I consider the TWA Flight Center at New York Kennedy Airport, designed by Eero Saarinen, to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It is now a hotel and I recently spent my layover at JFK hanging out there.
TWA Hotel Photo Essay
With three hours between flights and a conference call scheduled right in the middle of it, after landing from Los Angeles I headed right over to TWA Hotel, which includes two new guest room towers as well as the fully restored TWA Flight Center, a former terminal hub for Trans World Airlines.
You might recall I snuck into the TWA Flight Center several years ago, just before construction began. You can review that photo essay here. While much has changed, the essential elements did not change: the wing-shaped roof, the Y-piers, the soaring windows, the red-carpeted, tube-shaped corridors connecting the hotel to what is now the JetBlue terminal (Terminal 5).
The hotel, featuring food stalls on the lobby (ticketing) level, a beautiful seating area on the main level, and a restaurant, bar, and Ambassador Lounge on the upper level, is a sight to behold, even during a limited layover.
Head outside and you can walk around (and once the pandemic subsidies, enjoy a drink inside) a vintage Lockheed Constellation. It has been fully restored and adds to the uniqueness of this property.
CONCLUSION
Because I was not a guest at this hotel, I did not gain access to the rooftop pool deck. One of these trips I will spend the night (after the Constellation bar and Intelligentsia coffee shop re-opens). So consider this the first installment. All I can say is that as impressive as these pictures are, this terminal is even more impressive in person.
What are your memories of the TWA Flight Center? Did you ever fly TWA from JFK?
I did fly TWA via JFK in 1993. I didn’t realize how iconic the odd sloping walls and obnoxious red decor were at the time. In other words, I didn’t appreciate it back then. I also didn’t take any pictures 🙁
Great article! I also was able to see the terminal before construction was completed and was chased out by the guard. I got caught earlier so saw less.
On a different trip, I was allowed a brief visit to the sales office at 1 World Trade Center that mimics the terminal a bit.
Finally, I did see the finished hotel when checking in early for a flight. I have not yet stayed there but I might when my business meetings in New York are no longer virtual.
The terminal is nice but for a different era. Now it would be considered too small and lacking lounges.
FYI you don’t need to be a guest to access the pool (At least not before COVID, not sure if the rules have changed)
I flew TWA a number of times in the late 80’s and it was lovely. In fact, my first time flying business class was on a TWA 747 upstairs out of JFK and it was simply amazing.
I had a lovely 2 night stay in 2019. I had to make reservations for the Connie and the Sunken Lounge. On my first night the power went out from around 11pm to 7am!! Thus the next day the coffee bar was only serving food (and NO coffee!), and the restaurant (forget the name) did not even open to honor my breakfast reservation. I also checked out the pool and pool bar. My room overlooked SQ and EK A380’s, and that was a thrill. It was a nice throwback to a previous flying era.
Love the cheesy plastic sandwich board as you leave. Typically American.
They should dump their website and use your pics. A wonderful montage, thanks.
@Airfarer +1
Marvellous. I can’t wait to see this in person. He designed the iconic terminal at Dulles, as well as the key building at the old airport in Athens. He was on the jury selection for the design for the Sydney Opera House, and is said to have been a key figure in the choice to Jorn Utzon’s winning design.
I flew TwA from JFK to Europe a number of times. I recall a JFK to FCO flight aboard a Starstream B707. I also recall flying to London although the aircraft type eludes me. I prefered to fly on Pan Am, but at times he TWA flights were more convenient, or most likely, the tour operator had opted to use TWA for the tours we had booked onto. T remember when they opened Flight Wing One – the addition designed for the widebodies that were joining the TWA fleet. I love the endless runs of red carpeting that ran from the main terminal to Flight Wing One. I also had an Aunt who flew for TWA as a flight attendant, although I never got to fly with her.
Quite a lively bar scene flying out of this terminal in ’87 JFK-LHR on a TWA 747. A real sense of occasion — the polar opposite experience of flying from Gates 80 – 86 in Terminal 7 at LAX. Looks like a faithful restoration.
I am doing the exact same thing in a couple weeks (already planned before seeing your flight post and now this), but is it easy to walk from Terminal 7 to here? Are there signs or do you need to know where you are going?
It’s like being inside a red velvet cake.
Those tables and chairs are also designed by Saarinen: the white chair with red seat is one of most iconic designs: the ‘Tulip’, seen in design museums all over the world ( and highly collectable, although these are replicas)
Elegant. Graceful. Well proportioned. And timeless. The building reminds me of me.
@Joe Chivas
I think you mean the ‘before’ situation: old and creaky, tired, seen better days , likely full of junk. Now it’s great.
My mother worked for TWA (as a computer programmer). As a child, I have many memories of that terminal when I was ‘forced’ to travel to Europe for spring break while my friends were going to Florida. Ha
Went there shortly after it opened in May 2019 (or was it May 2018 ?) shortly after it opened. The pool had just opened a few days earlier. The best thing of all was the view of the dedicated A380 gates (maybe that was terminal 4 ?) Etihad, Emirates, Singapore . Korean, and Asiana. Coolest thing was watching a Korean A380 take off immediately after an Asiana A380. The terminal also brought back memories when in either 1974 or 1875 I departed on a TWA 747 to Madrid where in the upper deck lounge (yes they still had the upper deck lounges) some guy tried to recruit me to be a mercenary fighter in Angola!
Stayed there a few weeks ago. I worked for TWA 32 years, retiring in 1998. The hotel is nice (very small rooms unless you book a suite). They have done a great job restoring the terminal. Restaurant is lovely but not a great menu. Very pricey. Connie bar was closed due to pandemic. Lobby bar really terrible and very expensive. Once visit was enough to satisfy my nostalgia bucket list.
MY DAD ACTUALLY FLEW THAT CONNIE MANY MOONS AGO…. THAT TERMINAL BRINGS BACK MANY MEMORIES