FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0038.PDF
40 FLIGHT, 10 January 1958 NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL . . . with an appraisal of the arrivals area from the roof observationdeck (this, incidentally, is the best pan of a mile in length, and is open to sightseers). At the moment only one side of the "U"which forms the arrivals area is in use; here there are three gates— i.e., aircraft parking spots—with another three on the reservefinger opposite. As may be seen from the photograph, there is plenty of room for at least two more gates and aircraft positionsat the end of each finger. There is, of course, plenty of room for the fingers to be lengthened as traffic capacity demands. Thenumber of gates may appear few when measured against Idlewild's already busy arrivals rate, but the idea is to move aircraft clear themoment they are unloaded. The authorities are, we were told, hoping that 15 minutes will be the maximum time for which anaircraft remains in the arrivals area; once empty, it is taxied under its own power (C.A.A. discourage towing as it is too slow andcumbersome) around to the departures wings or to the hangar. Passengers enter the arrivals building after disembarkation via,first of all, one of eight "U.S. Public Health hold rooms." These pleasingly combine an inevitably clinical atmosphere with one ofstylish comfort. Thence via immigration to Customs, where the passenger claims his baggage and goes to any one of 72 counters,each with a moving conveyor baggage-belt. He obviously picks the counter with the shortest queue, the whole process beingreminiscent of the help-yourself supermarket. Although the traveller may not at first realize it, he is beingwatched from a surrounding gallery above by the public, who can spot their relatives and friends and see for themselves the reasonsfor any delay. In actual fact, we found that this supermarket worked speedily. Our only adverse comment, which may not bea widely-shared opinion, is that the sightseeing aspect makes the Customs inspection process extremely public. Those who feelthat the inspection of baggage should be a private affair between passenger and official, and who are embarrassed at the rummagingsthrough the next man's bag, may not appreciate the fact that at New York these rummagings—and the contents of one's bags—are beheld by the general public. The arriving passenger, duly processed, is greeted in the mainentrance lobby by the famous Emma Lazarus inscription from the Statue of Liberty: — Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!The architecture and decor of the whole terminal are seen at their best in the spacious, pastel-coloured lobby beneath thehigh-flung arch. This part of the building contains small check counters for each airline, banking facilities and everything whichthe new arrival—and the airline whose responsibility he is—needs. Overhead, symbolizing man's aspiration to fly, is a giant mobile,appreciation of which is very much a matter of personal taste. Our own impression was that it looked like a cross between theWright brothers' biplane and the victim of the Quartermass Experiment.There is nothing on the ground floor to encourage dallying by passengers or visitors; it is an intentional part of the design toencourage people to keep the ground floor clear by placing all the shops, the restaurant and the waiting lounges on the first floor.This is attained via an escalator. The second floor accommodates the Golden Door Restaurant, where people who want somethingmore elaborate than can be obtained in the quick-service restaurant below (called Coffee Shop) can have first-class meal service.Most of our time was spent visiting each of the individual airline terminals in the east and west wing buildings. Of most interest,of course, was the B.O.A.C. terminal, but before describing this it will be appropriate to hwe a brief look at some. The PortAuthority gave each carrier, in effect, four walls, a roof, and three floors, leaving the design and arrangement to be completedaccording to individual preferences—and pockets. The result is a remarkable variety of styling and decor, with the national charac-ter of each airline being given the maximum outlet. The most sumptuous of all is Air France; the main booking hall gives onethe impression of a national pavilion rather than a place of airline business. Large contemporary paintings, terrazzo flooring andbronze and marble materials produce a most pleasing result. Oval in shape, the airline's first-class Parisien Lounge is luxurious inthe extreme, with Directoire-style furniture upholstered in soft green-toned fabrics; lantern fixtures are gold and bronze, and onewall—unlike the wood panelling of the others—is draped in silk. The S.A.S. terminal is typical of Scandinavian contemporaryarchitecture at its best, though perhaps (appropriately?) a little cold when contrasted with its French neighbour. Walls are in softgreen with mosaic pillars. Upstairs along the entire length of a mezzanine lounge are grouped orange-coloured sofas around walnutcocktail tables. The third floor is to contain a Royal Viking Lounge for V.I.P.s.El Al's terminal is dominated by a vast mural by Zvi Gali, also symbolizing man's aspiration of flight, in five colours of laminatedplaster. As might be expected, the Britannia is much in evidence, and Bristol's superb exhibition-Proteus occupies a prominent placeon the ground floor with back-lit colour photographs of the Britannia's interior. Sabena's furnishings are predominantly blue and red, and thecompany's V.I.P. club lounge, divisible by a walnut partition, is likely to be well utilized. Lufthansa are by far the simplest, withthe most economic use of their space; by comparison with the others, the German effort might be criticized as cold and stark;but, even so, our impression was of adequate comfort and amenities. K.L.M.'s terminal, one of the first completed, is also one of themost attractive. Restraint is the keynote of the decor, though a nice touch is an ornamental pool complete with small fountainsand goldfish. The B.O.A.C. terminal, the first one in the east wing, is thelargest of all, occupying a total floor area of 27,000 sq ft. Total cost was just over £350,000, and from initial planning in 1954 tocompletion took just over three-and-a-half years. The ground floor contains the checking-in facilities, with a 100ft counter and13 scales. An escalator leads up to the mezzanine floor where there is a bar, nursery and a gift-shop. As with all the individual ter-minals, passengers leave this waiting room to the public corridor which leads to the aircraft gate position. Upholstery of the bar isof leather, and bears the coats of arms of British cities. The ground floor, behind the checking-in area, houses B.O.A.C.'s flight opera-tions and traffic documentation departments. These are laid out and equipped to provide B.O.A.C. with the means—which theyhave painfully lacked hitherto—for conducting their New York business efficiently. There are rooms for crew briefing, flightmovements, passenger reservations, load sheets and—to the delight of B.O.A.C.'s captains and crews—first-rate rest-rooms for theflying staff. The terminal is a great credit to the Corporation's New York staff—in particular, to Messrs. R. J. Burrage (manager,Idlewild) and E. W. Renshaw (senior flight operations officer), and their assistants. The facade of the B.O.A.C. terminal in the east wing. Centre, the passenger checking-in hall. Right, the flight operations room, largest of the technical departments contained in the B.O.A.C. terminal. "Flight" photographs
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
