A pioneering 1950’s airplane is returning to New York’s JFK airport, where it will be restored to former glory and house a retro-themed cocktail bar.
The 1958 Lockheed Constellation, also known as the “Connie,” was among the first airliners to contain a pressurized cabin, allowing pilots to fly at higher altitudes, avoid bad weather, and provide smoother and safer flights.
The airplane’s restoration is part of the soon-to-open Trans World Airlines (TWA) Hotel, which will see the former Trans World Flight Center at JFK converted into a luxury hotel, CNN reports. The hotel will feature 512 “ultra-quiet” guestrooms, six restaurants, and eight bars, and is due to open in early 2019.
For the airplane-cum-cocktail-bar, TWA Hotel developers have installed a new subfloor in the cabin, outfitted interior walls with imitation leather, and re-upholstered seats in the cabin and on the flight deck, CNN says.
The Connie started its 300-mile journey to JFK on Friday afternoon, after being dismantled and loaded onto multiple trucks at the Auburn-Lewiston Airpot in Maine, where restorations were taking place.
Details for the bar’s drinks menu are still unconfirmed, but if it’s anything like the free-pouring “Golden Age” of 1950’s air travel, this is one plane you’ll definitely want to board in 2019.
