On December 2, 1939, LaGuardia Airport first opened to the public when a TWA flight from Chicago touched down on one of the airport’s notoriously short runways. It was born out of the exasperation of its namesake, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who was utterly dismayed that he couldn’t book a commercial flight to New York City and actually land in New York. Taking advantage of President Roosevelt’s New Deal program, Mayor LaGuardia arranged for tens of millions in federal financing to build the airport. But even with the money in place, LaGuardia Airport would prove a constant struggle to build and operate.
The site was selected primarily for its availability and proximity to Manhattan, not because it was ideally suited for commercial air travel. It had once been an airfield, and an amusement park before that, and now it would have to undergo significant alteration to accommodate big passenger planes. Runways were reclaimed from the sea by adding landfill taken rom Rikers Island and the earth removed to make way for new Subway lines. To handle the weight of these larger and larger planes, this fill was reinforced with steel, which still corrupts the navigational readings of incoming jets. LaGuardia Airport was able to find enough fill to have runways, but they are among the shortest commercial ones in the world.
The Airport wasn’t just a location challenge, but a financial one as well. For the first 8 years of its life it was run by the city, who employed revolutionary tactics to squeeze every last dime out of the place. They introduced the concept of hosting vendors and gift shops in terminals in order to gain rent revenue. As it was an era where air travel was still somewhat marvelous, for a dime you could gain entry to an observation deck atop the terminal offering unrivaled views of arriving and departing planes. While it would hardly attract much traffic today, over a million and a half people paid up for the privilege during the operation of the observation deck.
With the introduction of Idlewild Airport (later renamed JFK) in Queens, LaGuardia began to face stiff competition for New York flights. With its longer runways and higher capacity, JFK began to take on the growing segment of coast-to-coast and international flights that were serviced by much larger aircraft. This didn’t rule out LaGuardia’s effectiveness, however, as it started to become known more as the business traveler’s hub. With regular flights to Chicago, Washington, and other mid-distance cities, LaGuardia has tailored itself to be the more convenient option for the frequent flier. But still, LaGuardia Airport continues to struggle with limited space and short funds for rehabilitation and growth. It continues to be a challenging airport to run, but one that is necessary to overcome for the sake of New York City travel.