TWA Terminal - JFK Airport
Queens, NY
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Most airport terminals aren't exactly the sort of places that make you stop the car for a second look. The TWA Flight Center at JFK is a different story. Even surrounded by the endless traffic, concrete and terminals of one of the busiest airports around, those sweeping white curves seem to come out of nowhere.

Designed by Eero Saarinen for Trans World Airlines, the terminal opened in 1962 and looked like the Jet Age had suddenly landed in Queens. The huge glass walls, soaring concrete roof and flowing interior spaces were unlike the usual airport box. Depending on where you're standing, the roof looks a little like a bird spreading its wings and getting ready for takeoff. That was pretty appropriate for a terminal built when commercial air travel was still something of an event.

TWA Terminal - JFK Airport
Queens, NY
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

And the futuristic look didn't stop at the front door. Inside, almost everything curved. Stairways swept between levels, windows looked out toward the airplanes, and long enclosed passenger tubes carried travelers from the main terminal toward the gates. There were restaurants and lounges upstairs, including the Ambassador Club, London Bar & Constellation Club, Lisbon Lounge and Paris Café. Even the old Solari flight board, with its constantly flipping letters and numbers, fit right into the scene.

TWA sign
Queens, NY
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

It's easy to imagine what this place must have felt like during TWA's glory days. A cab pulls up outside, somebody walks through the terminal carrying a suitcase, the departure board starts clicking away and another TWA jet waits beyond those giant windows. Air travel had plenty of headaches even then, but Saarinen somehow managed to make getting to an airplane feel like part of the adventure.

A view at night
Queens, NY
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The building was also remarkably forward-looking. The TWA Flight Center incorporated baggage carousels, centralized public-address systems and enclosed jetways at a time when many passengers were still walking across the tarmac to reach their airplanes. The long red-carpeted flight tubes were designed to build anticipation as passengers headed toward their flights.

Of course, the Jet Age didn't stand still. Airplanes became larger, passenger traffic increased and airports changed around buildings designed for an earlier generation of travel. The TWA terminal was expanded over the years, but eventually the airline itself ran into trouble. TWA's assets were sold to American Airlines in 2001 and the terminal closed after nearly four decades of service.

The sun rises over the TWA Terminal
Queens, NY
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

That's what makes seeing the terminal in 2007 especially interesting. At the time, this incredible building was sitting between two lives. The TWA airplanes were gone, the passengers were gone and the old terminal had been closed for several years. JetBlue's new Terminal 5 was being developed around it, but exactly what would happen to Saarinen's masterpiece was still a big question.

Standing there, though, the building hardly looked finished with the future. The enormous glass windows were still there. So were those unmistakable concrete wings and the entrance that looked like it belonged in some 1960s vision of tomorrow. Even empty, the place had more personality than most working airport terminals. 01-07

TWA Terminal
Queens, NY
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

UPDATE: Fortunately, the story didn't end with an abandoned terminal. JetBlue's new Terminal 5 opened alongside the landmark in 2008, while the original TWA Flight Center remained preserved. After a major restoration, Saarinen's terminal finally came back to life in 2019 as the centerpiece of the TWA Hotel. The old headhouse now serves as the hotel's lobby, with restaurants, exhibits and plenty of reminders of the days when TWA ruled the skies. Two hotel wings were added around the historic building, while the original flight tubes were preserved and now lead toward the guest rooms.

So if you happen to be passing through JFK these days, there's still a little bit of 1962 waiting at Terminal 5. The airplanes outside may have changed and TWA itself is long gone, but Saarinen's swooping terminal still looks like it's ready for takeoff. 08-26

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