LaGuardia's most "marvelous and enlightening sight"...

Was its air traffic control technology!

Back when airplanes were only just starting to take off and airports were a place to visit rather than a dreaded purgatory, air traffic control technology was cool.  People were excited by the gears and gadgets that made flight possible and New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ensured that New York Municipal Airport, as it was then known, had the state-of-the-art equipment. 

For example, the Duke of Windsor, who visited Flushing in 1939 to see both the airport and the World’s Fair, thought the most “marvelous and enlightening sight” was in fact the airport’s control tower.[1]  The tower was positioned on top of the Central Terminal Building (CTB) and had sixteen radio receivers which could pick up calls on any airline frequency.  This technological innovation meant the dawning of a new age and the people of New York knew it (as did the Duke of Windsor). 

LaGuardia's air traffic control center was located on top of the CTB, as seen in this picture.  Photo: Port Authority of NY & NJ

The new air traffic control tower, erected in 1964, was another exciting technological advancement, albeit controversial, as it was thought to resemble an ice cream cone or Swiss cheese, depending on who you ask.  The structure was designed by local heavy-weight Wallace K. Harrison, who was also responsible for the 1939 World’s Fair’s Trylon and Perisphere as well as several other monumental New York City buildings.  But the new structure was also exciting because of what it stood for – LaGuardia Airport staying ahead of the curve. 

LaGuardia's first air traffic control tower.  Photo: Port Authority of NY & NJ

However, exciting developments are underway that would help greatly enhance airline travel but they need the public's help and involvement.  NextGen, the name given to the US’s GPS air traffic technology due to replace the old radar system, would drastically cut delays caused by plane stacking and poor weather conditions, and enable pilots to fly more direct and efficient routes.  All in all, it’s not only a safer option, but it would also save everyone masses of time in the airport and on the runway. 

LaGuardia's new state-of-the-art air traffic control tower replaced the infamous ice cream cone tower in 2011.  Photo courtesy of International Airport Review

It’s not rocket science and yet the technology is lacking a public awareness necessary to turn it into a reality.  It’s in everyone’s interest to upgrade but unless we acknowledge that, change will be slow and low on the list of priorities.  So, if you ever spend time in an airport or on a plane, spread the word – it’s time to get excited about NextGen.   

For more information about NextGen, watch this video:

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[1] Alistair Gordon, Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Revolutionary Structure (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008), 116.  

Opening Up, Part III

New York City’s First Commercial Airport

Newark Airport, formally known as Newark Metropolitan Airport, opened long before both JFK and LaGuardia on October 1, 1928.  It operated for a time as the region’s only commercial airport, located a mere fourteen miles from Manhattan.  Before Newark, there was Heller Field, a US Mail Airfield located in the North Ward, which lasted only a short while; from December 1919 to May 1921.  Hadley Field soon replaced Heller Field in 1923 as the post office needed an air base.  However, the four airlines using Hadley ultimately made the transition to Newark Airport and the field was shut. 

Mail workers unload the mail bags from the well in the front part of the fuselage. Photo: Newark Evening News, December 8, 1919, courtesy of Newark Public Library

Plans to build the airport were announced on August 3, 1927 and the city moved with great haste in order to ensure the airport attracted the air mail business, whose existing contracts were due to expire in 1928.  Sure enough, the city’s efforts paid off and on February 18, 1929, the airport officially opened as an Eastern terminal for the United States air mail.  According to an article published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle the following day, more than 25,000 people showed up to witness the event, which was marked by the takeoff of three planes, each of which departed at separate times while carrying mail.  In addition, the new airport had welcomed its first international passengers on October 17, 1928, who flew in from Montreal on a Canadian Colonial Airways Ford Tri-Motor. 

Etching of Newark Airport by George A. Bradshaw for the Journal of Finance and Industry in 1929.  Photo: Newark Public Library

However, that is not say that construction of the airport was simple; far from it!  The airport was located on swampland and so had to be raised by six feet and four miles of creeks had to be diverted.  To fill the ground, the city used dry fill which consisted of 7,000 Christmas trees and 200 safes donated

Perhaps the only commercial NYC airport created outside the influence of Fiorello LaGuardia, Newark was championed by Newark Mayor Thomas Lynch Raymond.  Unfortunately, however, like LaGuardia in the case of JFK Airport, Raymond did not live to see the fruits of his labor, dying days before the grand opening.  

Newark had the world's first paved runway. Photo: Port Authority of NY & NJ, 1928, courtesy of Newark Public Library

Noting the absurdity of the lengths the city was going to in order to build the airport, one reporter urged his readers to, “Forget the airport!  The craze for aviation will soon die out!”[1]  That reporter, however, could not have been more wrong; not only was aviation to become massively popular, but it is estimated that roughly 50,000 people went to visit the airport every Sunday throughout the 1930s. 

Newark's original Art Deco Administration Building, which served as a terminal building until the opening of North Terminal in 1953. Photo: Port Authority of NY & NJ

Newark also paved the way for airports all over the world – it was reputedly the first airport in the world to have a paved runway.  It was also the first airport in the US to build a terminal building.  The opening of what is now Newark’s Administration Building in 1935 was therefore a significant event.  Amelia Earhart, the famed aviatrix, formally dedicated it.  Newark became the world’s busiest airport, with 90,177 passengers in 1931 alone. Furthermore, Earhart was a frequent visitor of the airport and was one of the many celebrities often seen flying in and out.  

In September 1930, passengers on the new Newark-Washington plane lined up to have their photo taken at Newark Airport.  Left to right: J.V. MacGee, former Vice President of Transcontinental Air Transport; A.W. Gilliam, Washington newspaper representative; Amelia Earhart, Vice President of the line; Mrs. Mabel Walker Wllebrandt, former Assistant United States Attorney General; Major General J.E. Fechet, Chief of the United States Army Air Corps; Command J.Q. Walton of the Coast Guard; Sydney Gross of Washington. Photo: Newark Public Library

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[1] Geoffrey Arend, Great Airports: Newark International (Air Cargo News Books, 1989), 27.  

Opening Up, Part II

The Excitement of an Airport Opening: John F. Kennedy Airport

Kennedy Airport opened nearly a decade after its predecessor, LaGuardia, and yet New Yorkers were just as thrilled as they had been in 1939.  JFK was only renamed a month after the assassination of said President.  Prior to that, the airport was officially called New York International Airport (not New York Airport because it sounded far too similar to Newark Airport).  However, it was mostly known as Idlewild Airport after the golf course it replaced. 

Aerial Shot of Idlewild Airfield. Photo: pdxretro.com

Located a mere fifteen miles from Times Square, New York International Airport was dedicated on July 31, 1948 and the city put on quite the production.  Crowds flooded in from all over to partake in the day's excitement just as they had done for North Beach.  According to an article in the Brooklyn Eagle, not only were 200,000 people in attendance, but celebrities showed up as well.  

The day consisted of a number of festivities but followed a highly regimented schedule – everything was planned down to the very minute.  As part of the celebrations, 900 tactical airplanes partook in a flyover, which would have been a remarkable show and delighted the many who were watching. 

Planes could be seen taking off overhead in celebration of the day, as published in this New York Times article from August 1, 1948. Photo: New York Times In addition, not only was the mayor of the time, William O’Dwyer, present for the event, but President Harry S. Truman also attended, which indicates just how important an airport opening was, especially for a nation still in recovery from the Second World War.  It was within this context that President Truman issued a desperate plea for international peace.  The speech was aired on a nationwide broadcast, so the event provided him with an excellent platform with which to disseminate his views to a wider audience.  Truman "pleading for world unity" at the ceremony as published in the Brooklyn Eagle on August 1, 1948. Photo: fultonhistory.com Truman issued his remarks at 2:30 in the afternoon from a stand in the middle of the airfield. During his speech, Truman also noted some of the benefits of air travel:

Planes will land here, bringing newspapers printed only a few hours earlier in Rome, or Paris, or London. Papers printed in the morning in New York will be on the streets of European cities that night.[1]

Although New York had had North Beach Airport (LaGuardia) for several years already, locals were still adjusting to the notion of air travel, which had yet to become the standard practice that it is today.  Most of the subsidiary benefits of flight, such as instantaneous international news coverage, were still novel concepts! 

President Harry S. Truman shakes hands with NYC Mayor William O'Dwyer at the dedication of Idlewild Airport on July 31, 1948.  Photo: trumanlibrary.org

The President also highlighted the importance of the trade and commerce that the airport would stimulate.  Although, little did he know that JFK would later become the biggest and busiest air cargo airport in the region!  The other chief speaker was Howard S. Cullman, the Chairman of the Port of New York Authority, as it was then known.  

President Harry S. Truman (fourth left) stands with NY Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, a former rival Presidential candidate (far right), for the dedication of Idlewild Airport on July 31, 1948.  Photo: pdxretro.com

JFK has continued to grow and thrive over the years and although sixty-five years on we may take our almost instant access to international news for granted, we certainly continue to appreciate a good airport because even nowadays, there’s nothing quite like it!

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[1] Harry S. Truman, “Remarks in New York City at the Dedication of Idlewild International Airport,” in the Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953, accessed November 3, 2013, http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=1769.