Where Weary Travelers Can Lay Their Heads, and Watch Planes Go By

On opening day of the TWA Hotel at Kennedy International Airport in May, visitors could be excused for any confusion.

Were they in the lobby of a new hotel in 2019, or had they stepped back in time to the bustle and glamour of the jet-setting 1960s?

On a balcony overlooking a sunken cocktail lounge in the building that once housed Trans World Airlines check-in counters and waiting areas, four young men wearing suits as narrow as their ties were singing from the balcony. They looked very much like the Beatles.

Along a floor tiled in tiny white disks walked pilots in crisp uniforms and flight attendants with carefully coifed hair.

Many places in the former TWA Terminal in New York, now on the National Register of Historic Places, were emblazoned with the red logo of an airline that ceased to exist nearly two decades ago but remains alive for many people.

Walking into the lobby on opening day, Peggie Sherwood saw the refurbished flight board and said, “It brought back so many wonderful memories.” Ms. Sherwood was a flight attendant for TWA for 29 years and called it the best job in the world.

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