Laguardia Airport in New York City, once considered the “worst” airport in America, has been undergoing a $4 billion makeover. This includes Delta Airline’s New Terminal D Concourse at LGA. Delta’s Terminal C had more or less finished renovations last year, and I recently checked out Terminal D with my first flight post Covid-19.
After being dropped off by a Lyft (Lyft is a partner with Delta Airlines, and I get double points with my Delta Amex Platinum Card), I made a beeline to Delta Sky Priority. The check-in area is huge for a domestic airline, and I was impressed with how clean and modern it looked. While there was nothing mindblowing about the design, the check-in area at LGA did look like it was finally part of this century.
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I’m a fan of Delta due to its service. As a Gold Medallion member, perks and benefits abound. However, I was disappointed with how long the line was at Delta’s Terminal D at LGA. First, I was checking in on a Saturday afternoon, so I was shocked to find out my flight was fully booked (Saturday afternoons are not the most ‘full flight’ times to fly), but it was interesting to see there was only one gate agent for our line. I hope Delta continues its amazing service by being more prepared when there is a full flight and hundreds of passengers checking in.
The only difference between flying post Covid-19 with flying before the pandemic is that everyone wears masks. That is quite possibly the only difference. There was no 6-feet social distancing, which is slowing fading out anyway since more people are getting vaccinated.
Here’s a look at how the new LGA will look post renovations. These signs are everywhere.
My flight from Atlanta was leaving at Gate D97. It was in the D92 to D98 wing. From security, it’s a good 5 minute walk to the wing, depending on how fast you walk.
Here are the plane ready to take flight. Notice there are not that many planes in this wing, just the capacity for 6 planes (there is no right side to the terminal). This made the wing feel more intimate without thousands of passengers.
As you can see, the hallway is long to get to gate 92 to 98. From security, it’s really a good 5 minute walk if you’re a fast New York walker, 10 minutes for other people. There’s also a pet relief area, which has come in handy for pet owners. If you’re traveling with pets through Delta at LGA in Terminal D, you’ll be happy for this. Also, there were about 4 other dogs on my flight!
As you round the hallway into the main concourse, you see the shops and restaurants. They’re all located in one area. Honestly? Could be better. There was 1 restaurant, 1 cafe, a juice bar and like 3 shops.
Here’s the Birch cafe.
Here’s a shop that has magazines, earbuds and essentials for your flight.
From the shops, you see where gate 92 starts. Overhead signs tell you that a mask is required.
From gate 92, it’s about a 5 minute walk to gate 98, the end of the concourse. But here’s the crazy thing. There are no shops from this point forward. Literally no shops or restaurants or cafes. When I had sat down at the gate (97), I realized that I didn’t have headphones. I have wireless earbuds, but I would need headphones with a wire for in-flight entertainment and my laptop, so I had to run back to the shops area. It was sort of inconvenient.
There is literally nothing between the beginning of Gate 92 (where the shops are) to the end of the concourse, as you can see.
However, as you can see, the entire right side of the concourse is floor to ceiling windows. I loved this. It allowed plenty of sunlight. I especially loved the unobstructed view of CitiField stadium!
Here’s another view of Citifield stadium from Delta’s Terminal D terminal at LGA.
View of the concourse. Remember, there is nothing between gate 92 to gate 98. However, you’ll notice that the hallway is super wide, it’s no longer carpet flooring (like the former terminal) and there’s plenty of sunlight flooding through the floor to ceiling windows.
There is also a hand sanitizer station.
Further into the terminal. It’s clean and bright, and all gates are on the left.
My flight departed at Gate 97.
One flaw of the new terminal design is that there are not enough seats for passengers. When I first sat down, there were empty seats, but closer to the flight, the seats filled up fast and a lot of passengers were simply standing or sitting against the window. So if you want a seat, get to your gate promptly.
Passengers standing against the window because there are no seats.
The boarding process was smooth and efficient, and I was one of the first on my flight.
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Jimmy Im has traveled to 113 countries, stayed in over 600 hotels and has flown a million airmiles. He lives in New York City.