Do the people who design airports ever fly?

Lots of glass and high ceilings ... and a 45 minute walk to your gate.

From today’s New York Times: New York’s airports are being rebuilt, piece by piece, in the most ambitious overhaul in decades.

WHO GIVES THESE AWARDS??? It might have been rat-infested, dirty, leaking and broken, but it used to take one minute to get from TSA to your gate at the old LaGuardia.

Now, it’s a 20 minute walk through a massive shopping mall, requiring “people movers” and stacked escalators. (Gosh, there’s nothing I enjoy more when rushing to catch a plane than stopping to shop for an overpriced sweatshirt at one of a million shops.) The reverse trek from the gate to the taxis is even more of a haul.

Can we get the names of the new airport designers and the date of their last commercial flight anywhere?

Also, notice that 100% of the problems with the crappy old LaGuardia were the parts run by the government. The good parts were those controlled by the airlines.

E.g.:

«Some airlines, like JetBlue, built inviting terminals and filled them with popular restaurants, cozy lounges and even a roof deck. …

[I]n the aftermath of a snowstorm in 2018, a pipe burst in the ceiling of Terminal 4, flooding the arrivals section, which was jammed with stranded travelers and baggage.»

PLEASE GOD, LET THE AIRLINES OPERATE THE AIRPORTS!!! (And TSA, while we’re at it.)

Inasmuch as the brand-new LaGuardia will continue to be maintained by the MTA, within a few years, it will be as vile as the old LaGuardia — but now with a much longer walk!

But Kennedy eventually suffered from a lack of reinvestment. Maintenance of the terminals was largely left to the airlines and other companies that leased and operated them. As landlord, the Port Authority devoted its resources to security and maintaining the runways and roadways. Passenger experiences at Kennedy varied widely. Some airlines, like JetBlue, built inviting terminals and filled them with popular restaurants, cozy lounges and even a roof deck. Others provided the barest of comforts and minimal service.

The substandard conditions at Kennedy were magnified by disruptive weather. In the aftermath of a snowstorm in 2018, a pipe burst in the ceiling of Terminal 4, flooding the arrivals section, which was jammed with stranded travelers and baggage. Used by more than a dozen foreign carriers, including China Southern, Emirates and El Al, the terminal had to stop accepting inbound flights until the mess could be cleaned up.