I flew from the NEW LaGuardia!
Back in May of last year, I flew through New York City on one of the more complex
itineraries I’d ever booked. Basically, I found an enticing Aeroplan redemption from
Frankfurt home to Calgary involving stops in both New York and Toronto.
That first leg arrived at New York’s JFK Airport,
but this next one on Air Canada to Toronto left from LaGuardia.
JFK and LaGuardia airports are physically not that far apart,
so after losing an hour of connection time to the JFK customs line and getting
myself a not-cheap Uber, I found myself here at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B.
Now, LaGuardia has been through nothing short of a transformation
over the past couple of years. It had been notorious for outdated infrastructure,
delays, and a… generally unpleasant passenger experience. In 2015 though,
a major redevelopment plan was unveiled that would effectively “replace the airport in its entirety”.
Terminal B, especially, where Air Canada flies out of, has
been completely reconstructed under this project.
With all of that in mind, I was curious to see and experience the new LaGuardia for myself.
Now I will admit, I hadn’t been here prior to the redevelopment,
but even without that, I can certainly say this is a very nice departure hall!
The high ceilings and lots of natural light make it feel very open,
and Air Canada’s check-in can be found off to the side at area G.
They had the usual self check-in kiosks available,
and I was able to get my boarding passes without any trouble.
Now I know New York to Toronto is a busy route especially for business travellers,
but… I don’t think anybody is paying that kind of money for an hour-long flight.
Also on the eastern wall was this nice printed mural showcasing the whole redevelopment.
Terminal B, specifically, will be the focus of this video, and it’s used by Air Canada,
American, United, Southwest, and JetBlue. The first couple of gates opened in 2018,
while the departure hall itself opened to the public in 2020.
It is a remarkable infrastructure project, especially because it had to be built
while still keeping the existing parts of the terminal operational.
I eventually made my way through TSA, which was a breeze, and went straight
to the windows for possibly the coolest part of this whole thing!
The new Terminal B features two bridges over a taxiway - a huge part of relieving
the apron congestion that the original terminal faced. I’ll take a closer look at those shortly.
As you head towards the gates,
you are funneled through a bunch of stores as you usually are in most new airports.
In that shopping area between the two bridges, there was another nice display
of the whole project, and this amazing scale model of the entire terminal!
I headed towards the western skybridge first,
and you could see they were still finishing up a few gates on that side when I was there.
That bridge also had a spectacular view of the midtown Manhattan skyline. This was
my first time being in New York, and seeing that view in person,
with those supertall skyscrapers, was unlike anything I’m used to!
On the other side of that bridge, you could see the rest of the eastern gates,
which really puts things into perspective. The bridges obviously have to be tall
enough for aircraft to taxi underneath, which… well, had me very entertained!
The only other time I’ve been to an airport with one of these was in London-Gatwick,
but LaGuardia’s bridges are a bit lower and a bit closer to
the action since they don’t usually see widebody aircraft like Gatwick does.
Apparently though, Air Canada used to send 767s here on occasion,
sometimes recovering for cancelled flights.
These days though, the A321s are the largest planes that AC sends here, and mine was finally
taxiing in after being delayed leaving Toronto. This then-20-year-old A321-200 registered as
Charlie Golf Juliet Whiskey November is one of 15 A321s in the Air Canada fleet.
Originally, this flight was supposed to be an A320, and I did get an email
saying it was substituted due to an unforeseen maintenance issue.
That, plus ground handling difficulties in Toronto meant it arrived about an hour late.
Even then, it still sat on the taxiway here for another
30 minutes while another Toronto flight was occupying the gate.
Heading down the bridge towards the eastern Terminal B gates, you come across Air
Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge. Considering what a business-heavy route this is, I can see why
they have one here. I didn’t have a pass for this one today, but it does look pretty nice inside.
Meanwhile, the rest of the terminal here only continued to impress! Those same high ceilings
again, floor-to-ceiling windows, and lots of plants throughout give it a really nice feel.
Although the trees are fake, yet very realistic,
these planters apparently take inspiration from New York City’s parks.
It did get more crowded down by the rest of the gates though,
but the entire thing is just really really well done.
As that other Toronto flight taxiied out, my flight finally made its way into the
gate. Although delays are annoying, I can honestly say it’s not so bad when you’re
waiting in a terminal as nice as this. That said, I was already quite tired after that
transatlantic flight so was looking forward to going home. Let’s head back to Canada!
My seat for this flight is 13F, a Preferred seat in the first few rows of Economy Class.
As a Preferred seat, 13F also has lots of extra legroom and this great view
looking backwards at the engine. I’ve flown on quite a few Air Canada A321s over the years so
there’s not too much different here, but the Preferred seats are always very comfortable!
As nice as the new terminal was, LaGuardia is still part of some of the busiest airspace in
the world, so I was expecting it would be a while until we actually took off.
But, on a good visibility day like today, the views over the city were
bound to be stunning. Here’s our departure from LaGuardia, taking off from runway 13.
Now that was a view and a half! I’m sure landing in LaGuardia is also something to experience,
especially on the Expressway visual approach. Today though,
that departure and breaking through the clouds straight into the sunset was indeed stunning.
As always, Air Canada’s A320 family aircraft have this nice, large tray table that adjusts.
In the seatback pocket, they had the safety card, a credit card offer,
and an air sickness bag. During boarding, the crew also handed out the now-long gone CleanCare kits.
Each seat also has built-in power, with a universal power outlet and a USB port.
They also have Air Canada’s legacy in-flight entertainment system,
which I’ve talked about before. Long story short, it is slow, but has a good selection,
even if elements of it have just steadily stopped working over the years.
That being said, one A321 is apparently being reconfigured right now in the same
style of cabin as the A220s and 737s. That will be nice to see,
but I’m gonna miss all the extra padding these older seats have. I’m also kinda
hoping they don’t go the route of cramming all the Economy lavatories into the back galley.
With this only being an hour-long flight, the cabin crew quickly began a drink service,
offering complimentary beverages and some Air Canada pretzels.
From there, I enjoyed the evening views out the window as we made our way northwest towards
Ontario. We soon began our descent into Toronto, only to be met with a hold near Niagara Falls.
We did get a nice look at Niagara Falls International Airport on the
American side, and even the Falls themselves!
That hold was later cancelled and we made our way towards the airport,
with still some more spectacular views of downtown Toronto.
As we pass Toronto’s Pearson Airport on the downwind, here’s the arrival onto runway 06R.
So that was one of my more interesting transborder flights! Although the actual inflight portion was
fairly uneventful, the views of the cities on both ends were definite highlights.
I’m glad I had the chance to see the new LaGuardia for myself too,
it absolutely lives up to all the hype I’d heard about it, and I’d go back if I had the chance.
Arriving into Toronto though, well, what was originally a 3 hour connection onwards to
Calgary got progressively shorter and shorter as the day went on. This was also last summer,
where customs delays at Pearson were very common. Basically,
I ran right from customs and didn’t stop walking until I sat down on that last
flight. I still made it home that same day, so it all worked out in the end.
Thanks for watching this flight from LaGuardia to Toronto with Air Canada,
and I’ll catch you next time.