During a Feb. 2014 speech in Philadelphia about the status of infrastructure in the US, then Vice President Joe Biden – as is his wont – didn’t mince words. He might jumble them up occasionally, but he isn’t one to hold back on calling a spade a spade, or as he might well say, “calling a spade a shovel.”
At the time Biden said, “If one blindfolded a person and took them to Hong Kong’s airport (one assumes he meant Chek Lap Kok which opened in 1998), removed the blindfold and asked them where they were, they would reply, ‘This must be America, it’s a modern airport.’” While this flagrant example of mythical ‘American Exceptionalism’ must have curled the toes of airport operators all over Canada, he continued, “On the other hand, if I blindfolded you and took you to LaGuardia Airport in New York, you would think, ‘I must be in some third world country.’”
Reading this again six years later, I have to say that it concerns me just a little that Joe seemed to be so into blindfolds – but, moving right along…
He was however absolutely correct: In fact one could almost say that he was being grossly unfair to a lot of third world countries, many of which had airports infinitely better than the dilapidated hovel that was LGA at that time. And I speak from painful experience – 36 years ago, I started to commute every weekend between LGA and YYZ, Fridays north, Sunday or Monday south. It was supposed to be a short-term arrangement but it lasted four long years. Even back then the place was in terrible shape. In the Terminal B concourse that Air Canada inexplicably stuck with for years, it was a regular occurrence to have to circumnavigate large buckets that had been strategically placed to catch the rainwater dripping through the ceiling. On one occasion I remember a portion of ceiling had collapsed as a result of the leakage problem.
In the winter the gate area was often bitterly cold, while in the summer, air conditioning was almost nonexistent: big, noisy portable fans regularly tried in vain to fight NYC’s sweltering ‘3H’ days (Hot, Hazy and Humid). There were frequent bird sightings – inside the boarding areas. On top of these terminal inadequacies, the frequent 45-minute or longer taxi-times for a 90-minute flight rounded out a customer experience that was memorable for all the wrong reasons. You know what – Joe was right, third world it was.
So, in 2015 when a seven-year, $8 billion, 1.3 million square foot, 35-gate reconstruction project was announced by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New Yorkers were, well … New Yorkers. “Yeah right, it’ll be 10 years and $15 billion by the time it’s finished” or “I’ll believe it when I see it” were typical responses. At the time, I remember a friend telling me his favorite oxymorons were, “military intelligence and airport planning.” And sure enough, when the project broke ground it was an instant disaster.
The first thing that happened was the sudden, surprise closure and demolition of the entire 1,800-place short-term parking garage at the Central (B) Terminal. This might have been fine had anyone taken a moment to consider the fact that all those vehicles had to find alternative homes. On day one, traffic chaos resulted with airport-bound vehicles jammed up for miles. One news report read, “Officials at the Port Authority of NY and NJ say they hope not to repeat yesterday’s debacle. Twitter was flooded with images of bedraggled travellers hauling children and suitcases along the Grand Central Parkway because private cars, limos, taxis and remote parking and hotel shuttles couldn’t get anywhere near the departure area to drop them off.”
It quickly became a boom era for off-airport parking, as there was simply no place, short term or otherwise, to park on the airport. As the building proceeded, combining a major construction site with a busy, fully operational airport was certainly a gigantic logistical challenge. For years it manifested itself on departing passengers in an exciting, ever-changing game of, “Where will the access road be today?” Sometimes what should have been a 10-minute shuttle ride could take 30 minutes or more as it looped around the entire airport to get to your terminal. Inside, similar problems could mean circuitous hikes to distant gates.
Perhaps as a reward for putting up with the ornamental rain buckets for so long, in December 2018 Air Canada was one of the first carriers (along with Southwest) to be relocated into brand new space in Terminal B. As fate would have it, for almost two years I was again a regular commuter on AC from LGA to YYZ (en route to Edmonton) so was there to experience the dramatic before-and-after upgrade from one week to the next. While the new gate area was a brave new (first) world, access to it was still through the old decrepit check-in and security areas – until last week when the new landside facility was opened to the public. It has drawn rave reviews, however the Port Authority’s lyrical description of its new pride and joy may be just a tad OTT:
“The transparent, fluid design celebrates movement. In the spirit of New York’s great high-rises like the Woolworth and Chrysler buildings, long considered cathedrals of commerce, Terminal B serves as a cathedral of mobility. The steel-framed terminal, with its linear, precisely articulated and dynamic form, presents a modern, cohesive face to both the landside and airside.”
It is certainly a huge improvement and no longer belongs in the third world, but when you remove the mask it’s still an airport, and your customers just want to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. On the “it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good” front, the COVID-generated slow down in traffic has been a boon to the construction schedule but, with two more terminals still in progress, there’s still a long way to go before that cynical 10-year, $15 billion guesstimate is proven wrong.