The abrupt shutdown of Spirit Airlines over the weekend has turned an entire terminal at LaGuardia Airport into a ghost town. Just last Friday, the airport’s tiny but mighty Marine Air Terminal was abuzz with Spirit Airlines passengers. The low-cost airline held the lease at all six of the gates at the landmarked terminal, which dates back to 1940 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. But on Tuesday, the terminal's entrance were covered in "no entry" signs and hastily printed posters directing Spirit ticketholders to call other airlines. When Spirit Airlines unexpectedly announced early Saturday that it would begin an “orderly wind-down” by cancelling all its flights and customer service, it also meant that the Marine Air Terminal would essentially shut down, too. The terminal, also known as Terminal A, technically remains open to the public, but its concession stands and customer service desks were closed on Tuesday. The Transportation Security Administration checkpoints were closed off, as there were no ticketed passengers to use them. The only portion of the terminal being used was a lounge for Modern Aviation, a private and charter plane service.

Savvy travelers knew they could cut it close when taking a flight out of the Marine Air Terminal, which only has six gates. Ramsey Khalifeh / Gothamist

“It’s terrible. Yesterday, there was a lot of employees over there. They just came to give a hug to each other, some of them are crying,” said Hande Ariman, 34, who works the front desk at Modern Aviation. “It’s also very emotional for them and for us, because I know some of them, they came here, gave me a hug to say goodbye.” A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the agency does not yet have a plan for another airline to begin using the terminal. “Our focus is maintaining operational continuity at the airport while supporting passengers during this transition,” spokesperson Halimah Elmariah wrote in an email. “We have deployed additional staff on site at Terminal A to provide information, and we are coordinating closely with our airline partners to manage operations and minimize disruption.” When the Marine Air Terminal opened in 1940, it was designed for passengers on Pan American Airlines “clipper” planes, which landed and took off on the Bowery Bay. Back then, a flight to Europe took 26 hours with stops either in Bermuda or Nova Scotia, according to the Pan Am Museum's chair, Linda Freire, who worked for the airline until it was acquired by Delta Airlines in 1991. “The bloodstream of international aviation will flow through the marine terminal at LaGuardia Airport,” the New York Times wrote the day the building opened to the public. The opening came during World War II, which prompted the terminal to impose security checks on travelers, a novelty at the time. “The outgoing traveler first will have his baggage searched for cameras, weapons or contraband at a counter on the right, enlarged fivefold to meet the exigencies of wartime,” the Times wrote. Then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who attended the opening, called the terminal’s construction “a matter of national importance.”

The public is still permitted to enter the terminal's rotunda, depsite the no-entry signs, according to the Port Authority. Ramsey Khalifeh / Gothamist