the Marine Air Terminal on October 1, 1986. The terminal was relatively remote, being about from the other buildings at LaGuardia Airport. Taxicabs had to take a circuitous route to access the terminal, and taxi drivers were hesitant to pick up passengers at the terminal, prompting Pan Am to sponsor giveaways for taxi drivers who drove there. As a result, the shuttle was initially unable to compete with Eastern Air Lines, which carried the majority of passengers who flew between New York and Boston. To attract passengers, Pan Am started operating a ferry line between Wall Street and the terminal in August 1987. This improved ridership to the point that Pan Am Shuttle was one of the airline's only profitable routes. Pan Am also opened a club for business flyers within the terminal. Nonetheless, by 1990, Pan Am sought to sell the shuttle. Delta Shuttle Delta Air Lines acquired the Pan Am Shuttle from Pan Am in 1991 and started operating the Delta Shuttle from the Marine Air Terminal using Boeing 727-200s. Delta also inherited the ferry route to Manhattan, which was unprofitable despite receiving large subsidies from Delta. By 1995, the Port Authority was considering restoring the facade and interior of the terminal's main building. Architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle was hired to restore the terminal building to its original design, including light fixtures, canopies, and signage, at a cost of $600,000. A bust of Fiorello La Guardia was relocated from the airport's main terminal to the Marine Air Terminal in 1997. Harbor Shuttle, which operated ferry service from the Marine Air Terminal to Manhattan, was sold in 1998 to NY Waterway, which discontinued the service in 2000. The Port Authority unsuccessfully attempted to revive the ferry service in subsequent years. Delta started renovating the terminal in early 1998 at a cost of $7.5 million. The Marine Air Terminal formally reopened in November 1999 with a new business center and concession stands. At the time, 80 percent of passengers at the terminal were business travelers, and about 6,000 of the airport's 65,000 daily passengers used the terminal. Following this renovation, most passengers were diverted past the main terminal building. The Port Authority spent about $6.5 million to restore the terminal in 2004, ahead of the 65th anniversary of the airport's first commercial flight. As part of the project, all of the tiles in the main building's frieze were removed