This peculiar film entitled “Jet Terminal” was made by Pan Am Airlines in 1959 to promote the completion of the JFK Airport’s Terminal 3, also known by the trademarked name “Worldport.” Made with an avant garde fashion that combines black and white footage with color material, and with almost no spoken dialogue or sound effects, the movie shows how the airline’s new, high tech terminal makes everything about air travel easy — and glamorous. The film features the Boeing 707 jetliner, first introduced in 1958.

Terminal 3, also known by the trademarked name Worldport, was an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, United States. It opened on May 24, 1960 and ceased operations on May 24, 2013; it was demolished in late 2013.

The terminal was originally known as the “Pan Am Terminal” or Pan Am “Unit Terminal Building (UTB).” 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 pre-stressed steel posts and cables. The terminal was designed to allow for aircraft to be parked under the partial overhang; marketing brochures promoted that the jet-age terminal brought the plane to the passenger. The overhang 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”.

The building’s facade originally featured zodiac figures made by sculptor Milton Hebald, although these were later removed by the Port Authority. The terminal featured the Panorama Room, a dining room with a view of the entire concourse, and the Clipper Hall museum of Pan Am history.

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.

In 2012 operation of the Worldport changed hands when Pan Am declared bankruptcy in 1991. Delta Air Lines acquired many of Pan Am’s assets, including the lease on the Worldport, which became known simply as “Terminal 3”, and operated most of its long-haul flights out of JFK to Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America from the building

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”.

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. Delta’s domestic flights would continue to be operated out of Terminal 2. Terminal 3 would subsequently be demolished to create additional aircraft parking between Terminals 2 and 4. Construction of the Terminal 4 expansion began in November 2010 and was completed in May 2013.

On May 23, 2013, the final departure from Terminal 3, Delta Air Lines Flight 268, a Boeing 747-400 to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, departed from Gate 6 at 11:25pm local time. The terminal ceased operations on the next day, 53 years to the day from when it opened. Demolition of the terminal began on June 23, 2013.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com