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
TSA explosives detection canine Ben is usually screening passengers at JFK International Airport. Here he takes a much-deserved break from screening passengers.

TSA Canines Enhancing Security at John F. Kennedy International Airport

September 20, 2023
osh Earnest Executive Vice President of Communications and Advertising; Terri Fariello, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Global Public Policy

United Announces New Leadership Promotions

September 19, 2023
Guillaume Halleux joins Swissport as Chief Commercial Officer

Guillaume Halleux joins Swissport as Chief Commercial Officer

September 19, 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»TWA’s Lockheed Constellation Makes Trip to JFK Airport – On I-95
Airport News

TWA’s Lockheed Constellation Makes Trip to JFK Airport – On I-95

A vintage commercial airplane embarked on a long, slow journey from Maine to New York where it will be turned into a cocktail lounge.
Metropolitan Airport NewsBy Metropolitan Airport NewsOctober 9, 20181 Comment3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Trucks haul the Lockheed Constellation “Connie” L-1649A Starliner from Maine to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.  (Photo courtesy of MCR/MORSE Development)

The long trip of the Lockheed Constellation, known as the “Connie,” kicked off Monday, October 7th  at a send-off event Auburn-Lewiston Airport in Maine. The plane then departed Tuesday morning and make its way over the next several days to JFK in New York on a tow truck.

Decorated in authentic TWA livery, our Connie — whose fleet once served as Air Force One for President Dwight D. Eisenhower and broke the record for fastest nonstop trip from Burbank to New York with former TWA owner Howard Hughes at the helm in 1946 — deserves a victory lap before welcoming hotel guests into her cockpit. So, as with all things related to the TWA Hotel project, we looked to TWA’s rich history for inspiration.

MCR Development Team CEO Tyler Morse talks about the rare Super Star aircraft which will be joining the TWA Hotel at JFK airport. The aircraft leaves Auburn Lewiston airport on Tuesday morning. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Once in New York, the L-1649A Starliner will serve as the cocktail lounge outside TWA Hotel, a hotel that promises to bring back “the magic of the Jet Age.”

A spokeswoman for TWA Hotel says the plane, built in 1956 and in service starting 1958, does not fly anymore. Hundreds of Constellations were produced by Lockheed in the 1940s and 1950s. But only 44 Starliners were built

The plane flew for Trans World Airlines for three years before flying around the Alaskan wilderness as a bush pilot plane, said Tyler Morse, CEO of New York-based hotel owner and operator MCR and Morse Development. Morse’s company is building TWA Hotel.

By the 1970s, the plane had become a drug-running plane in South America. “It had giant cargo doors to fly pallets of marijuana around South America,” Morse said. The plane was later abandoned in Honduras and brought to Florida in the 80s. An aircraft enthusiast had it flown out to Maine with hopes of restoring it, but ran out of money.

The plane, one of four of its kind still in the world, sat at the tarmac for years, Morse said.

A decade ago, German airline Lufthansa Technik bought the enthusiast’s three vintage planes with the hopes of restoring one. This year, Lufthansa ended up dismantling that restoration project and announced it would move one of the planes to Germany to finish restoration work.

Now, the other plane long stored in Auburn is also set for a new adventure.

Over the next several days, the plane will be towed on a flatbed over 300 miles down I-95 while accompanied by a lengthy convoy, Morse said. It’ll reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour on the highway and as low as a few miles an hour for sharp turn.

The rare airliner will end up inside the New York airport, Terminal 5.

TWA Hotel
Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Metropolitan Airport News
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Produced by a team of aviation professionals and enthusiasts, our mission is to inform and update the more than 68,000 employees who work on the metropolitan New York airport properties, as well as the many others that provide goods and services in the surrounding communities.

RELATED NEWS & UPDATES

The TWA Flight Center Diorama

The TWA Flight Center

September 9, 2023
A uniquely open-air space, the EWR Terminal A Club features several acoustic systems designed to absorb the outside sounds of the airport so guests can enjoy a relaxing setting.

Delta Sky Club’s New Location On Newark’s Terminal A Reflects City’s Industrial Past

August 25, 2023
Sabine Hornig, LaGuardia Vistas, 2020,

LaGuardia Airport Terminal B Earns Earns Gold RHF Accessibility Certification

August 10, 2023
Westchester County Airport (HPN)

Schumer, Gillibrand Announce Over $27 Million In Federal Funding for New York Airports

July 28, 2023
The New Terminal One at JFK

PANYNJ Launches Institute of Concessions to Increase Local Business Participation at JFK Airport

July 27, 2023
The nearly 14,000-square-foot Club seats more than 250 guests and includes sweeping views of the airfield.

JFK’s 2nd Delta Sky Club Steps Into the Spotlight

July 25, 2023
View 1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Evelyn Spath Mercado on October 12, 2018 7:14 pm

    Incredible..l will see it shortly!

    Reply

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

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

AIRPORT & AVIATION EVENTS
2023 Kiwanis Kids Day (Rescheduled)
September 23, 2023 - September 23, 2023
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • LaGuardia Airport-(LGA)
Queens, New York
JFK Airport Food Service Recruitment Event
September 25, 2023
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Jamaica, New York
Civil Air Patrol Falcon Squadron Meeting
September 25, 2023
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Jamaica, 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
SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUE
Metropolitan Airport News - September 2023
LATEST COMMENTS
  • Robert Waldvogel on Long Island MacArthur: New York’s Secondary Airport
  • USN Veteran on Long Island MacArthur: New York’s Secondary Airport
  • Stephen Adams on The Ultimate Airline Employee Incentive
  • Jeff Landgrebe on The Ultimate Airline Employee Incentive
  • 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.