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
Michael Huerta, Former Administrator of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Delta Air Lines Board Member

Joby Appoints Former FAA Administrator and Delta Board Member Michael Huerta to the Company’s Board of Directors

March 25, 2023
Elise Eberwein accepts the CF Foundation’s Jena Award on March 23.

American Airlines Donates $1.1 Million to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

March 24, 2023
Delta Cargo unveils largest cooler facility at New York-JFK Airport

Delta Cargo Unveils Largest Cooler Facility at JFK Airport

March 24, 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

Delta Cargo unveils largest cooler facility at New York-JFK Airport

Delta Cargo Unveils Largest Cooler Facility at JFK Airport

March 24, 2023
Alstom Signs Seven-Year Operations & Maintenance Services Contract with Newark Liberty International Airport

Alstom Signs Seven-Year Operations & Maintenance Services Contract with Newark Liberty International Airport

March 17, 2023
Leading Edge AI Chipmaker Hailo Introduces Hailo-15: The First AI-Centric Vision Processors for Next-Generation Intelligent Cameras for Transportation Centers

Hailo Introduces the First AI-Centric Vision Processors for Next-Gen Cameras for Transportation Centers 

March 13, 2023
BA and AA colleagues in Bridge Bar JFK Greenwich Lounge

British Airways and American Airlines Raise a Glass to Aviation American Gin & Betty Buzz at JFK Terminal 8 Lounge

March 9, 2023
PANYNJ to Host Second Platooning Demonstration of Autonomous Vehicles at JFK Airport

PANYNJ to Host Second Platooning Demonstration of Autonomous Vehicles at JFK Airport

March 1, 2023

Long Island MacArthur Airport Announces $26M in Terminal Projects and Completion of the Ground Transportation Center

February 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
Civil Air Patrol Falcon Squadron Meeting
March 27, 2023
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Jamaica, New York
LGA Airport Hiring Event
March 28, 2023
9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • LaGuardia Airport-(LGA)
East Elmhurst, New York
FDU Master of Public Administration Open House
March 28, 2023
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport-(JFK)
Port Authority Building
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
MARCH 2023 ISSUE
Metropolitan Airport News March 2023
LATEST COMMENTS
  • Julia Lauria-Blum on Larger Than Life
  • Robert lee on Jane Mrosko
  • Jerelyn Zontini on Larger Than Life
  • Tom Krpata on The Golden Age of Airline Employment
  • 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.