By Matt Chaban 5/02/12 4:09pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

LaGuardia has gone to the dogs...

Grounded! LaGuardia Voted Worst Airport in America by Travel + Leisure Readers

Another week, another list of the worst airports, another crash-and-burn for New York. As The Observer explored earlier this year, New York City, despite its apparent status as capital of the world, has some of the worst airports therein (though also some of the best).

The reasons are complicated, but the case remains the same, and it was just reaffirmed by Travel + Leisure, who surveyed its readers for the first time to determine the best and worst airports in America. Topping the bottom of the list was LaGuardia, and JFK and Newark came in fourth and fifth, respectively, in terms of terribleness. Here’s what they had to say. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/25/12 5:01pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Terminal 3 today has seen better days.

Terminal Condition: How New York’s Airports Crashed and Burned—Can They Soar Again?

Terminal 3 at JFK International Airport is incontinent. At 52, such problems are understandable. Still, they are nonetheless embarrassing, especially for one of the main international entry points for still (arguably, hopefully) the capital of the world.

Hanging from Terminal 3’s massive flying saucer roof are two dozen diapers, the actual technical term for the no-longer white tarps, 10-by-10 or larger, affixed to the concrete ceiling by steel cables. Running out the middle of each is a clear garden hose. Why not something opaque is a mystery as baffling as the fact that this terminal, with its crumbling roof, still stands. At least a dark hose would hide the effluent passing through the cracks of time, the drippings of decades of decay and neglect, where none of it would be exposed for all the world to see.

Hello Istanbul, greetings Sao Paolo, cheerio London. Welcome to New York. Hope your 12-hour flight was O.K. Please ignore the colostomy bags hanging overhead. Read More

By Kaitlin Bell 9:46pm

Terminal 7: Taking That Bus Station Feel Out of Air Travel

The press junket to showcase British Airways’ $30 million renovation of Terminal 7 in JFK began at 10 a.m. in Bryant Park with a chartered bus.

At the terminal, reporters were greeted solicitously by British-accented airline staff, but didn’t get to skip going through security. Turnout was good: The Associated Press, the BBC, the Read More