President Joe Biden, in 2014, stated that New York’s LaGuardia airport was like a third world country. Crowded hallways, small hold rooms (the term for where people sit by their gates), an occasional Dunkin’ but not much else for concessions, and often dirty bathrooms. That was true for most of LGA 10 years ago, and despite that its premier location with easy access to Manhattan still meant that people dealt with those conditions. Biden’s comment, plus many others similar, caused the New York/New Jersey Port Authority to think about a new vision for the facility.

Now, some of that vision has become a reality. SkyTrax, a company that rates all things travel, has given the refurbished Terminal B at LGA a five-star rating. This is a major change for an often maligned facility and is putting the airport back to where it should be for people arriving or departing.

LGA airport has three primary terminal facilities. Also called the Marine Air Terminal, Terminal A is home to low-cost carriers Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Terminal B is mostly American Airlines but also now includes many JetBlue flights. Terminals C and D function as one and are used for Delta Airlines and its partners. Over time, the airport has had different configurations and airlines have moved around.

The physical restrictions of the airport, surrounded by water and highways, has always made it difficult to expand. The perimeter rule, imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration, limits flights to cities 1,500 miles or closer. There is no limit imposed on Saturdays, allowing nonstop flights to the west coast on that day only. Denver, Colorado has a politically expedient exemption as well. This regulation has forced longer-distance flights to both JFK airport and Newark airport. With many neighborhoods surrounding LGA, this perimeter rule supports local noise initiatives also.

In March 2023, Sktrax gave the refurbished Terminal B at LGA its top five-star rating, additionally calling it the best new airline terminal of the year. This is well-deserved, and my first flight into this newly-built terminal was very inspiring. Skytrax started ranking airports in 1999, and uses many different criteria to determine their annual winner.

The LGA terminal ranking is Skytrax’s first five-star rating for any U.S. airport facility. That alone is quite amazing, when considering the major development and improvement in many U.S. airports. It also shows what a high standard this is, and for the smallest commercial airport serving New York City, this is a huge accomplishment.

Building a new terminal while the airport has continued operating is a daunting task. The late Bill Decota, the long-time NY/NJ Port Authority aviation head, had a vision that LGA could be rebuilt while operating as far back as the 1980s. While a graduate student at Princeton in the mid 1980s, I worked in Decota’s office as an intern. He spoke about this idea even then. I’m sure many did not share this vision, but seeing it come to reality with the new Terminal B is the result of a lot of vision and work from many people.

As a regular traveler to LGA, I have seen the rebuilding of this airport in spots. Even though there has been a lot of work evident, it also has been encouraging to see this development for an airport that has long needed it.

In 2011, Delta Airlines and USAirways, before it merged with American Airlines, executed a major slot swap between LGA and Washington’s DCA airport. This deal gave American Airlines a predominant position at DCA. It also made Delta Airlines by far the major airline at LGA. Since that time, Delta has tried to brand itself as “New York’s Airline,” and has put pressure on United Airlines at Newark. It is this relative position with slots obtained from the slot swap that has made the development of Terminals C and D at LGA worthwhile for them.

Delta’s refurbishment of Terminals C and D is well underway and should be complete by the end of 2024. Traveling in this set of terminals now can require some long walks, but you can also see where it’s all going. It wouldn’t surprise me if this terminal gets another five-star rating in 2025, and Delta seems intent on making their LGA experience second to none.

Delta is also spending billions on new facilities at New York’s JFK airport as well. Combined, along with spoke service to Newark, is positioning Delta as the carrier pulling away from others in New York. The alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue is the only operation that can match, in size and scope, what Delta is doing, and yet that alliance is being attacked as being uncompetitive.

The rebuild of LaGuardia airport is a decades-long development that is starting to show great promise. The builders of Terminal B, along with American and its partners who operate there, should be proud of this distinction from an organization that sets global standards for its awards. As Terminals C and D get completed, LGA will move from an airport that people made fun of to one that is envied and become a model for others.