named for Fiorello H. La Guardia, a former mayor of New York who built the airport. In 1960, it was voted the "greatest airport in the world" by the worldwide aviation community. "LaGuardia Airport" is the official name of the airport according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the facility.

LaGuardia is the smallest of the New York metropolitan area's three primary commercial airports, the other two of which are John F. Kennedy International Airport in southern Queens and Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. It is larger, however, than nearby alternative airports Long Island MacArthur Airport in Suffolk County, Westchester County Airport in Westchester County, and to a lesser extent, Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York. LaGuardia is popular due to its central location and proximity to Manhattan. In spite of the airport's small size, wide-body aircraft once visited regularly; the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 were even specifically designed for use at LaGuardia. From 2000–2005 Delta operated the 767-400ER with 285 seats. Today, there are no scheduled widebody flights, though occasionally Delta Air Lines rotates a Boeing 767-300 in for one of its many Atlanta flights. The airport serves as a focus city for American Airlines and US Airways, and their regional affiliates.

Most flights from LaGuardia go to destinations within the US and Canada, as well as service to Aruba and the Bahamas. The airport has INS/FIS facilities capable of processing customs and immigration on arriving international flights; the facilities are insufficient to handle efficiently the number of passengers that a non-precleared scheduled airline service would require. LaGuardia is the busiest airport in the US without any non-stop service to and from Europe. A perimeter rule prohibits incoming and outgoing flights that exceed 1,500 miles (2,400 km)—except on Saturdays, when the ban is lifted, and to Denver, which was grandfathered in — so most transcontinental and international flights use the area's other two major airports, JFK and Newark.

In 2008, the airport handled 23.1 million passengers; JFK handled 47.8 million and Newark handled slightly more than 35.4 million, making for a total of approximately 106 million travelers using New York airports, which is the largest airport system in the United States and second in the world after London in terms of passenger traffic.

History

Construction

The three major airports serving New York City:
 1) JFK International (JFK)
 2) LaGuardia (LGA)
 3) Newark Liberty International (EWR)
 ☆ Floyd Bennett Field (1931–72)

The current site of the airport was originally used by the Gala Amusement Park, owned by the Steinway family. It was razed and transformed in 1929 into a 105-acre private flying field. The airport was originally named Glenn H. Curtiss Airport after the pioneer Long Island aviator, and later called North Beach Airport.

The initiative to develop the airport for commercial flights began with a verbal outburst by New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia (in office from 1934 to 1945) upon the arrival of his TWA flight at Newark — the only commercial airport serving the New York City region at the time — as his ticket said "New York". He demanded to be taken to New York, and ordered the plane to be flown to Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, giving an impromptu press conference to reporters along the way. At that time, he urged New Yorkers to support a new airport within their city.

American Airlines accepted La Guardia's offer to start a pilot program of scheduled flights to Floyd Bennett, although the program failed after several months because of Newark's relative proximity to Manhattan. La Guardia went as far as to offer police escorts to airport limousines, in an attempt to get American Airlines to continue operating the pilot program.

During the Floyd Bennett experiment, La Guardia and American executives began an alternative plan to build a new airport in Queens, where it could take advantage of the new Queens-Midtown Tunnel to Manhattan. The existing North Beach Airport was an obvious location, but much too small for the sort of airport that was being planned. With backing and assistance from the WPA, construction began in 1937. Building on the site required moving landfill from Rikers Island, then a garbage dump, onto a metal reinforcing framework. The framework below the airport still causes magnetic interference on the compasses of outgoing aircraft: signs on the airfield warn pilots about the problem. Because of American's pivotal role in the development of the airport, La Guardia gave the airline extra real estate during the airport's first year of operation, including four hangars (an unprecedented amount of space at the time) and a large office space that would be turned into the world's first airline lounge, the LaGuardia Admirals Club.

The airport was dedicated on October 15, 1939, as the New York Municipal Airport, and opened for business on that December 2. It cost New York City $23 million to turn the tiny North Beach Airport into a 550-acre (2.2 km²) modern facility. Not everyone was as enthusiastic as LaGuardia about the project, some regarded it as a $40-million boondoggle. But the public was fascinated by the very idea of air travel, and thousands traveled to the airport, paid the dime fee, and watched the airliners take off and land. Two years later these fees and their associated parking had already provided $285,000, and other non-travel related incomes (food, etc.) were another $650,000 a year. The airport was soon a huge financial success.

Newark Airport began renovations, but could not keep up with the new Queens airport, which Time called, "the most pretentious land and seaplane base in the world." Even before the project was completed, La Guardia had won commitments from the 5 largest airlines (Pan American Airways, American, United, Eastern Air Lines and Transcontinental & Western Air) that they would begin using the new field as soon as it opened. The airport was used during World War II as a training facility for aviation technicians and as a logistics field.

Newspaper accounts alternately referred to the airfield as New York Municipal Airport and LaGuardia Field until the modern name was officially applied when the airport moved to Port of New York Authority control under a lease with New York City on June 1, 1947.

Later development

LaGuardia Airport view from an airplane

Although LaGuardia was a very large airport for the era in which it was built, it soon became too small for the amount of air traffic it had to handle. Starting in 1968, general aviation aircraft were charged heavy fees to operate from LaGuardia during peak hours, driving many GA operators to airports such as Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey. In 1984, to further combat overcrowding at LGA, the Port Authority instituted a "perimeter rule" banning flights from La Guardia to cities more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km) away (Western Airlines unsuccessfully challenged the rule in federal court). Later, the Port Authority also moved to connect JFK and Newark Airport to regional rail networks with the AirTrain Newark and AirTrain JFK, in an attempt to make these more distant airports competitive with LaGuardia. [2] In addition to these local regulations, the FAA also limited the number of flights and types of aircraft that could operate at LaGuardia (see 14 CFR § 193).

LaGuardia's traffic continued to grow. By 2000, the airport routinely experienced overcrowding-related delays, many of which were more than an hour long. That year, Congress passed legislation to revoke the federal traffic limits on LaGuardia by 2007. The reduced demand for air travel following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City quickly slowed LaGuardia's traffic growth, helping to mitigate the airport's delays. Ongoing Port Authority investments to renovate the Central Terminal Building and improve the airfield layout have also made the airport's operations more efficient in recent years.

FAA approved Instrument Departure Procedure La Guardia One: Whitestone Climb and the Expressway Visual Approach to Runway 31 both overfly Citi Field. In the name of safety when New York Mets games are in progress, these procedures are not usually used.

In late 2006, construction began to replace the current tower, built in 1962, with a more modern one.

Accidents and incidents

• On February 1, 1957, Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashed on takeoff into Rikers Island. Of 101 people aboard, 21 were killed.

• On February 3, 1959, American Airlines Flight 320 crashed on approach into the East River. Of 73 people aboard, 65 were killed.

• On December 29, 1975, a bomb exploded at LaGuardia, killing 11 people and injuring 74.

• On September 21, 1989, USAir Flight 5050 bound for Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, crashed after aborting takeoff and rolling off the end of the runway into the East River. The plane broke into three pieces, and three passengers died as a result.

• On March 22, 1992, USAir Flight 405 bound for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, crashed on takeoff at LaGuardia due to icing on its wings. Of 51 people aboard, 27 were killed.

• On March 2, 1994, Continental Airlines Flight 705 to Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, aborted takeoff in a snowstorm and skidded down the runway into a ditch.

• On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport ditched in the Hudson River at a gradual angle after losing both engines as a result of multiple bird strikes at an altitude of 3000 feet; all 150 passengers (12 in first class and 138 in economy) and 5 crew members (2 pilots and 3 flight attendants) were successfully evacuated from a safe water ditch.

Over the years, these incidents have led to discussions on whether or not LaGuardia's 7,000-foot (2,100 m) runways are adequate to handle large passenger aircraft. There are several commercial airports in the U.S. with shorter runways (Chicago Midway and Bob Hope Airport, for example).

Other incidents involving LaGuardia include:

• On August 1, 2009, the airport was evacuated when a Port Authority police officer mistook a mentally-disabled man's electrical equipment for a bomb, and his flipping of a switch to be an attempt to detonate it.

Top airlines and destinations

LaGuardia Airport is one of the busiest airports in the United States. In 2008, there were 176,373 flights that departed in LaGuardia. In 2009, 26 scheduled airlines operate from the airport. The top carriers are: American Airlines (19.76%), Delta (16.21%), US Airways (8.88%), United (7.05%), Northwest (6.86%). Other airlines that have numerous flights in LaGuardia are Air Tran, Continental, Frontier and Spirit.

Busiest Domestic Routes from LGA (2008)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Atlanta, Georgia	1,071,000	Air Tran, Delta
2	Chicago (O'Hare), Illinois	1,047,000	American, United
3	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	668,000	Northwest, JetBlue, Spirit
4	Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas	559,000	American
5	Miami, Florida	541,000	American
6	Boston, Massachusetts	523,000	Delta, US Airways
7	Washington (Reagan), DC	489,000	US Airways Express,Delta
8	Detroit, Michigan	486,000	Northwest Airlines, Spirit, American Eagle
9	Charlotte, North Carolina	434,000	US Airways
10	Denver, Colorado	369,000	Frontier Airlines, United

Terminals, airlines and destinations

LaGuardia has four terminals connected by buses and walkways. Signage throughout the terminals was designed by Paul Mijksenaar.

Central Terminal Building (CTB)

The Central Terminal Building (CTB) serves most of LaGuardia's domestic airlines. It is six blocks long, consisting of a four-story central section, two three-story wings and four concourses (A, B, C, and D) with 38 aircraft gates. It was dedicated on April 17, 1964, and cost $36 million. Delta and US Airways left the CTB in 1983 and 1992 respectively to their own dedicated terminals on the east side of the airport. The Port Authority and various airlines have carried out a $340 million improvement project in the 1990s and early 2000s to expand and renovate the existing space. [3]

Concourse A

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada	Montreal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson
Air Canada Jazz	Halifax, Montreal-Trudeau, Ottawa
Continental Airlines	Aruba [seasonal], Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental
Continental Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Cleveland
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines	Cleveland
JetBlue Airways	Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, West Palm Beach

Concourse B

Airlines	Destinations
AirTran Airways	Akron/Canton, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Newport News/Williamsburg, Orlando
Frontier Airlines	Denver
JetBlue Airways	See Concourse A
Midwest Airlines	Kansas City, Milwaukee
Midwest Connect operated by Republic Airlines	Kansas City, Milwaukee
Southwest Airlines	Baltimore, Chicago-Midway
Spirit Airlines	Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Myrtle Beach

Concourse C

Airlines	Destinations
American Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Eagle/Vail [seasonal], Miami, Nashville, St. Louis, Toronto-Pearson [ends after August 24], West Palm Beach [seasonal]
American Eagle	Boston, Charleston (WV), Cleveland, Columbus (OH), Detroit, Fayetteville (AR), Montréal-Trudeau, Nashville [starts August 25], Raleigh/Durham, Toronto-Pearson, Traverse City [seasonal]
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Washington-Dulles
United Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Washington-Dulles
United Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Washington-Dulles
United Express operated by Shuttle America	Chicago-O'Hare

Concourse D

Airlines	Destinations
American Airlines	See Concourse C
American Eagle	See Concourse C

Delta Terminal

The Delta Flight Center opened on June 18, 1983, at a cost of approximately $90 million. It was designed to accommodate Delta's new Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft.

Airlines	Destinations
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Hayden/Steamboat Springs [seasonal], Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach
Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines	Columbia (SC)
Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Columbus (OH)
Delta Connection operated by Comair	Asheville (NC), Birmingham (AL), Charleston (SC), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Des Moines, Fort Lauderdale [seasonal], Grand Rapids, Greenville/Spartanburg (SC), Indianapolis, Jacksonville (FL) [ends August 17], Kansas City, Lexington, Myrtle Beach [seasonal], New Orleans, Omaha, Raleigh/Durham, Savannah/Hilton Head Island, Traverse City [seasonal], West Palm Beach [seasonal]
Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines	Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America	Atlanta, Sarasota [seasonal]
Northwest Airlines	Bermuda, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nassau, New Orleans, West Palm Beach
Northwest Airlink operated by Comair	Jacksonville (FL) [begins August 18]
Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines	Knoxville, Indianapolis, Jacksonville (FL) [begins August 18], Madison

Marine Air Terminal in 1974

Marine Air Terminal

Main article: Marine Air Terminal

The Marine Air Terminal (MAT) was the airport's original terminal for overseas flights. The waterside terminal was designed to serve the fleet of flying boats, or Clippers, of Pan American Airways, America's sole international airline throughout the 1930s and 1940s. When a Clipper would land in Long Island Sound, it would taxi up to a dock where passengers would disembark into the terminal. After World War II, new four-engine land planes were developed, signaling the end of the Clipper era. The final Clipper flight left the terminal in February 1952, bound for Bermuda.

The terminal is home of the largest mural created during the Roosevelt era Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Arts Program. Created by New York artist James Brooks, the mural, Flight, encircles the upper rotunda walls, telling the story of man's conquest of the heavens up through 1942 when the work was completed. During the 1950s, many WPA artists were thought to be in collusion with communists. Several works of art were destroyed that had been created for Post Offices and other public facilities. Likewise, Flight was completely painted over with wall paint by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. In the late 1970s, Geoffrey Arend, an aviation historian and author of Great Airports: LaGuardia, mounted a campaign to restore the mural to its original splendor. With the help of Brooks, LaGuardia Airport manager Tim Peirce, and donations from Reader’s Digest founders DeWitt Wallace and Laurance Rockefeller, Flight was rededicated in 1980.

In 1986, Pan Am restarted flights at the MAT with the purchase of New York Air’s shuttle service between Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. In 1991, Delta Air Lines bought the Pan Am Shuttle and subsequently started service from the MAT on September 1. In 1995, the MAT was designated as a historic landmark. A $7 million dollar restoration was completed in time for the airport’s sixty-fifth anniversary of commercial flights on December 2, 2004. Along with the Delta Shuttle, general aviation operates from the terminal through a fixed based operator.

Airlines	Destinations
Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America	Chicago-Midway, Washington-Reagan
Delta Shuttle operated by Delta Air Lines	Boston
Delta Shuttle operated by Shuttle America	Washington-Reagan

US Airways Terminal

The 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m²) US Airways Terminal, designed by William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates Architects and Planners, was opened September 12, 1992, at a cost of $250 million. The original tenant was intended to be Eastern Airlines, but when Eastern was forcibly bankrupt in an effort by parent Texas Air Corporation to merge its assets with that of sister airline Continental Airlines, Continental assumed the leases. Continental never moved in, as it sold its leases and most of its LaGuardia slots to US Airways as part of Continental's bankruptcy restructuring. Trump Shuttle, successor to Eastern Airlines Shuttle, and what is now US Airways Shuttle, also occupied the terminal before becoming part of US Airways. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says that the terminal handles approximately 50% of regional airliner traffic at LaGuardia. [4]

Airlines	Destinations
US Airways	Charlotte, Freeport [seasonal], Nassau [seasonal], Pittsburgh, St. Thomas [seasonal]
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin	Baltimore, Buffalo, Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Columbus (OH), Greensboro, Indianapolis, Louisville, Myrtle Beach [seasonal], Norfolk, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Rochester (NY), Savannah/Hilton Head Island [seasonal], Wilmington (NC)
US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Charlotte, Columbus (OH), Dayton, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Louisville, Philadelphia, Portland (ME), Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Wilmington (NC)
US Airways Express operated by Colgan Air	Charlottesville, Hyannis [seasonal], Ithaca, Manchester (NH), Martha's Vineyard [seasonal], Nantucket [seasonal]
US Airways Express operated by Piedmont Airlines	Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, Burlington (VT), Norfolk, Philadelphia, Roanoke, Rochester (NY), Providence, Syracuse
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines	Charlotte, Dayton, Philadelphia
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines	Columbus (OH), Indianapolis, Myrtle Beach [seasonal], Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Savannah/Hilton Head Island [seasonal]
US Airways Shuttle operated by US Airways	Boston, Washington-Reagan

Ground Transportation

Bus

Several city bus lines link LGA to the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road, with free transfers provided for Metrocard users making subway connections. The buses are wheelchair accessible. These are operated by MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus Company:

• M60 (All terminals)
• Q33 (Central Terminal only)
• Q48 (All terminals)
• Q72 (Central Terminal only)
• Q47 (Marine Air Terminal only)

There are also many private bus lines operating express buses to Manhattan, the Hudson Valley, and Long Island.

Taxi

Taxicabs serving the Airport are licensed by New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. The fares within New York City are metered. Uniformed Taxi Dispatchers are available to assist passengers before they start the rides.

Limousine

New York City's limousine services, which are licensed by NYCTLC New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, offer various rates ranging from $40 – $150 from LGA airport to Manhattan, excluding tips and tolls in a sedan or limousine. Depending on the time of day, travel from LGA to Midtown Manhattan can be as quick as 25 minutes. Limousines accommodate 2–20 passengers depending upon the size of the limo.

In popular culture

• LaGuardia Airport appears as a level in the computer game Deus Ex. The level itself takes place in a private section of LaGuardia that is owned by Juan Lebedev, a prominent member of the NSF.
• LaGuardia airport of 1939 (or 1940) nearly receives the landing of a Boeing 707 jetliner in the Twilight Zone episode The Odyssey of Flight 33, but then the crew sees the 1939/1940 World's Fair site and realize they did not come forward in time far enough to be home. They do not make the landing they've been cleared for at LaGuardia.
• LaGuardia Airport is featured, and is the only airport, in the 2006 game Driver Parallel Lines. Although the player cannot enter the terminal, the runway area and a few of the parking lots are accessible. In the 1978 era there are hangars with ramps to jump off of, and in 2006 there are gates and a new entrance from the road out front, which is one-way, opposed to the two way road in 1978. The surrounding area's geography is changed to incorporate a racetrack and a Ray's Garage.Also,in 1978 era,there's a large stack of shipping containers next to the parking bay.It served as an alternative entrance.It was removed in 2006 era with a large parking lot in its place.
• In the 1987 John Hughes comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Neal Page and Del Griffith (played by Steve Martin and John Candy) depart LaGuardia on a flight to Chicago O'Hare Airport. They end up landing at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita due to a snowstorm in Chicago.
• In the music video for the 2008 song, I Will Possess your Heart, by Death Cab for Cutie, the main character embarks on a worldwide journey beginning from LaGuardia
• The airport is featured in the 1992 movie Home Alone 2, when Kevin McCalister (Maculay Culkin) discovers he accidentally took the plane to NYC instead of Miami
• The airport is the headquarters of the Men in Black in Men in Black: The Series based on the film.

See also

• New York World War II Army Airfields

External links

• LaGuardia Eats: Reviews of eateries in LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal from Newsday
• LaGuardia Airport (official site)
• LGA Airport Monitor (from Passur.com)
• Transportation Methods for Getting to LaGuardia Airport
• LaGuardia by private jet
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective August 8, 2024
• Template:PDFlink
• LaGuardia airport information (from airport-viewer.com)
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KLGA
  • ASN accident history for LGA
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KLGA
  • FAA current LGA delay information