This was the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport, an architectural icon designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962. This is the back of the building. You may remember seeing it because of its curved, wing shaped roofs, as seen from the front. The building is now part of the new T5 complex of Jet Blue, and it thrills me that they have left up this iconic sign. Trans World Airlines was a major American airline from 1925 until 2001. Along with American, United, and Eastern, it was one of the "Big Four" domestic airlines in the United States. Carl Icahn acquired control of TWA and took the company private in a leveraged buyout in 1988. TWA became saddled with debt, sold its London routes, and underwent Chapter 11 restructuring, before finally being merged with American Airlines. American laid off many former TWA employees in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and closed its St. Louis hub in 2003. Such a sad end to a once-great airline. Funny how seeing the TWA logo again brought this all back to me. In the background is the new modernistic control tower for JFK airport.
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