Creating the New LaGuardia Airport
“If I took you and blindfolded you and took you to LaGuardia Airport in New York, you’d think, I must be in some third-world country.” Vice President Biden, Feb 2014.
Well, LaGuardia Airport is now far from the disaster it once was. DMA member Dan Kolakowski and Steve Aspden, construction Project Directors on both Terminal B (Central Terminal) and Terminal C (Delta) at LaGuardia, will be discussing both the design and construction processes from 2016 through today. Why do the terminals function the way they do? How did it all get constructed while keeping the airport functioning with their full flight schedules? What was the impact of COVID on the project? Those questions and more will be answered in this “The New LaGuardia Airport” presentation.
Steve Aspden is a Global Construction Executive with 44 years’ experience leading the development of major aviation, roadway and infrastructure projects, as well as commercial and hospital projects around the world. Throughout his career, Steve has led as Project Executive on internationally recognized projects including the A1 motorway in Poland, Mater Dei Hospital on Malta, Apple Park (Apple HQ) in Cupertino, CA, The United Nations Headquarters in NYC, LaGuardia Airport Terminal B and LaGuardia Airport Terminal C, accounting for more than $20 billion in project oversight.
Dan Kolakowski received his BS in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado and served out his military commitment in the Civil Engineering Squadron at Loring Air Force Base in Maine. Dan moved to Darien in 1980 working construction projects in NYC over the next 39 years. He was the Project Executive for major construction projects, including the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, US Air Terminal at LaGuardia, Terminal One at JFK, all the AirTrain stations at JFK, Howard Beach and Jamaica, most of the new piers and parks in and along the Hudson River for the Hudson River Park Trust, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the complete renovation of the United Nations Headquarters along 1st Avenue, and the new Delta Terminal C at LaGuardia.
Speaker Summary
Dan and Steve told an interesting and informative story about the transformation of LaGuardia Airport from one of the worst airports in America to an award-winning one that is now seen as one of the best through a dramatic rebuild of Terminals B (the Central Terminal) and C (the Delta Terminal). What was possibly most amazing was that this was accomplished while keeping the airport open and providing air service while replacing essentially all the existing structures and roadways. This was especially challenging since LGA has double the passengers per acre than most other large airports putting even greater pressure on moving passengers through a space-compressed facility while construction was on-going.
Dan provided some grounding points around the 4 core airport components — the Headhouse; the Concourse; the Airside; and the Landside — that drive an airport’s design and structure. He then shared an entertaining and insightful video featuring Peter Ruggiero that explained the considerations that drove the design of the new terminals and demonstrated how they were applied to the ultimate design. Throughout it was clear that two key principles of providing more space and enhanced transparency for the traveler were paramount in the design. Peter explained the 3 core terminal design approaches – linear, finger and satellite – and how LGA was once a state-of-the-art finger design that became outdated as the demands of modern air travel and larger aircraft evolved. He then showed how the new design solved these constraints in all areas — check-in, security, amenities/retail space, gate area seating, baggage claim/arrivals, etc.. He explained how the use of elevated structures, including bridges under which aircraft travel to access the runways, together with the extensive use glass, created a larger and more open environment.
Steve and Dan then took us through the incredible logistical challenges that needed to be overcome to bring the new design to life, including the need to eliminate some elements due to cost and insurmountable challenges. The greatest logistical challenge was the need to keep the airport open and operating while building new structures in essentially the same physical space resulting in many short-term solutions for services, including on-going changes to the roadways on the Landside. Steve managed Terminal B construction and took us through the process and steps that resulted in the new satellite terminal design, including the multi-partner funding structure. Dan then took us through the decision by Delta to re-build their terminal which ultimately maintained the finger structure but with more space allowed for larger aircraft, and how both terminals have the flexibility to handle even larger aircraft in the future. Since the Terminal C design, construction and funding was controlled exclusively by Delta, they were able to get the project done more quickly and closer to budget than for Terminal B.
Dan and Steve closed by sharing the original and projected timelines for the project where a 9 year project will be completed in 7.5 years. They noted that some of the time savings came from the impact of COVID on reduced air travel demand which enabled them to shut down some sections of the airport so they could move more quickly with the construction.