Delta Air Lines broke ground Wednesday at New York's LaGuardia Airport on a $160 million renovation and expansion project. Business travelers will soon see upgrades to lounges and easier access to gates between terminals. Improvements at nearby John F. Kennedy Airport are also underway.
Photo by: Seth Miller
Delta groundbreaking ceremony at LaGuardia Airport.
Delta is creating a new domestic hub at LaGuardia catering to business travelers and the project includes constructing a 630-foot connector bridge between Terminals C and D. Presently, passengers who connect between terminals have a much longer trek inside security to access the gates.
Further supporting the recent trend of upgrades to airline lounges, Delta is building a new Sky Club in Terminal C expected to open this summer. Their existing Sky Club in Terminal D will also be expanded in the coming months.
In total, Delta will offer service to 26 new cities by July 11 and has also increased flight frequencies to existing business markets along the East coast and Midwest.
The LaGuardia expansion comes after Delta and US Airways received government approval to exchange takeoff and landing rights in New York and Washington, D.C. Each airline traded pairs of "slots" at LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National Airport, which allows for one takeoff and landing at the capacity controlled and congested airports.
At JFK Airport, Delta is adding nine additional gates to Terminal 4, building a state of the art baggage handling system, creating additional Customs and security lanes and offers one of the largest Sky Clubs in the airline's system.
"All together, with our expansion projects at JFK and LaGuardia, Delta is investing nearly $1.4 billion in our New York facilities," said Delta CEO Richard Anderson in a prepared statement.
City, state and federal officials were on hand for the event praising the U.S. Department of Transportation's approval for the expansion, as it will create 700 new permanent jobs for New Yorkers as well as 100 construction jobs.
