LaGuardia Terminal B has showcased the future of airports since the $8 billion renovation which began in 2016. Today, public spaces feed the body and soul. Travelers experience artwork, safety features and conveniences to love.
To say future flyers will find holistic wellness in airports may be hyperbole. Yet, the graceful, joyful Terminal B spoils travelers with unexpected physical and spiritual delights. As it approaches the 9th anniversary, LaGuardia is the model every airport should emulate.
Soaring Spaces Make Families Feel Airborne
Jacob Roberts, the frequent flying friend who called me to say, “You gotta’ check out this new airport – it’s amazing!” was right. What is more amazing is that, even pre-COVID-19, the Terminal B design team was rolling out the safe, socially distanced air travel experience we all crave.
Families get a lot of attention at Terminal B. Colorful artwork abounds. Two pedestrian skybridges cross 66 feet above the tarmac. Looking down as an airplane taxis along a runway below you is thrilling.
Anyone skittish about flying will especially appreciate how the exceptionally high — 60 feet — ceilings imbue Terminal B with a Zen-like serenity.
Fliers Still Want Clean, Safe Travel Spaces
Terminal B delivers public health and hygiene with demand control ventilation and a test UV light system for cleaning escalator handrails and elevator buttons. Think about those touchpads at the 105 check-in kiosks. Fortunately, hand sanitizer is ubiquitous.
While travelers lament crowding at most airports, that is not the case at LaGuardia. Light, air and personal space are the guiding design principles in the four-level, 850,000-square-foot terminal.
They ensure a contactless experience with self-serve features ranging from printing a boarding pass to ordering at the food court. Unexpected grace notes like recessing luggage scales flush with the floor mean any traveler can weigh bags without other people handling them.
Security Enhanced and Made Easier at LaGuardia Terminal B
Many innovations at LaGuardia are being implemented at airports nationwide. For example, the People Counting and Tracking technology highlights alerts staff to long wait times at TSA screening facilities.
Clear signage helps channel the crowds through 16 TSA lanes. A Smart Pad System and Advanced Imaging Technology improve accuracy and efficiency in passenger, carryon and checked luggage screening. Smart conveyor belts handle bins filled by up to five passengers at a time, sequencing them as passengers go through the larger scanning portals, using artificial intelligence and robots to separate bins by perceived security risk.
A big plus for families: Level 4 has clusters of couches in a carpeted zone to recompose after clearing security. Travelers then move on to soothing boarding areas. Lounge in armchairs, play in a soft surface children’s zone, engage with colorful sculpture. A lively illuminated fountain begs travelers to pause in contemplation.
Technology Eases the Family Airport Experience
At LaGuardia Terminal B, families can forget the hassle of flying with kids. The large restrooms designated for families are well designed. Enjoy shelves above each sink to stash parcels. Expect hands-free toilets, faucets and soap dispensers that kids will want to play with while remaining germ-free.
No need to squeeze baby, siblings and luggage into a portable Mamavia nursing station. Look for dedicated rooms for nursing mothers all over.
And even four-legged family members have two restrooms, fun pet relief areas with fire hydrant sculptures as inspiration.
Frequent Flyers Welcome an Airport Dining Revival
When airlines stopped giving away bad food, take-aboard airport cuisine improved. Grab n’ Go places like CIBO offer healthier portable meal options. Shake Shack, Wolfgang Puck, Marcus Samuelsson and other chefs have opened gourmet eateries worth the journey at major hubs.
At the New York-centric LaGuardia, look for hometown names such as Junior’s Cheesecake, Eli Zabar, Dos Toros, Mulberry Street from NY Chef Marc Forgione, Brooklyn Diner, Think Coffee and more.
Art to Uplift the Spirit and Inspire Hope in Travel’s Potential
To appreciate the range of New York’s public art, visit what Nicholas Baume, Artistic & Executive Director of the Public Art Fund, calls “a new civic landmark.”
The most ethereal of the monumental, can’t-miss-it works is “Shorter than the Day,” a mirage-like mobile in the shape of a sphere. Artist Sarah Sze calls it a ‘meditation on permanence and transience,’ a feeling many travelers passing through the main hall will empathize with.
The delightful mosaic by Laura Owens recalls many New York moments on painted tiles: an I Love NY T-shirt, a well-coiffed dog on a leash, famous landmarks, subway signs and street food. Many of the icons are well positioned for selfies or to engage with and study. Like old friends, they are reassuring in their own right.
Bathe in the glowing light of Sabine Hornig’s “La Guardia Vistas” along the connector to the garage and ride share parking. In a stained-glass window for a cathedral consecrated to travel, the kaleidoscope of urban images is stamped with scripture from Fiorello LaGuardia, New York’s mayor from 1934 to 1945. Many of his sayings are relevant today, reminding us of the welcoming beacon New York has long shone for immigrants.
At LaGuardia Terminal B, the Future of Air Travel Remains Bright
Terminal B, built as energy efficient as possible, achieved LEED Gold certification upon completion. Innovations like a baggage handling system that uses 37% less power than legacy systems, delivers checked luggage to arriving passengers.
The Terminal B project was a public-private partnership between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the private LaGuardia Gateway Partners. As originally conceived, it was to comprise 2.7 million square feet, 72 new gates across six concourses, the expansive new Terminals B and C connected by the central hall, new AirTrain LGA service and 13.7 miles of new roadway.
Cost and politics put an end to the AirTrain La Guardia line. Spirit Airlines now uses the landmarked Marine Air Terminal, renovated in 2005. At age nine, we applaud how forward-thinking the Terminal B and C design continues to be.
Let’s celebrate each moment an airplane taxis below a child’s feet and inspires the next lifelong love of travel.
Photographs by Ron Bozman, Media Noche, unless otherwise noted.
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