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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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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:
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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.
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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
