US Airways (N767UW) and Northwest (N371NB) Airbuses taxi to the active at LaGuardia with the classic control tower and Central Terminal Building in the background. (Photo by Matt Molnar)
“LaGuardia should not be the gateway for fliers into New York City; it should fundamentally be torn down and rebuilt again.” So says Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the organization which manages LaGuardia and New York’s two other major airports.
Ward’s remarks were made at this morning’s Crain’s New York Business Breakfast Forum.
Ward explained that federal restrictions on facility usage fees charged to flyers, currently capped at $4.50 per passenger, make it difficult for the Authority to raise enough capital to make substantial improvements. A number of planned upgrades at Port Authority facilities, including an overhaul of LGA’s largest terminal, the Central Terminal Building, have been postponed in the wake of the recession.
Ward also wouldn’t rule out a privatization of the 70-year-old airport, telling reporters, “At this point, it would be foolish to rule out any funding option.”
