Special Report
by Derrick Jones, Q1067 Social Media Editor
When it opened in 1962, the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York was a cathedral to the modern and glamorous era of flight. Far from the pajama pants and gym shorts of today, traveling by plane back then meant putting on your Sunday best. The Flight Center was the embodiment of that feeling. It was the height of modern architecture and a prime example of minimalism-meets-functionality. It was designed to serve as a hub of information (about arrivals and departures) and a way to quickly move hundreds of people a day to and from their gates.
The building, designed by renowned Finnish architect Eero Saarinen (who also designed the St. Louis Arch and Washington Dulles International Airport) to resemble a bird in flight, was landmarked in 1994 and continued to house TWA’s operations at JFK until the airline’s assets were sold to American Airlines in 2001. It was shuttered in October 2001.
While some of the connecting structures were destroyed in the ensuing 19 years to make way for the new JetBlue Terminal 5 (which now encircles the original Saarinen Flight Center), the head house remained intact, but vacant. Enter developer Tyler Morse. Already a successful hotelier, Morse had a vision for the Flight Center: convert it into a hotel that paid homage to the golden era of the jet age, honor the history of TWA and the Flight Center, and bring a full-service hotel to travelers at JFK.
After more than two years of construction and preservation, on May 15, that vision came to fruition with the opening of the TWA Hotel. With 512 rooms in two towers built behind the Flight Center, a 50,000-square foot conference center, rooftop deck with infinity pool and a vintage Lockheed Constellation (“Connie”), which originally flew for TWA starting in 1958, the Hotel envelopes visitors in a time capsule; a journey to a bygone era. And Q1067 was there for Opening Day.
My first flight was on a TWA 747 from St. Louis to Phoenix in 1985. It was my first introduction to the wonder of modern air travel and my first introduction to the nation’s oldest commercial airline and one that would become my sentimental favorite as I traveled from Central Illinois to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and everywhere in between. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away from the rebirth of the historic Flight Center.
Even with the many emails promoting the hotel, nothing could fully prepare a fanboy to enter the doors of the Flight Center and travel back in time to 1962. Hotel staff in vintage ground crew jumpsuits (complete with orange marshaling wands) met arriving vehicles out front. Inside, with music from The Beatles, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra and other crooners and bands of the 1950s and 1960s filling the vaulted ceiling, and the sound of the Italian-made Solari split-flap departure board clacking in the background, guests to the hotel were immediately enveloped and transported to a different time. The once-ubiquitous TWA logo graced the walls. Vintage David Klein-designed TWA posters hang on the walls. The building’s famed chili-red sunken lounge was filled with guests (many of them former TWA employees) sipping on signature cocktails. And through the sweeping windows sat Connie, ready to welcome guests for a cocktail or a spin in the cockpit.
Photo: Sean Lewis/WGN
Morse and his team took pains to let Saarinen’s design shine through. With no right angles in sight, the curves originally built into the structure give one a feeling of floating through the space. From the main center, guests travel through one of two original red-carpeted tubes (which originally connected to departure gates) to the hotel’s towers (one named after Howard Hughes, who maintained controlling interest in TWA for nearly 20 years; the other named for Saarinen). From the towers, guests can travel below ground to the state-of-the-art conference center, complete with museum-quality displays of TWA memorabilia.
While the history of TWA and the Flight Center shone through, in its first 24 hours in operation, the TWA Hotel experienced its fair share of turbulence. Some rooms weren’t ready for occupancy. There were obvious punch-list items that contractors hadn’t completed (if you’ve ever built or remodeled a house, you’ll know that’s an almost never-ending task). The coffee bars, featuring Chicago-based Intelligencia, had to operate off of temporary carts because their permanent kiosks weren’t finished. The rooftop pool and deck weren’t ready for prime time. And the kitchen, faced with capacity crowds, had some hiccups at the height of the dinner rush. To quote the pilot on my flight to JFK, “there’s some light chop ahead, so we’re going to ask everyone to remain seated with their seatbelts fastened.”
Despite the opening day jitters, there was relatively little grumbling (thanks, much in part, to the free-flowing cocktails) from the revelers on hand to experience the grand rebirth of the Flight Center. The rooms were comfortable and the staff was eager and excited to welcome guests.
Give it another few weeks to finish the punch list and for the staff to get their flight legs under them, and the TWA Hotel will make JFK a weekend destination.
Click on an image below to open up the gallery and take a peak inside the TWA Hotel at JFK.
