- Delta broke ground on its new terminal at the new LaGuardia Airport.
Ben Gabbe Photography
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (L) with Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
- Delta will contribute $3.4 billion.
- New LaGuardia will be the first new airport in the US in more than 20 years.
On Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian broke ground a $4 billion terminal facility at the new LaGuardia Airport.
"We know the new LaGuardia is one that New Yorkers will be proud to call their hometown airport," Bastian said in a statement. "And we are confident that this investment will further cement Delta as the No. 1 airline in New York, with the best customer service and experience on the ground as well as in the air."
First unveiled in 2015 by Cuomo and then Vice-President Joe Biden, the new LaGuardia will be nation's first brand new airport to open for business since Denver International in 1995.
At the announcement ceremony, Governor Cuomo emphasized the importance of airports, calling them the "front door" to the state. At the same time, the Governor lamented the fact that New York and the rest of the nation have fallen behind their international competitors when it comes to infrastructure.
"Either you are building and developing or you're going backwards," Governor Cuomo said. "Because if you're not building and developing, your competition surely is."
"We are living off the inheritance not of our parents, but of our grandparents. Everything you see, all of the infrastructure, all of the great accomplishments are literally from our grandparents' generation and we've been standing still," the Governor added.
Delta will contribute $3.4 billion the towards the $4 billion facility while the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will kick in $600 million.
The Delta facility is just one portion of the $8 billion rebuilding of LaGuardia. Under the new plan, LaGuardia Airport will be unified under one roof instead of the current layout which features multiple terminal buildings.
Delta will occupy the eastern end of the new terminal building while American, United, JetBlue, Southwest, and Air Canada will operate from the western end, which has been under construction since last summer.
Here's a closer look at Delta's new LaGuardia terminal.