Published January 21, 2011

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration
Table of Contents

Introduction

LaGuardia History

Air Traffic Control Tower Statistics

Airport Statistics

In the Beginning – Aviation History through Photos

Long Island Aviation Firsts

Early Air Traffic Control

Early Airports

The Passenger Experience 

LaGuardia Airport

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2

4

5

6

7

11

15

19

23
Jan. 29, 1944

Sent to:

Mr. O. M. Kemp, Pres.

American Airlines, Inc.

100 E. 42nd St., NYC

Capt. E. D. Rickenbacker, Pres.

Eastern Airlines, Inc.

10 Rockfeller Plaza, NYC

Mr. J. T. Trippe, Pres.

Pan American Airways System

135 E. 42nd St., NYC

Mr. Jack A. Frye, Pres.

Transcontinental & Eastern Air, Inc.

30 E. 42nd St., NYC

Dear Sir:

 This is the last call on the matter of the runway layout at the 

new Airport.

 Thursday, February 3rd, 1944, at my office, City Hall, at 2:30 pm 

o’clock, come prepared to make any suggestions or forever hold your peace. 

I have heard some grousing about the present layout which I know is not 

justified. If you have any cockeyed ideas on tangent runways that have not 

yet been tried out, keep them for some other time.

 I am willing to hear constructive criticism and to receive 

helpful suggestions. I cannot compete against white tablecloths and soft 

pencils. Everyone who gets two drinks under his belt is now designing 

runway layouts on restaurant tables.

 We will have a map here, our consulting engineer will be here, 

and I expect to have the matter finally, completely and definitely settled.

 You may bring anyone you desire from your engineering, technical 

and piloting staff. Lawyers cannot contribute anything. This is not a legal 

matter.

 Very truly yours, 

 (sgd). F. M. LaGuardia

 Mayor

W. N. Coverdall, Pres.

American Export Airlines, Inc.

25 Bway, NYC

Mr. Sigmund Janice, Pres.

Colonial Airlines, Inc.

536 Fifth Ave., NYC

Mr. W. Patterson

United Airlines Transport Corp.

80 E. 42nd St., NYC

Even after the construction of New York Municipal Airport, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia remained 

a staunch advocate of increasing aviation capacity in New York City. New York Municipal Airport 

opened in 1939 and, in 1943, the City broke ground for Idlewild Airport (later renamed John F. 

Kennedy International Airport). Although Mayor LaGuardia did not live to see the new airport open 

in 1948, this letter is indicative of his no nonsense approach to dealing with the aviation community 

during the construction of the new airport.
Introduction

When the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) air traffic and 

technical operations staff moved into the new air traffic control tower 

at LaGuardia Airport they not only found themselves in a bigger, 

more modern building, they also discovered a permanent exhibit 

highlighting aviation history from the earliest pioneers and their 

aircraft to the first airports, navigation aids, the passenger experience, 

and the airport’s history. The exhibit includes approximately 300 

aviation photographs, advertisements, and travel posters along with 

museum-style captions and headings. In addition, LaGuardia’s and 

New York’s aviation history is detailed in five photo montages. 

The history exhibit, the vision of LaGuardia’s tower manager, Leo 

Prusak, and engineered by FAA historian Theresa Kraus and graphic 

designer Laurie Zaleski, celebrates the aviation industry and depicts 

its early growth. Now, employees and visitors alike can trace the 

history of aviation from the earliest days of the Wright Brothers and 

gain a better understanding of why and how the FAA provides service 

to the American public and the users of the national airspace system. 

As tower manager Prusak has noted “Not only is the visual impact 

of the exhibit astounding, but it has everyone in the building – both 

air traffic and tech ops – talking and sharing experiences. The older 

employees are taking a walk down memory lane, while our younger 

employees are gaining a better understanding of where the FAA and 

air traffic control came from. Visitors are also gaining a better sense 

about the breadth and types of work FAA does on a day-to-day basis.”

To celebrate FAA and its LaGuardia Airport employees – past, 

present, and future – this booklet outlines the airport’s history and 

accomplishments and includes copies of some of the photographs in the 

air traffic control tower’s history gallery. The photos have been provided 

by the FAA and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

1947 LaGuardia Air Traffic Control Tower

1
LaGuardia History

1929 – Gala Amusement Park, owned by the Steinway family, is sold 

and transformed into the 105-acre private Glenn H. Curtiss Airport – 

later renamed North Beach Airport 

1934 – New York City Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia made it his mission 

to build a public airport close to the city, and with the press in tow, 

refused to get off a plane in Newark, NJ, because his ticket read “New 

York.”

1937 – New York City takes over North Beach Airport and begins 

a major expansion project built with $45 million from the Works 

Progress Administration, making the airport the first in the United 

States to be financed, designed, and built in full partnership with the 

federal government. New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia held a 

ground breaking ceremony on September 9, for the enlarged, public 

airport, which required filling in 357 acres of waterfront.

1939 – New York City dedicates the New York Municipal Airport on 

October 15. The 558-acre airdrome includes six hangars, each large 

enough to house a football gridiron with room for bleachers; six 

restaurants, one with cocktail lounge and nightclub; offices for rent by 

the day to busy executives; a sound-proofed engine test building; the 

finest seaplane terminal in the world where trans-Atlantic planes can 

dock in the roughest weather. The field also has expensive navigation 

aids, such as a stop-go traffic light system for taxiing planes and a 

control tower located on top of the central terminal fitted with 16 radio 

receivers to hear calls on any airline frequency.

1939 – On November 2, the city renames the airport New York Municipal 

Airport-LaGuardia Field. The Civil Aeronautic Authority designates 

the airport a co-terminal, along with Newark airport, for the New YorkNortheastern New Jersey metropolitan district on November 7.

1939 – New York City Municipal Airport officially opens to commercial 

traffic on December 2.

1940 – On January 12, the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) amends 

Civil Aeronautics Regulation #53 to reflect the airport’s new name, New 

York Municipal Airport-LaGuardia Field.

1940 – Radio station WSY, the Civil Aeronautics Authority’s first overseas 

and foreign airways communications station began regular operations 

on February 9. Capable of two-way radio communications with aircraft 

flying the Atlantic Ocean, the powerful facility could also communicate 

with various points in Europe, Bermuda, and Newfoundland. A CAA 

office at La Guardia Airport operated both receivers and transmitters by 

remote control. 

1940 – The Marine Air Terminal opens and on March 31 a Pan American 

Airways clipper makes the first flight from the terminal.

1947 – On June 1, New York City leases the airport to the Port Authority of 

New York and New Jersey and the airport is renamed LaGuardia Airport.

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3

1947 – The CAA begins in-service testing of a ground controlled 

approach radar system at LaGuardia, the third airport to undertake such 

tests. 

1948 – The CAA begins operating the air traffic control tower at 

LaGuardia Airport.

1952 – Helicopter service begins on October 15 when New York 

Airways initiates a regular mail run between LaGuardia, Newark, and 

New York International Airport.

1956 – In June, the CAA completes installation of the first radar in a 

program to “circular polarize” airport surveillance at LaGuardia Airport. 

The modification program would permit the radar to “see” aircraft 

passing through rain and snow. 

1957 – The Port Authority begins a reconstruction and improvement 

program, which would include a three-story terminal building, a new 

control tower, a new southeast-northwest runway, a two-level terminal 

roadway, and an enlarged parking area next to the new terminal. 

Construction on the new air traffic control tower began in 1960.

1964 – On April 17, the Port Authority dedicates its $36 million upgrade, 

including the new, 150-foot high control tower. The Federal Aviation 

Agency begins operating from the new tower in May. The airport opens 

to scheduled air carrier jet operations on June 1.

1968 – The nation’s first STOLport (short takeoff and landing facility) 

for commercial aircraft in the United States opens at LaGuardia 

Airport. The STOLport, 1,095 feet long, is used for VFR flying only.

1983 – Delta Air Lines opens its new terminal in June.

1984 – The Port Authority institutes a perimeter rule that bans flights 

to cities more than 1,500 miles away.

1992 – The 12-gate US Airways terminal opens on September 12.

2004 – The City of New York extends the Port Authority lease through 

2050.

2006 – The FAA begins construction on a new air traffic control tower 

on December 4.

2010 – The FAA begins operations at the new tower on October 10.

2011 – FAA officially dedicates the new tower on January 21.
Tower #1:

Opens: 1939

Location: Top of Central Terminal Building

Owned: City of New York; 1947 leased to Port Authority of New York and 

New Jersey

Operated by: City of New York; 1947 Port Authority of New York and New 

Jersey; 1948 Civil Aeronautics Authority 

Equipment: 16 radio sets

Air Traffic Control Tower Statistics

Tower #2

Opens: 1964

Owned: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Operated by: Federal Aviation Agency; 1967 Federal Aviation Administration

Control Cab Floor Height: 127 feet

Control Cab Size: 460 square feet

Cab Controller Positions: 11

Administrative & Support Space: 12,200 square feet

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Tower #3

Opens: 2010

Owned: Federal Aviation Administration

Operated by: Federal Aviation Administration

Control Cab Floor Height: 198 feet

Control Cab Size: 850 square feet

Cab Controller Positions: 11

Administrative & Support Space: 17,380 square feet
Year

1949

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Plane Movements

159,465

191,736

297,652

317,633

356,358

384,554

367,871

362,649

374,952

398,957

405,175

399,827

391,547

378,908

354,048

Passengers

3,284,213

2,935,613

11,845,141

17,467,962

22,764,604

25,360,034

22,519,874

21,986,679

22,482,770

24,435,619

25,889,390

25,810,603

24,985,264

23,076,903

22,142,336

Air Cargo (tons)

36,061

58,313

39,815

35,257

70,792

20,195

16,474

11,709

12,333

14,096

16,006

13,998

9,595

8,889

6,712

Air Mail (tons)

13,585

10,557

24,119

47,654

58,033

58,254

43,771

23,818

18,981

15,219

10,296

5,718

2,087

2,635

1,349

Source: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

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Airport Statistics
1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, NC

In the Beginning — Aviation History through Photos
1910 Glenn Curtiss sets a new speed record flying from 

Albany to New York City in 2 hours 32 minutes

1911 Harriet Quimby obtains her pilot’s license at the Moisant School at the 

Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, the first American woman to earn an Aero Club of 

America Aviator’s certificate

1918 Operating for the Post Office Department, the U.S. Army 

flies the first regular air mail service between Washington, DC, 

and New York City 

1909 Wilbur Wright makes the first flight over American waters when he flies over the 

Hudson River

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Long Island Aviation Firsts
1922 At Curtiss Field, Bessie Coleman makes her first 

appearance in an American air show 

1923 Leaving from New York, Lieutenants John McReady and Oakley Kelly make 

the first nonstop transcontinental flight

1929 At Mitchel Field, James Doolittle is the first pilot to use only instrument guidance 

to take off, fly a set course, and land

1927 leaving from Roosevelt Field, Charles Lindbergh makes 

the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic

8
1932 Amelia Earhart sets the 

women’s record for the fastest, 

non-stop transcontinental flight 

on a flight from Los Angeles to 

Newark

1933 Wiley Post departs Floyd Bennett Field on the first solo 

flight around the world

1938 Howard Hughes departs Floyd Bennett Field for his around-the-world flight 

1939 – Pan American Airways initiates the first scheduled transatlantic 

flights from New York to Paris 9
1909, Wilbur Wright makes the first flights over American waters when he flies over 

the Hudson River.

1929 Archie League, the first air 

traffic controller, and his office

1929 The first Air Traffic Controller, Archie League, 

at work in St. Louis, MO
Early Air Traffic Control

1933 Archie League guides an aircraft using a light in the tower

1935 The first Airway Traffic Center is established at 

Newark, NJ, by a consortium of airlines

1936 The Chicago Airway Traffic Center opens

1936 Earl Ward (left) organizes the first airway traffic centers

11
1943 Controllers work traffic in the airway traffic center at 

Washington National Airport

1948 Controllers begin using radar at the Washington center

1936 A controller works in the Newark air traffic control tower

1940s Controllers move “shrimp boats” along a map to manage air traffic

12
1940s The first effort to automate air traffic control

1940s Women staff the tower at Chicago’s Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field, now 

called O’Hare International Airport

1940s Women begin working as controllers during World War II

13
1911 College Park Air Field, MD
Early Airports

1932 Floyd Bennett Field, NY

1935, Pan American Terminal Dinner Key, FL

1920 Washington Airport, Washington, DC

15
1941 Los Angeles International Airport, CA

1945 Idlewild Airport, NY

1940 Marine Air Terminal New York Municipal Airport

16
1948 Moroni’s Airport, Meridian, CA

1940s Chicago Municipal Airport, IL 1940s Atlanta Municipal Airport, GA

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1

1920s ensuring proper weight and 

balance prior to takeoff
The Passenger Experience

1928 Passengers and mail board a Fokker transport

1930s United Airlines’ first stewardesses are trained nurses

1930s DC-2 interior 19
1930s United Airport, Burbank, CA, now Bob Hope Airport

1930s United Airlines stewardesses

1930s Air France stewardesses

1940s passengers wait for U.S. Customs inspection

1930s U.S. Customs Inspection 20
1940s Passenger waiting area at Los Angeles International Airport

1950s Flight information desk at Friendship Airport, 

Baltimore, MD, now Baltimore Washington Thurgood 

Marshall Airport

1960s Passengers line up at the ticket counter 1960s Carry-on bag inspection 21
1939 New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia looks out from a TWA 

DC-3, the first aircraft to land at the new airport on December 2
LaGuardia Airport

1939 TWA stewardess departs the first aircraft to land at the airport

1939 New York City Municipal Airport opens

1940s A motorist passes underneath a landing aircraft

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1948 The Civil Aeronautics Administration takes over operation 

of the air traffic control tower from the Port Authority

1949 The Brooklyn Dodgers 

return to LaGuardia after 

beating St. Louis in the National 

League pennant race

1940s A nickel buys a close up view of the airport

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1951 The “Sheep Run” serves auxilliary passengers

1952 Helicopter service begins between LaGuardia, Newark, and 

New York International airports

1964 The new, 150-foot high air traffic control tower opens

black dude throwing mail

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