Metropolitan Airport NewsMetropolitan Airport News
  • Airport News
    • Publisher’s Message
    • Fast Five
    • On Duty
    • Air Cargo
    • Airline News
    • Airport Community
    • Airport Employment News
    • Airport Safety & Security
    • Company Spotlight
    • Ground Services
    • Intermodal
    • New York Aviation History
    • Non-Rev Traveler
  • Airport & Aviation Events
  • Airport Employment
  • Latest Issue
  • Login

Subscribe for Updates

Get the latest local airport and aviation news delivered right into your inbox each week!

News Updates

Republic Airport Commission Meeting

May 26, 2023

CAO’s 2023 Aviation Job Fair

May 26, 2023

Career Conversations: LI STEM Hub

May 26, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Metropolitan Airport NewsMetropolitan Airport News
  • Airport News
    • Publisher’s Message
    • Fast Five
    • On Duty
    • Air Cargo
    • Airline News
    • Airport Community
    • Airport Employment News
    • Airport Safety & Security
    • Company Spotlight
    • Ground Services
    • Intermodal
    • New York Aviation History
    • Non-Rev Traveler
  • Airport & Aviation Events
  • Airport Employment
  • Latest Issue
  • Login
Metropolitan Airport NewsMetropolitan Airport News
Home»Airport News»Former Braniff Training Facility to Become Luxury Hotel
Airport News

Former Braniff Training Facility to Become Luxury Hotel

With a Decidedly Braniff Motif
Joseph AlbaBy Joseph AlbaDecember 2, 20201 Comment3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Former Braniff Training Facility to Become Luxury Hotel
Braniff International Airways hostesses in uniforms by Emilio Pucci, 1965.

Tyler Morse really did have a great idea with his TWA Hotel because last month, taking a page from the JFK TWA Hotel venture built by MCR and minority partner, JetBlue Airways, a new hotel is being planned for 2023 occupancy minutes from at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. And the theme airline is Braniff, which like TWA, is a defunct airline. 

The agreement was signed with Dallas historical property developer MM Property Holdings, Inc., the new owner of the Hostess College property, which was purchased from Greenway Properties of Dallas. MM Property Holdings was the developer of the historic 169-room Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas, which was fully restored to its former glory in 2018.

The new hotel is being built on land formerly housing Braniff’s International Hostess College and dormitory for Flight Attendants. For Braniff, the college was not only a training facility, but another opportunity to brand itself through modern design, a practice that companies like Apple and Target wouldn’t fully adopt until the 1990s.

Former Braniff Training Facility to Become Luxury Hotel
Braniff’s Hostess College, built in 1968 and designed by Pierce, Lacey and Associates, was a training school where the airline would “turn the girl next door into a truly cosmopolitan lady.”

The training facility was a five-story building, dating back to 1968, and encompasses 59,925 square feet on nearly 1 acre at 2801 Wycliff Ave., next to the Dallas North Tollway and near Dallas Love Field. Most recently, the property was a retirement community called ParkGate, which opened in 1999 and closed in 2014. It’s been vacant since then.

 “The shape, the colors, all of it; it’s definitely a feminine building,” architect Neal Lacey, of Dallas-based Pierce, Lacey and Associates, told the local news media upon its unveiling. The academy was designed to accommodate up to 142 would-be hostesses for a five-week training course. 

Braniff was already in operation primarily as southwestern based airline in 1965, the year executive Harding Lawrence took control of what was then a regional airline and transformed it into an international beacon of contemporary chic.

Specifics of the new Braniff-themed luxury hotel are still up in the air including who will run the property and whether it will be independent like the TWA Hotel or part of a larger group, like Hyatt or Marriott.

Former Braniff Training Facility to Become Luxury Hotel
Braniff Douglas DC-8-62 wearing Alexander Calder’s Flying Colors of South America design at Miami Airport in August 1975

The Braniff Airlines Foundation President, Ben Cass said the hotel will have 75 luxury rooms, and feature Braniff themes and memorabilia; sound familiar?

Braniff will maintain creative control over the use of its intellectual property throughout the two-year restoration project. The company also will provide consultation and assistance with the interior and exterior restoration of the property. 

Proposed hotel amenities include a restaurant, bar and large swimming pool with outdoor bar and beverage service. A Braniff Boutique store will be housed in the new hotel offering Braniff-branded goods ranging from model airplanes to Braniff-branded drink coasters and T-shirts.

The hotel facility itself is still an idea at the moment; there was no design-spec or rendition available on what the interior or exterior may look like.

Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Joseph Alba
  • Website
  • LinkedIn

Mr. Alba was previously Editor of the Airport Press for 12 years covering both local as well as global aviation news. Prior to this, Mr. Alba had Executive positions in Systems Engineering and Marketing with IBM World Trade, and had foreign assignments in the Far East and Latin America earning three Outstanding Achievement Awards. Mr. Alba also directed a new function dealing with Alternate Fuels for Public Service Electric & Gas company in New Jersey and founded a Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium consisting of car company executives and fleet owners, and NGV suppliers in New Jersey. Mr. Alba was a founding partner of ATA, an IT Consulting company which is still active in Central and South America. After leaving the armed forces, Mr. Alba’s initial employee was the U.S. Defense Department as an analyst.

RELATED NEWS & UPDATES

New Terminal One at JFK Builds Out Executive Leadership Team With New Key Hires

New Terminal One at JFK Announces New Partnership with Korean Air

May 22, 2023
DFS Opens New Beauty Concept Store at JFK's Terminal 4

DFS Opens New Beauty Concept Store at JFK’s Terminal 4

May 12, 2023
Sabine Hornig, LaGuardia Vistas, 2020,

Reflections of Time & Place

May 10, 2023
AirTrain Newark Liberty International Airport Solar

PANYNJ Advances Commitment to Sustainability With Record-Setting Solar Projects

April 26, 2023
JFKIAT Celebrates Two New Retail Openings with Double Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

JFKIAT Holds Double Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to Celebrate New Openings

April 11, 2023
The T4 Connection Engineering a Bridge to Community & Sustainability

The T4 Connection

April 10, 2023
View 1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Joe Hartigan on December 11, 2020 1:25 pm

    Great project and just another reason for Ferry service to JFK from NYC and NJ. The best part about ferry
    service it could be put in place tomorrow. All you would need is a shuttle ferry to the Rockaway ferry dock and then you would be connected to the 21 ferry stops in NYC and the 15 ferry stops in NJ.

    Reply

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

AIRPORT & AVIATION EVENTS
LGA Airport Hiring Event
May 30, 2023
9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • LaGuardia Airport-(LGA)
East Elmhurst, New York
JFK Airport Hiring Event
May 31, 2023
9:30 AM to 3:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Jamaica, New York
JFK Rotary Club Monthly Dinner Meeting
June 01, 2023
5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Vetro Restaurant & Lounge
Howard Beach, New York
  • >> More Airport & Aviation Events

Subscribe for Weekly Email Updates

Get the latest local airport news, events, and jobs delivered right into your inbox each week.

Metropolitan Airport News provides timely news, information and updates for both Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees and businesses that provide services at, and around the major New York airports (JFK, LGA, EWR).

John F. Kennedy International Airport
PO Box 300877
Jamaica, NY 11430 USA
Phone: (347) 396-0904
Email Us

Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Flickr
MAY 2023 ISSUE
Metropolitan Airport News - May-2023
LATEST COMMENTS
  • Howard Kaye on Travelers Aid JFK Airport: A Helping Hand Along the Way
  • Julia Lauria-Blum on Larger Than Life
  • Robert lee on Jane Mrosko
  • Jerelyn Zontini on Larger Than Life
  • About Us
  • Advertising Options
  • Charitable Giving Program
  • Back Issue Archive
  • Contact Us
© 2023 Airport Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.