Delta Air Lines LGA Airfield Reconfiguration Program
East Elmhurst, New York
Airport/Traffic
Sent by: Turner Construction and STV/Satterfield & Pontikes Construction
Region: ENR Est
Owner: Delta Air Lines
Design: Gensler and Corgan
Construction managers: Turner Construction, STV/Satterfield & Pontikes Construction JV; PMX group
Design, Structure and MEP Engineer: Arup
Design, Civil, Structural and MEP Engineer: Burns and McDonnell
Delta Air Lines’ airfield reconfiguration program at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, part of a larger improvement program by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, replaced the former Terminals C and D with a reimagined Terminal C. It cost about $4 billion for a new header, concourses, taxiways, bridges and roadway deck.
With the gradual opening of the light-filled terminal and its high ceilings, travel journalists received abundant praise. “A total oasis compared to the old, narrow maze,” one business traveler told Forbes magazine. The terminal “looks more like a museum than an airport” and Terminal C “will make you want to show up soon,” added Condé Nast Traveler.
Photo by Vu Quang Tran, courtesy of Turner Construction and STV/Satterfield & Pontikes Construction
While the various agency-style construction managers handled bid recommendations, verification and award, Delta approved and held direct contracts with each selected company, says Ryan Marzullo, the airline’s general manager of design and construction. Multiple primers were selected and Delta team members also worked on all phases of the work.
New York State and the Port Authority had set a combined MWBE goal of 30 percent, but the project reached 38 percent, or about $1.5 billion in contracts. Those contracts included the project payer, who also provided general labor and carpentry services, a key civil contractor and others who were subcontractors and vendors of non-MWBE companies, Marzullo says.
LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal C, filled with light and artwork, “will make you want to show up soon,” Condé Nast Traveler said.
Photo by Vu Quang Tran, courtesy of Turner Construction and STV/Satterfield & Pontikes Construction
Among the area companies employed on the terminal project were Celtic Sheet Metal, a one-woman business based in Orangeburg, N.Y., specializing in HVAC fabrication and installation, and RCGA Architects, a New York City-based design and construction services firm based in the borough of Queens. Even the project’s strategic communications company, Write It Up!, is a certified MWBE. Marzullo says, “They’re a great example of a small business that helped us tremendously in the program.”
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