When it's completed in summer of 2022, a gleaming new LaGuardia will be a modern space fea­turing a collection of aeries and ample natural light, where passengers walk above moving airplanes as they head to their gates. 

Congestion is the biggest reason why LaGuardia Airport in New York is rated so poorly; neither planes nor people move in an efficient manner through a facility designed for far, far less traffic. 

When it's completed in summer of 2022, a gleaming new LaGuardia will be a modern space fea­turing a collection of aeries and ample natural light, where passengers walk above moving airplanes as they head to their gates. 

Designers are planning to reduce the distance from curb to gate by an av­erage of 300 feet, the project's chief executive, Stewart Steeves, said in a re­cent interview. New, more upscale dining and retail options are also likely, The first new gates are slated to open in the spring of 2018. 

For New Yorkers faced with the prospect of using LaGuardia, going there early has always been a function of terrible necessity. No more, says Steeves, who oversees LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the consortium managing the aged central terminal and its $4 billion, six-year overhaul.

"Our objective is to get to a place where people make a conscious decision to say, 'Let's go to the airport early and have dinner there because there's some great restaurants; and then get on the plane," he added, "That sounds a.little bit humorous in the current [airport] context." 

The consortium won a contest for the project earlier this year. In June, it took over the terminal, which houses carriers that include American Airlines Group Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp., Southwest Airlines Co., and United Continental Holdings Inc. 

Revenue from airlines using Terminal B will rise from an estimated $49.9 million next year to al­most $230 million in 2025, three years after the_project is scheduled to finish, according to projec­tions filed with the April offering document the project's backers used to pitch bonds to finance the renovation. Airlines have been accepting of the higher costs, Steeves said. 

"It's the price of progress, and we are big supporters of the project," said Mike Minerva, vice pres­ident of government and airport affairs at American, the second-largest carrier at La Guardia. The higher operating cost "was already baked into everybody's thinking."•

 Source USA TODAY