The Sundrome, later TWA Domestic Terminal and Terminal 6, was one of several terminals at

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

. It was designed by

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

& Partners (now

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an American architectural firm based in New York City, founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei and other associates.

). Opened in 1969, it was initially used by National Airlines. It had been occupied at various times by Trans World Airlines (domestic flights),

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

(SFO and LAX transcontinental flights),

ATA Airlines ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was a United States low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights ...

Pan American Airways (1996–1998) Pan American Airways (also known as Pan Am II) was founded in 1996 after an investment group including Charles E. Cobb, Charles Cobb, the former Ambassador to Iceland, purchased the rights to the venerable Pan American brand after the Pan Americ ...

Carnival Airlines Carnival Air Lines Incorporated was a charter and scheduled airline division of the Carnival Corporation & plc that started in 1988 after Carnival Cruise Lines purchased Pacific Interstate Airlines. It was headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida. ...

Vanguard Airlines Vanguard Airlines was an American airline based in Kansas City, Missouri, where it operated a hub from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. For a time, Vanguard also had significant operations at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Il ...

, and

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

. Most recently, from 1998 to 2008, Terminal 6 was the home of

JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...

. It became vacant on October 22, 2008, when JetBlue moved to Terminal 5, and finally demolished in 2011.

Design

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

, in his design of the Sundrome, used all-glass

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s, unprecedented at the time.

History

Prior to the construction of the Sundrome, National Airlines used a corrugated metal quonset hut as a terminal located between the eventual location of the Sundrome and Terminal 7 from 1948, when the airline first provided air service from Idlewild Airport, as it was then known. National Airlines commissioned the construction of the Sundrome, which opened on November 30, 1969. National Airlines used the Sundrome until its acquisition by Pan American World Airways in 1980. Trans World Airlines then expanded into the terminal, referring to it as the TWA Terminal Annex, later called TWA Domestic Terminal, then Terminal 6. It was eventually connected to the

TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal ...

(later called TWA International Terminal and subsequently called Terminal 5; now partially preserved as the

TWA Hotel TWA Hotel is a hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City, that opened on May 15, 2019. It utilizes the head house of the TWA Flight Center, designed in 1962 by the architect Eero Saarinen. The TWA Hotel project added ...

). The connection was by a landslide plywood walkway that was interrupted by a terminal driveway. Later, after TWA reduced flights at the airport, the terminal was used by

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

, a reincarnated

Pan American Airways (1996-1998) Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

, Carnival Air Lines,

, and

. In 2001,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

planned to redevelop this terminal and the TWA Flight Center as a new United terminal. On April 29, 2010, the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

announced that Terminal 6 would be demolished to allow JetBlue to consolidate its operations at an expanded Terminal 5. Despite an effort by preservationists to protect the building, demolition of the entire terminal was completed as planned in October 2011. The former Terminal 6 site was then used to expand the current Terminal 5 to include international facilities.

References

External links

New York Architectural Advocacy Group DoCoMoMo's History of Sundrome, Summer, 2003National Airlines Sundowner former flight attendant website, with zippy "Watch us Shine" ad jingle
{{coord, 40.647951, -73.7794, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Transport infrastructure completed in 1970 Aviation in New York City John F. Kennedy International Airport Transportation buildings and structures in Queens, New York National Airlines (1934–1980) Airport terminals Demolished buildings and structures in Queens, New York 1970 establishments in New York (state)