Worldport (Pan Am)

The original configuration of the Pan Am Worldport at JFK airport, now known simply as Terminal 3

The distinctive "flying saucer" roof design of the Worldport

A Pan Am Boeing 707-100 at Worldport (1961).

Terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, formerly known by the trademarked name Worldport, is an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) in 1960, now expected to be completely demolished by 2015.

History

The terminal was originally known as the "Pan Am Terminal". It was designed by Ives, Turano & Gardner Associated Architects and Walther Prokosch of Tippets-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton as a showcase for international jet travel and is particularly famous for its 4-acre (1.6 ha) "flying saucer" roof suspended far from the outside columns of the terminal by 32 sets of prestressed steel posts and cables. The terminal was designed to allow for aircraft to be parked under the partial overhang. This sheltered passengers as they boarded the aircraft by stairs or by uncovered bridges. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Guide to New York City called the terminal a "genuine architectural attempt to answer the problem of all-weather connections to the planes" but derided the overall concept as "compromised by an overabundance of distracting detail".^{[citation needed]}

The building's facade originally featured zodiac figures made by sculptor Milton Hebald, although these were later removed by the Port Authority.

In 1971, the terminal was expanded to accommodate the large Boeing 747 and renamed the "Pan Am Worldport". The Worldport was the world's largest airline terminal and held the title for several years. The expansion also added roof-top parking facilities (now closed for security reasons).^{[citation needed]}

Ownership of the Worldport changed hands when Pan Am declared bankruptcy in 1991. Delta Air Lines purchased the building, which is now known simply as "Terminal 3", and operates most of its long-haul flights out of JFK to Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America from the building.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2006, Delta COO Jim Whitehurst announced that Delta would spend US$10 million before the end of that year to renovate Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, including its public spaces, BusinessElite lounge, and Crown Room Clubs. In the July 2007 issue of Delta's Sky Magazine, Delta Senior Vice President Joanne Smith remarked on the "distinctive" saucer roof in an article on new flooring, lighting, and signage at this "historic airport".^{[citation needed]}

The Worldport has appeared in several films. A Pan Am Boeing 747 and the Worldport briefly appear in the James Bond film Live and Let Die, and in the opening sequence of The Family Man, in which the actor Nicolas Cage checks in at the Worldport for a Pan Am flight from New York to London. Doris Day boarded a Pan Am flight out of the Worldport in the film That Touch of Mink. The Worldport is featured in most episodes the television series Pan Am, as the show's Pan Am characters are based out of the Worldport.

On August 4, 2010, The New York Times reported that Delta was planning to move its international flights to Terminal 4 following the construction of nine additional gates in Concourse B of that terminal. Construction began in November 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2013. Delta's domestic flights are continuing to be operated out of Terminal 2. Terminal 3 is planned to be demolished and the space used for parking planes. Complete demolition is currently expected by 2015.

External links

• Pan Am Worldport history
• In disrepair in 2000
• Archival Port Authority photos
• Thomas Leslie. "The Pan Am Terminal at Idlewild/Kennedy Airport and the Transition from Jet Age to Space Age". Design Issues (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 21 (1): 63–80. doi:10.1162/0747936053103048. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/0747936053103048. Retrieved 2011-10-16.