'America's most awful airport' to get major make-over

[webfact]

'America's most awful airport' to get major make-over

NEW YORK, NY - Most international travelers would never have used New York’s La Guardia Airport, named after a former charismatic Mayor (Kennedy was once called Idlewild in honour of a local land developer – it was quickly changed to Kennedy (JFK) after the death of the President in 1963). La Guardia started life as a seaplane base and last year moved 27 million passengers, domestically within the USA, and to and from Canada.

Situated in the northern suburb of Queens it is 10 miles from Times Square, it has a reputation as America’s most awful airport. Flushing Meadow for tennis is nearby. One can also route that way to JFK.

After years of bureaucratic to-and-fro, the Port Authority, which operates LaGuardia, as well as Kennedy and Newark airports plus Stewart New Jersey, general aviation base Teterboro and Atlantic City Airport, has now given the go-head for a nearly $4 billion renovation of the airport’s central terminal building.

Full story: http://www.eturbonews.com/60192/america-s-most-awful-airport-get-major-make-over

-- eTN 2015-06-15

[noitom]

Where does the writer get the information that LaGuardia is known as "America's worst airport?"

[Shot]

Where does the writer get the information that LaGuardia is known as "America's worst airport?"

Just a guess

http://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-11-24/the-best-and-worst-airports-in-america-readers-choice-awards-2014/20

[ubonjoe]

Or here http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/americas-best-and-worst-airports/2

[ThaiKneeTim]

Does America have a good airport?

Last time I travelled through LAX they didn't have airside connection between international flights, so my entire four hour layover was spent entering and leaving the USA, with entry and exit visa stamp only and hour apart.

American airports just weren't geared up for post 9/11 security, with security checks in corridors and no room to accommodate the queues!

I'm hoping things have improved, but I'll still avoid flights connecting through US airports for the time being.

[NeverSure]

Does America have a good airport?

Last time I travelled through LAX they didn't have airside connection between international flights, so my entire four hour layover was spent entering and leaving the USA, with entry and exit visa stamp only and hour apart.

American airports just weren't geared up for post 9/11 security, with security checks in corridors and no room to accommodate the queues!

I'm hoping things have improved, but I'll still avoid flights connecting through US airports for the time being.

"I'll still avoid flights connecting through US..."

Thanguvellymusch.

[Publicus]

Hah, two states that have pooled resources for a hundred years to run overlapping ports finally decide to make a major infrastructure improvement which is a radical one and there are still some people who do their kneejerk jerking.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are finally doing LaGuardia and to the tune of $4 billion bucks which means it is going to be a gleaming facility.

People visiting the PRChina need to see the dingy gray cave dweller row buildings jammed together in Mao inspired regimentation that forever blight the polluted countryside outside of the Emerald Cities of the Empire where from any city center all roads engulfed in smog lead out to blight...or to one empty Emerald City after yet another.

LaGuardia sure beats Don Muang even if DM has more generals and their private jets than LaGuardia. Flushing Meadow where Shea Stadium is also (Baseball, AmFootball) with JFK airport nearby ain't no swamp either. NYC has always been respectful of Flushing Meadow. It's been a long and winding road to the new LaGuardia but it will shine and Flushing will remain intact.

[sgtsabai]

Personally all the airports in America suck and have since the kabuki theater of fear started. Over 5 yrs. since I had to fly in or out and I hope to never do so again.

[Chicog]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are finally doing LaGuardia and to the tune of $4 billion bucks which means it is going to be a gleaming facility.

In that neck of the woods it will be a miracle if all $4 billion gets anywhere near it.

[rijb]

Personally all the airports in America suck and have since the kabuki theater of fear started. Over 5 yrs. since I had to fly in or out and I hope to never do so again.

You've been to all of them? Does your horse fly?

[Jay Sata]

Never mind giving the airport a makeover. They need to attend to the miserable anti tourist immigration and security staff.

I get treated better in Russia and China.

[tigermonkey]

Never mind giving the airport a makeover. They need to attend to the miserable anti tourist immigration and security staff.

I get treated better in Russia and China.

Why ? Were you laboring under the illusion that visitors were welcome in the USA ?

[Publicus]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are finally doing LaGuardia and to the tune of $4 billion bucks which means it is going to be a gleaming facility.

In that neck of the woods it will be a miracle if all $4 billion gets anywhere near it.

There you go commenting on America again!

Where's the Captain America foreigner speech cop when we really need him

So you've flown there, but do you pay taxes there, vote there, go to Rick Perry rallies at the Fort Worth Rodeo....then ferever hold yer piece

[facthailand]

I grew up in NYC and have fond memories of flights to New England as recently as 2005. It's a charming airport with helpful staff, marble floors, art deco murals. Best of all, passengers walk out on the tarmac to board so you can sniff the weather before you go.

This is likely a political plum for corruption. They're sure to ruin it...

BTW, I personally have not had any problems with US Immigration; they usually crack a joke or two and ask me all about living in Thailand. But I always have a smile, am friendly and polite. TSA, on the other hand, are a humourless, ill-paid bunch, waddya expect. Want some real airport Nazis? Go to Canada--whew!

[JDGRUEN]

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (Texas) is quite good. Terminal connections are usually made with the rubber wheeled train cars on a walled track. Cars have color coded panels... While not at fast - and the cars smaller - it is a bit like the Sky Train in Bkk (now I said a little bit)...

Departure - from taxi. friend letting you off - or parking the car is quite close to ticketing and gate. There are a few expectations where American Airlines messed up the terminal system but other wish quite good. Arrival - ground transportation is quite close to the baggage area.

[sgtsabai]

Nope that mare never flew but she was one hell of a mountain horse. I've flown into enough different airports over the years to say that without a doubt, the kabuki theater of fear is in full effect. Hmmmm, maybe you like being body scanned, groped and treated like a criminal? Hmmm you say that doesn't happen in every airport, only a select few? I don't think so. Yes, TSA sucks in particular, I wouldn't hire them for a dogcatcher in a one dog town. I did meet probably the best interrogator ever once, not TSA. Most people have never known they were being interrogated. I did in 30 seconds and she knew I knew in an instant. Just a smile and silent acknowledgement of one to another. America's airports have become a large part of the surveillance/police state of America.

[movsrus]

La Guardia is a dump but Philadelphia (PHL) is worse. Terrible lines at security, poor infrastructure, you have to pay for wi-fi (except on weekends) and long delays if there is any kind of weather on the East Coast. Airports on the East Coast of the US are at capacity and many locals object to plans to add runways or increase the footprint of the airport. EWR is better but not by much.

[Credo]

Well, just to put things into perspective, the only times I have ever missed a flight because of security screening was in Geneva, Switzerland; London Heathrow; Istanbul, Turkey and Hong Kong.

When traveling around and through the US, it's a pain in the backside, but they get you through and on your flight.

Some of those airports are getting a little old, but they still function.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

[727Sky]

The Tarmac during the summer heat can be a problem due to not being really stressed for heavier aircraft. You actually sink-in on some of the ramps if you are flying heavy equipment; or used to before they started all the RJ type commuter flights out of there..

The runways can be a challenge during the winter months for they really are not all that long. MD-80s, 737s, and even a 727 have all made the funny papers for over runs and ending up in the lights and water. Weather, Snow, Ice, and winds can be a big problem with their runway operation for there is little margin for error.

I for one hope they extend the runways and widen some of the taxi ways. With 4 billion to spend.... that sounds like some of the stuff they are going to do... A new terminal with customs and immigration is undoubtedly needed.

[NeverSure]

...I hope to never do so again.

Thanguvellymusch.

[NickJ]

Terrible place with terrible Airports.... Its to bad they invented them in the first place....Should have just kept them to themselves. ......

[Publicus]

Terrible place with terrible Airports.... Its to bad they invented them in the first place....Should have just kept them to themselves. ......

Ronald Reagan Airport on the opposite bank of the Potomac from Washington and a stone's throw from the Pentagon needs to be turned into a kiddie electric go-cars course where they smash 'em up and crash 'em through. No airport belongs there man. A mud flat and lighting catcher.

Same as Laguardia, RRA is for domestic flights only which means members of congress, cabinet, Pentagon, SCOTUS et al fly through there all the time and have parking spaces outside the near terminal. Members of Congress don't get groped much at the airport except in the rest rooms and they anyway do their own groping back on the Hill. They're always traveling with a wide-eyed petite jeune fille intern or some striking young guy with a plumage of hair. They don't pay attention any more to the old saying to never get caught with a dead woman or a live boy.

Florida Air Flight 90 barely got off the ground in 1982 when ice and snow crashed it into the 14th Street Bridge which I travelled daily and where the splash attracted considerable heroics. The thing about Reagan Airport takeoffs is that the plane has to climb at maximum force to avoid the bridges (Francis Scott Key Bridge also), the built up areas of Arlington VA right next to the airport and runway (Crystal City, Rosslyn). Anyone who's done it might agree it can often feel like an Apollo mission as you sit facing up (at 45-degrees).

Landing at RRA is even more hairy with the Potomac River as the landing path, a river not being the most air stable place when it's 34 degrees C with Chesapeake Bay out there not to mention the high buildings on the Virginia side contrasted to the open area of DC at the Potomac. One plane I wuz on rolled left-right is short quick rolls for about 15 or so seconds before it stabilized to touch the runway just above the water line. Just like it happened one time also landing at San Francisco Int'l where a plane recently banged its tail at the identical kind of spot but on the top of a retainer wall.

Anyone been to Newark Airport would probably agree they should have a closeout party then give it to some poor people and leave it at that. Hartsfield in Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth are pretty good but I think flying Southwest Air cinches the trip. Logan Int'l in Boston is close in to the city and if one doesn't mind touching the edge of the runway just above the Boston Harbor waterline amidst flocks of sea gulls (sonic air horns keep 'em away most of the time).

No surprise then Amelia Earhart disappeared.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Publicus

[ableguy]

Does America have a good airport?

Last time I travelled through LAX they didn't have airside connection between international flights, so my entire four hour layover was spent entering and leaving the USA, with entry and exit visa stamp only and hour apart.

American airports just weren't geared up for post 9/11 security, with security checks in corridors and no room to accommodate the queues!

I'm hoping things have improved, but I'll still avoid flights connecting through US airports for the time being.

It's obvious you don't have a clue, lost count of the times flown into LAX. Get a nanny.

[copa8]

Never mind giving the airport a makeover. They need to attend to the miserable anti tourist immigration and security staff.

I get treated better in Russia and China.

Both JFK and LaGuardia are crap. Seems like I'm entering Rikers Island.

[Stan42]

Personally, having visited the US 4 times, I can say that they have the worst airports by far. LAX being the worst, not only in the USA, but in the World. And this is coming from a guy that passed so-called airports in South Africa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, where the kids had to stop playing soccer on the field every time a plane landed.

They have a runway and check-in terminals. That's it. No shopping, no souvenir stores, no duty free, no restaurants, no WiFi, no air conditioning, no lounges, and the toilets are far apart and filthy. And let's not forget post 9/11 airport "security". I'll let George Carlin explain this:

[MaxYakov]

Personally, having visited the US 4 times, I can say that they have the worst airports by far. LAX being the worst, not only in the USA, but in the World. And this is coming from a guy that passed so-called airports in South Africa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, where the kids had to stop playing soccer on the field every time a plane landed.

They have a runway and check-in terminals. That's it. No shopping, no souvenir stores, no duty free, no restaurants, no WiFi, no air conditioning, no lounges, and the toilets are far apart and filthy. And let's not forget post 9/11 airport "security". I'll let George Carlin explain this:

Snipped: Video link to George Carlin's TSA bit

Will you be getting on-topic any time soon?

[Publicus]

Never mind giving the airport a makeover. They need to attend to the miserable anti tourist immigration and security staff.

I get treated better in Russia and China.

Both JFK and LaGuardia are crap. Seems like I'm entering Rikers Island.

Been thru JFK and LaGuardia but never to Rikers, so is your first hand report and in depth experience of the Island available on the web....

...Or izzit available only in the PRChina....complain there about airports or anything at all and you get their Rikers equivalent....in spades. Put complainers to work smashing coral is what they do.

Speaking of snow and airports, they do a great job up there in Minneapolis-St Paul where I got assigned to a conference one time in a frigid January....actually it was below frigid. The Minneapolis native and wit Garrison Keillor used to say Minnesotans have a special relationship with Nature because on average Nature tries to kill 'em all about three times a year. When we flew past the Minneapolis airport to circle to land I noticed the runway looked like a tombstone.

Made it there and back regardless.

[hugh2121]

Does America have a good airport?

Last time I travelled through LAX they didn't have airside connection between international flights, so my entire four hour layover was spent entering and leaving the USA, with entry and exit visa stamp only and hour apart.

American airports just weren't geared up for post 9/11 security, with security checks in corridors and no room to accommodate the queues!

I'm hoping things have improved, but I'll still avoid flights connecting through US airports for the time being.

I had the same experience at this airport. Simply changing flights, had to claim my bags, then proceed through Customs and immigration. I had no visa and my passport was not stamped. I followed the signs for transit passengers and found myself in the arrivals hall. I checked in my bags and got a boarding card but still having time to spare, I actually left the airport building and could easily have taken a taxi from outside the building into LA. I thought "how weird is this?" Here I am in USA with no visa and not even a stamp in my passport and I'm free to go wherever I please. This was all post 11 Sept.

[Sooo Upto Me]

I would rather go to outer Mongolia than fly to usa.

Good Nite.