Survey shows LaGuardia Airport continuing worst-to-first transformation

LaGuardia Airport's multibillion dollar overhaul has continued to earn it rave reviews from travelers, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

For the second year in a row, the Port Authority said, LaGuardia has been named the "Best Airport of 25 to 40 Million Passengers in North America," by Airports Council International.

The airport achieved an overall passenger satisfaction score of 4.3 out of 5 last year in the council's annual Airport Service Quality survey, according to a Port Authority news release.

LaGuardia also ranked highest in passenger satisfaction in 2023 with a score of 4.24. The back-to-back top rankings amount to a worst-to-first transformation for LaGuardia compared with 2018. Passengers in the survey that year deemed LaGuardia the worst airport in North America.

As good as passengers said their experience at LaGuardia was in 2023, the airport earned an even higher score last year because of significant improvements in passenger satisfaction pertaining to walking distance, restaurants, gate areas and washrooms, the Port Authority said.

The boost to the airport’s reputation followed an $8 billion effort that began in 2016 with the renovation of two terminals to accommodate more passengers and upgrade amenities. The renovation was substantially completed in 2022, according to the Port Authority.

Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a statement that "few believed we could transform the nation’s most reviled airport into the world-class airport our region deserves. But this second ASQ award proves yet again that seeing is believing."

The transformation of Terminal B alone, which was built in the 1960s and reopened in 2020, marked "a very stark and favorable difference," said airline industry analyst and former airline executive Robert Mann.

"Predating the new terminal was low ceilings, water dripping from them most days, dimly lit corridors, antiquated facilities," Mann said.

Airports Council International conducts the annual survey at more than 400 airports in 110 countries around the globe. At the departure gates of each participating airport, survey respondents are prompted to rate various aspects of their airport experience, including security, ambience, cleanliness and staff courtesy.

While revamped retail and restaurant spaces appeal to occasional leisure flyers, frequent business travelers may not be pleased walking "maybe three times as far ... from the curb to a gate," Mann said.

"If you go there to shop it’s a great place now. If you go there to hang out beforehand it’s a great place. If you go there to eat ... it’s a much nicer facility," Mann added. "But if you go there simply to get to a gate and fly, it takes quite a bit longer now ... to march through retail and restaurants and everything else."

Average ticket prices for domestic flights out of LaGuardia Airport have been decreasing in recent years. Flights to other states set passengers back an average of $302.88 during the third quarter of 2024 — the most recent data available through the Bureau of Transportation Statistics — compared with $309.38 during the same period of 2023 and $313.53 in the third quarter of 2022.