Can someone explain to me what did the Eastern Shuttle operate out of at LGA before their terminal was built in the early 80's? Looking at some photos online it looks like they operated from a hangar so it has me wondering, was there a waiting/security area in the hangar or was there an actual terminal that they ran from? Thank you in advance.

If I recall correctly, they operated out of the same gates they did for mainline, which is now the A concourse of Terminal B (the most easterly one, next to the hangars you may be referring to). They would probably park the extra section aircraft by the terminals and tow them to the gate if/when they were needed.

The Shuttle terminal opened in or around 1991-92 if I am not mistaken, and is now Terminal C. Terminal D opened in or around 1985.

This is off the top of my head so feel free to add/correct as needed.

Art at ISP wrote:

The Shuttle terminal opened in or around 1991-92 if I am not mistaken,.

Eastern went bust in January 1991....so yes...you are mistaken.

I was watching some video footage of when New York Air started up and there was a clip showing passengers going through security and then walking across the ramp and boarding a Eastern 727 I’m 100% positive it’s at LGA in the back you see the Eastern hangar and a line of passengers coming out. Almost looked like something from the People Express playbook at EWR.

The Shuttle frequently loaded without the use of jetways, often using the aft stairs on the 727. Story went an engineer was doing the pre-flight tried to intercept a passenger headed to the aft stairs. Said passenger simply said, “I’ve been flying this long before you were here, get out of my way”. Ted Kennedy once asked, if they had to divert, to drop him off at PHL. They sold tickets on board, so, if running late, a passenger could board and pay in flight. One time, the F/As were all new and unacquainted with the Shuttle. They never collected to fares, the pax all smiled getting off and left. F/As showed up in Ops to the question, “where’s the money”. Oops.

GF

HermansCVR580 wrote:

Can someone explain to me what did the Eastern Shuttle operate out of at LGA before their terminal was built in the early 80's? Looking at some photos online it looks like they operated from a hangar so it has me wondering, was there a waiting/security area in the hangar or was there an actual terminal that they ran from? Thank you in advance.

It was in Hangar 8. There was no security until 1973. The new terminal on the east side opened in 1981.

I guess this is the Shuttle ramp.

I remember Eastern has a quasi-shuttle 4x daily (3x sat & sun) service between BUF-LGA in 1982 or 1984. Didn't last very long but it did in fact depart and arrive at the shuttle terminal. I took it every weekend. It was so convenient, left the office in downtown Buffalo at 4:00 and on the plane by 4:20 for a 4:30 departure.
Definitely didn't have the security issues you have today. The only difference was reservations were required and you purchased your tickets at the gate, not the ticket counter if you didn't prepay. No assigned seats.

727Lover that looks like what I had seen in the video. Crazy the operation at one time ran out of a hangar.

HermansCVR580 wrote:

727Lover that looks like what I had seen in the video. Crazy the operation at one time ran out of a hangar.

I don't think passengers were handled in the hangars. Rather in the adjacent terminal. It just happened that the aircraft were parked in front of the hangars. Some can probably confirm that.

On this photo you can see the ramp in question with only two hangars left. The third one must have been torn down to make room for Terminal C I believe.

727LOVER wrote:

Art at ISP wrote:

The Shuttle terminal opened in or around 1991-92 if I am not mistaken,.

Eastern went bust in January 1991....so yes...you are mistaken.

Trump bought the Shuttle from EA in 1989. USAir’s terminal opened in September 1992. It was built for EA though and the west end opened earlier and was only used for Shuttle flights and I believe US Express flights (before RJs and when they only had a few from LGA)

At one time there were four hangers on the east end of LGA. UA had one,TWA two, and EA one And yes EA ran the shuttle from that hanger,until the new ten gate shuttle terminal was opened in 1981. When the new terminal C was built in 1992 the shuttle terminal became part of the new terminal.

BUFJACK10 wrote:

I remember Eastern has a quasi-shuttle 4x daily (3x sat & sun) service between BUF-LGA in 1982 or 1984. Didn't last very long but it did in fact depart and arrive at the shuttle terminal. I took it every weekend. It was so convenient, left the office in downtown Buffalo at 4:00 and on the plane by 4:20 for a 4:30 departure.
Definitely didn't have the security issues you have today. The only difference was reservations were required and you purchased your tickets at the gate, not the ticket counter if you didn't prepay. No assigned seats.

I wonder if it needed to use (spare) Shuttle airplanes, or if it had no extra gates in the terminal? AA used to run the route with 10 flights/day, but abandoned it with the PATCO strike. US increased its service to 6-7 flights/day (as slots allowed). Neither were considered a "shuttle".

The “spare” or business model of “rolling out another plane” when the prime was oversold ended with EA, perhaps later with Trump. It was expensive to do so, as the spare at BOS or DCA had to flown empty in the opposite direction to balance the fleet and maintain spare capacity. There was a story of a commuting captain denied boarding when the last seat was filled. He proposed buying a ticket and demanding the spare fly him home. Pound same time.


GF

The “spare” or business model of “rolling out another plane” when the prime was oversold ended with EA, perhaps later with Trump. It was expensive to do so, as the spare at BOS or DCA had to flown empty in the opposite direction to balance the fleet and maintain spare capacity. There was a story of a commuting captain denied boarding when the last seat was filled. He proposed buying a ticket and demanding the spare fly him home. Pound same time.


GF

Pan Am Shuttle had extra sections. It seemed like you could bank on which hours there would be two airplanes going (for PA, TB, or EA). But my use of the term "spare" for BUF-LGA was not meant to imp!y that the airplanes were going to prevent their use for extra sections on the traditional Shuttle routes.

I seem to recall delta running extra sections into the mid 00's. my memory might be faulty here. I used to take the shuttle allot then as I had a buddy pass

727LOVER wrote:

Art at ISP wrote:

The Shuttle terminal opened in or around 1991-92 if I am not mistaken,.

Eastern went bust in January 1991....so yes...you are mistaken.

The terminal was ORIGINALLY to be built for Eastern, and when it was apparent they would not survive, USAir took it over, and I believe the Trump Shuttle operated from there....but the terminal did open in the early 1990's, that much I am relatively sure of.

The terminal opened in late 1992. As EA, who the terminal was built for, was then dead the terminal leases were held by corporate sister CO but subleased out to US (who CO had sold most of their slots to in CO’s early 90s bankruptcy, in addition to US getting Trump Shuttle). Eventually US took it over and then DL when the slot swap occurred.

Continental never occupied the new terminal (not sure about the Shuttle side which another poster claimed opened in 1981). USAir was the original tenant when it opened in September 1992. It opened almost the exact same time the new PIT terminal opened, another huge upgrade for US.

Art at ISP wrote:

727LOVER wrote:

Art at ISP wrote:

The Shuttle terminal opened in or around 1991-92 if I am not mistaken,.

Eastern went bust in January 1991....so yes...you are mistaken.

The terminal was ORIGINALLY to be built for Eastern, and when it was apparent they would not survive, USAir took it over, and I believe the Trump Shuttle operated from there....but the terminal did open in the early 1990's, that much I am relatively sure of.

What you have just written is correct.,,,,but earlier, you said the Shuttle Terminal....and that opened in 1981

I had a nice pic in this thread from 6 years ago
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=541687&p=7473655&hilit=LGA+terminal#p7473655

...but I'm not paying $20 to prove a point.

Pretty sure Eastern Express (Bar Harbor) operated there, too.

727LOVER wrote:

Art at ISP wrote:

727LOVER wrote:

Eastern went bust in January 1991....so yes...you are mistaken.

The terminal was ORIGINALLY to be built for Eastern, and when it was apparent they would not survive, USAir took it over, and I believe the Trump Shuttle operated from there....but the terminal did open in the early 1990's, that much I am relatively sure of.

What you have just written is correct.,,,,but earlier, you said the Shuttle Terminal....and that opened in 1981

I had a nice pic in this thread from 6 years ago
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=541687&p=7473655&hilit=LGA+terminal#p7473655

...but I'm not paying $20 to prove a point.

Is there not a way to look at that pic now without paying $20?