An Idlewild Journey Quiz | Aviation

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. John F. Kennedy International Airport is a large and well-known airport, and is the busiest airport in the United States (in terms of international passengers). Before 1963, when the renaming happened, it was named Idlewild Airport, named after what?

Answer: A golfing range

Construction began on Idlewild Airport in 1943 to relieve air traffic from LaGuardia Airport, which opened 5 years earlier. Before the airport came into existence, it was a golf club named Idlewild. It was a local but relatively unknown club that lasted until the early 1940s.

2. The newly-created Idlewild Airport had its first flight in which year?

Answer: 1948

Harry S. Truman (the U.S. President at the time) officially opened the airport at its opening ceremony. Until 1950, only propeller planes flew in and out of Idlewild. 1950 saw the first jetliner arrive at Idlewild. Finally, in 1963, the airport was named after John F. Kennedy, proposed by Mayor Robert Wagner a month after Kennedy's tragic death.

3. JFK houses six terminals (as of 2019), but used to have up to 10. Terminal 1, home in the early 21st century to a consortium of airlines including Lufthansa, Air France, and Korean Air, originally housed which former airline giant?

Answer: Eastern Airlines

Before Eastern's demise in 1991, it operated a particularly large (and clunky) terminal. This is operated by a consortium of European and Asian airlines (Air France, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines and Korean Air) called the Terminal One Group.

4. Terminal 2 seems more economical, compared to the grand design of other terminals, and is one of the two terminals for Delta Airlines. This was opened in which year?

Answer: 1962

Terminal 2 was occupied by Northeast Airlines, Braniff and Northwest Airlines. Northeast and Northwest became part of Delta in 1972 and 2010, respectively. Braniff made unsustainable decisions in the 1970s and dramatically ceased operations in 1981.

5. One of JFK's former terminals, Terminal 3, was last owned by Delta Airlines. Opened in 1960, it then housed another former airline giant, which liked to refer to itself as "the most experienced". Which airline was that?

Answer: Pan American Airways

Ask any Pan Am enthusiast (or James Bond enthusiast - as both the building and the airline were in the Sean Connery movies), and they will recount a lot of nostalgia regarding the building. Delta obtained the building after Pan Am's bankruptcy in 1991, and operated the terminal until 2014, when it was demolished. Part of the reason was fading architecture - compounded by the system Delta used when it occupied Terminals 2 and 3: first and business class passengers checked in at Terminal 2, while everyone else checked in at Terminal 3.

6. If a plane from another country lands in JFK, it's likely to land in Terminal 4. What was this building originally called?

Answer: International Arrivals Building

Originally the International Arrivals Building, the building received a complete renovation in 2000 and was renamed Terminal 4, the main building for international flights. The terminal is also set for further expansion by Delta Airlines.

7. Terminal 5 mixes old and new. It contains a landmark which is a reminder of the now-defunct airline that once operated from this terminal. Which is it?

Answer: Trans World Airlines

Terminal 5, aka the TWA Flight Center, aka the TWA Hotel, was designed by Eero Saarinen for the former airline giant. The "head house" was declared a landmark in 1994, and was abandoned after TWA's acquisition by American Airlines.

8. Terminal 6 (another former terminal) was called the "Sundrome", named for this particularly "sunny" airline. Name the airline.

Answer: National Airlines

National Airlines was a Miami-based airline that catered to tourists - it later became the third largest international carrier (after Pan Am and TWA). National was later acquired by Pan Am in 1980, in an attempt to obtain domestic flights, denied to Pan Am for decades. Terminal 6 later was occupied by TWA, then by JetBlue, before being demolished in the late 2000s.

9. Terminal 7 is home to a multitude of airlines. However, the building may be seen as an extension of a "special relationship". For which airline was this terminal built in 1970?

Answer: British Overseas Air Corporation

Terminal 7 at JFK is occupied and managed by British Airways - the only terminal in the country operated by a single foreign airline (at least until 2022). It was originally designed by a British architect for use by BOAC (soon to be BA).

10. Terminal 8, our last active terminal at JFK, is its largest terminal - but is actually a replacement for 2 small terminals. Is this a stop on the JFK AirTrain?

Answer: Yes

The current rendition of Terminal 8 was originally two terminals, Terminals 8 and 9 - originally home to American Airlines and United Airlines, respectively. They were demolished in the mid 2000s. The AirTrain does stop here - it stops at all of the airline terminals, as well as the Howard Beach and Sutphin Blvd stations for NYC Transit.

Source: Author omar7812

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

An Idlewild Journey Trivia Quiz

A quiz regarding the history and buildings of John F. Kennedy International Airport, formerly named Idlewild Airport.

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