Evolution of LaGuardia Airport

Origins of LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport, 1939 Located in the New York City borough of Queens, LaGuardia Airport combines with JFK International and Newark Liberty International airports to create the largest airport system in the country and the largest total flight operations in the world. Prior to becoming an airport, the location of LaGuardia Airport used to be the site of the Gala Amusement Park, run by the Steinway family (the same Steinway family that founded the Steinway and Sons piano company). In 1929, the park was torn down and converted into a private airport called the Glenn H. Curtiss Airport after the American aviation pioneer. The airport was renamed in 1935 and became the North Beach Airport.

Shortly thereafter, New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia led an effort to turn North Beach Airport into an airport for commercial flights. At the time, Newark Commercial Airport was the only commercial airport for the area. Over $20 million was invested in the project, which had its share of critics; however, in December 1939, the New York Municipal Airport (alternatively being known as LaGuardia Field) opened. The airport captured the public’s attention and capitalized on their fascination with air travel. Two years into the new airport being open, income from parking and non-travel (with people coming to watch airlines taking off and landing) surpassed $900,000 a year, making the airport a financial success. This also spelled doom for nearby airports like Jackson Heights’ Holmes Airport, that couldn’t keep up and were unable to stop the expansion of the larger airport.

During World War II, the airport was used as a training facility for aviation technicians and as a logistics field. It wasn’t until June 1947 that the modern name of LaGuardia Airport was adopted. The change followed an agreement to switch control of the airfield to the Port of New York Authority. The airport’s namesake died from pancreatic cancer three months after the agreement was finalized.

The airport’s reveune in 2019 reached over $429 million and served 22 million passengers