LaGuardia goes from “Third World” to best airport: poll

subway

by olivia land

From the “Third World” to the top.

LaGuardia Airport — which President Biden once likened to “some Third World country” — is now one of North America’s best airports. Airport service quality survey revealed.

The flight center was selected along with Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport was named best mid-sized airport after it unveiled the completion of an $8 billion renovation last year.

The new LaGuardia Airport also received an overall satisfaction score of 4.25 out of 5, or a 20% jump from 2018, when passengers called it the worst airport on the continent.

Just two years ago, LaGuardia was plagued by delays, complaints about lost luggage, and poor customer service.

But some publications were quick to point out that the flashy renovations were still missing a few things.

LGA has no subway or commuter rail lines, and the only mass transit to the airport is by bus — which can be a source of anxiety and chaos for out-of-towners and locals alike.

Some felt that the promotion was still far from world class.

“Yes, the new LaGuardia Airport is better. But who designed the extremely long flights to the faraway Terminal C gates with only one short moving platform?” One X user wrote.

Others still suffered from the scars of previous experiences Another social media user writes “The new LaGuardia Airport is the only airport that lost all my bags. So, as far as I'm concerned, they're still bad.”

Biden, then Vice President, used the airport in 2014 to make a point about how the United States needs to modernize its infrastructure.

“If I blindfolded someone and took him at two o'clock in the morning to the airport in Hong Kong and said: ‘Where do you think you are?’ He would say: ‘This must be America.’ “It is a modern airport,” he said in a speech.

“If I took you, blindfolded you and took you to LaGuardia Airport in New York, you would think: ‘I must be in a third-world country.'”

LaGuardia was so notorious that it was just that It was disfigured by “Saturday Night Live” in a popular skit About buying sushi at the airport.

However, beginning in 2023, passengers benefited from the results of a multi-year renovation, which resulted in the facility being completely rebuilt to include a central terminal and plazas inspired by New York City parks.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who first announced the renovations in 2014 — celebrated the new LGA's status among the best of the best on Tuesday.

“LaGuardia was rebuilt and redesigned in record time under extremely difficult circumstances and was proof that bold, ambitious performance can be achieved by government,” Cuomo wrote on X.

“[LGA] It was universally regarded as the worst airport in the country. It was the airport everyone loved to hate. But that is no longer the case,” added Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority, in a statement about the survey results.

“LaGuardia's days of being the butt of late-night jokes are finally over.”