NEW YORK – We read in Crain’s New York that the old Pan Am Worldport at JFK might be demolished soon by Delta. The building is one of the great landmarks of aviation, though it has been so abused over the years that few would actually believe it if they toured it.

It’s where the Beatles arrived; it was even in the news today as the place where that Cuban hijacker left in 1968; I think then they called it skyjacking. In 1970, millionaire dilettante singer James Brody asked Richard Nixon to come there and talk about world peace. Dozens of great scenes have been enacted in the lobby, perhaps none more frightening than the 1978 return of the remaining, elderly cultists from Jonestown, Guyana. And then there was the arrest of Axl Rose in 1992 at the WorldPort after that St. Louis concert gone wrong.

The terminals, believe it or not, were top tourist attractions in their Catch Me If You Can era. Pan Am’s Idlewild terminal was such a snazzy destination that during the Kennedy Administration, Jackie and Caroline left for Italy from the terminal on a commercial Pan Am jet. Likely Caroline got to play in Pan Am’s toy-filled nursery, staffed by bi-lingual attendants.

The WorldPort was built in 1961, and designed by Ives, Turano & Gardner Associated Architects and Walter Prokosch of Tippets-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton. Delta owns the terminal next door, Terminal 2, which was designed in 1962 for Braniff, Northeast and Northwest. Pan Am also had tenants in the building, including JAT, the Yugoslavian airline.

The WorldPort (actually UPS now uses the term for its terminal elsewhere) is of the same vintage as JetBlue’s TWA Flight Center nearby, and that building has been preserved, though no one has quite figured out what to do with it. Certainly, it is not as interesting a building as the TWA Flight Center, but the Eero Saarinen building is one of the world’s greatest architectural landmarks.

Part of what was so fascinating about JFK was that each of the airline brands had their own branded terminals. TWA was coolest. The most sublime was the Sundrome of National Airlines. This was an I.M. Pei masterpiece of glass that allowed visitors to step into the Sunshine State when they headed into their terminal.

Questions about the building and its future:

1. How bad? Critics call the building “insufferable” but are its problems beyond fixing? Technology keeps changing, and part of the challenge of the building is that it was built for 707s, but by the time it got just 10 years old it had to adapt to Pan Am’s 747s. The other challenge for buildings at airports is that because airport space is limited, you can’t leave too many old things around.
2. Is it eligible to be a National Landmark? As far as we know, that eligibility work has not been done. Even if it is a national landmark, that does not mean it cannot be taken down. What it does mean is that its merits have been weighed.
3. Are there preservation tax credits if part is saved? If the building is eligible for the National Register, and pieces of it can be utilized in a manner sympathetic to the old, then there are tax credits possibly available. Certainly, much of the building has been destroyed, and a series of renovations have not done well by it. Part of the idea of a building is whether the historic fabric has been destroyed. But if good bits are still there, there might be a case. These questions are not easy, though; someone needs to really look at the structure.
4. Is there Section 106 review? If a building is eligible for the National Register, and it is threatened with demolition with projects that involve federal dollars, the government goes through a process called Section 106 Review. It basically means that there should be an official process as to whether the building should be demolished. Section 106 review does not always mean that a building cannot be demolished. What it means that there must be a process if it is to come down, more than a decision by the Port Authority and Delta saying that they want it down. If it must come down, it needs to be documented properly, and any pieces that can be saved, must be saved. In addition, there is remediation; that might mean that a replacement building could utilize pieces of the building, such as the Hebald zodiac scupltures that were removed in the 1990s.
5. Can the Milton Hebald Zodiac be re-mounted? Sometime after Pan Am went bankrupt the first time and Delta took over its European routes, the wonderful Milton Hebald sculptures of the zodiac came down. They are now reportedly in a Port Authority of New York warehouse.

Tomorrow: We will examine the history of the Milton Hebald zodiac and Pan Am’s fetish for star designs on its terminals.

Certainly, both have been through bankruptcy. And now, to travel a distance, both can be about the same price. But with the new designs and service of Greyhound, the line is on its way to being a far more interesting, and useful, brand experience than Delta.

In this morning’s Financial Times, columnist and magazine guru Tyler Brule remarked upon the “undifferentiated” service of the business class of the legacy air carriers in Europe. That description also describes American legacy carriers like Delta, even more than carriers like BA, which he happened to be flying.

The situation is less inspiring in the U.S. On a recent Delta trip, I could well have been on a bus, except for Delta logo printed on a napkin and Delta logos painted on the outside of the plane. The crew was nice, the flight on time, the luggage in its place. Even the price was right. I even had a cozy spot in the back of my MD-88, just to the right of the service area. But the experience was bland, sterile.

That is compared to Greyhound, which has done a 180 with its image. In April, Greyhound began unveiling its fleet of new buses, which it will evetually completely replace the entire fleet.The first of the 102 re-designed buses debuted on the company’s New York to Montreal and New York to Toronto routes, with additional buses slated to begin appearing on the New York to Boston route by mid-April.

“More than an updated paint job, our new buses offer a truly upgraded experience for customers and anew way to sit back and experience the open road,” said Dave Leach, president and chief executive officer, Greyhound Lines, Inc., in a company press release.

The new buses sport a revamped and slightly retro logo. Inside, there is extra legroom, free Wi-Fi access, power outlets and three-point seat belts. The buses are Prevost X3-45 buses and they seat 50 passengers. The image was developed by the San Francisco Bay Area-based firm Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners.

In the press release, the company said the inspiration for the new bus design started with a look back at Greyhound’s “rich and recognizable design heritage from the early and mid-20th century, when the brand’s signature colors and running dog were first introduced to underscore the adventure, luxury and efficiency of leisure bus travel.

I am sure that the average Delta plane and Delta waiting area would be more pleasing than the average Greyhound waiting area and Greyhound bus, but that’s not saying much.

What could Delta do to improve its brand? It’s not about large amounts of money. It’s about spirit. The below are not prescriptive, but instead are intended to show ideas that could be considered.

1. Pilots should visit the cabin before flights and walk the aisle. That shows confidence and control of plane, and the age and experience of the pilots will help differentiate Delta’s full-line service.
2. The pilots and flight crew should be named on the flight. While this does not need to happen each time, knowing the names of staff helps the passengers see them as people, indeed professionals.
3. Look to Publix. How does a grocery chain “brand” a simple and utilitarian thing like a grocery chain? It does so in myriad ways.
4. Flight attendants should have a tray of freebies for guests. With the price of importing items like playing cards and such from China, having a few around to give out to waiting guests would go a long way to selling the brand of Delta.
5. What happened to freebie kits for kids? McDonald’s can afford them for a $2.99 Happy Meal. Why can’t the airlines?
6. The meal has to be better. Simple sandwiches could be heated with presses to go along with a pre-wrapped lunch. I am sure most of us would pay $10 for this.
7. Not sure what’s up with the uniforms. I’m just askin’.
8. Northwest as a brand should be not eliminated, but instead incorporated into Delta. Said this too many times, but needs to be said again.
9. Delta ought to give out things in the waiting room. What happened to airline brochures for vacations? Why not give those out to encourage other travel. And why not give out Sky in the waiting area? It’s always missing from the plane anyway, and if it is there it is a nasty copy where the crossword is already done. Ick. Taking them off the plane and into the lounge would save weight, too.
10. Delta ought to sell its routes and service on the plane. Passengers love the details of what the airline is doing. Instead of selling credit cards, staff could talk to passengers about new routes, technical aspects of the plane, etc.
11. What happened to airline jingles?

MIAMI – There could not have been a more perfect Florida ambassador, and airline, than National Airlines.

When the “Sunshine Airline” merged into Pan American World Airways in 1980, a uniquely Florida institution was lost. Arguably, it was the only airline that promoted a state as its marketing position and achieved national prominence with that approach. (New York Air sort of succeeded for a time; Air Florida was the other, and we know what happened there.)

National, founded in 1934 by George T. Baker, did everything for Florida. It was the first domestic jet carrier and the first all-jet carrier. It pioneered transatlantic service from the South to Europe. After being taken over by appliance heir Bud Maytag, it created a nationwide stir with the airline’s 1971 “Fly Me” campaign, which highlighted stewardesses telling of reasons to “Fly Me” by flying National. Feminists protested, but the campaign worked.

The Florida sun theme (and Sun King logo) was everywhere, and not just painted on DC-10 tails.

In New York’s JFK, National built the Sundrome, an extravantly elegant glass-walled terminal designed by I.M. Pei. (It sits next to the TWA Flight Center (now of JetBlue) and the Pan Am Worldport (now of Delta). No matter what the weather in New York, this Florida “embassy” was warm and sunny, filled with gorgeous flight attendants in Oleg Cassini uniforms taking guests to the sun. National changed the marketing of Florida from a seasonal destination to an all-year market. It also helped change the image of Florida as a place not only of hotels and swamp-brokers, but a state where technological leadership and business acumen were celebrated.

Every bit of the airline was close to perfection. The airline even owned its planes outright, which made it a too-plump takeover target. It is a cautionary tale, and proof that in capitalism, something that is run very well can still disappear for reasons that have little to do with economics.

A successor airline also had the moniker National Airlines, but it had no direct connection with the original. For a time in the 1990s, the Sun King logo appeared on the planes of Key Airlines, which was a small Southeast airline.

His point is that because of value pricing, consumers have turned air carriers into commodities.

Take the five largest U.S. airlines. United went bankrupt. Delta went bankrupt. Northwest went bankrupt. US Airways went bankrupt. And American Airlines is losing money. In the last 10 years, American has had revenues of $199.8 billion and managed to lose $6.7 billion. Not exactly an industry to emulate.

Why do otherwise intelligent people borrow ideas and concepts from failing industries and think they will succeed in a different setting?

I think of this when I cleaned out a drawer and found this trading card from 1973, when I went to England on a 707 with British Overseas Airways Corporation, now called British Airways. How I have saved it all these years is amazing. What it shows, however, is an attention to detail about the customer experience. Even as an eight-year-old, the brand got me juked.

The cynic will say airlines can no longer afford this; the consumer wants cheap. But let’s reverse the question to ask what institution trained the consumer to think this way?

How did a pricing analyst in a headquarters get to rule the roost?

One of the basic tenets of humanity is hospitality; when you have a captive guest, you do things to entertain and feed them. That used to be the way it was with an airline. They assumed, quite naturally, that if you had a guest with you at lunchtime or dinnertime, you served them a meal. It was basic courtesy.

Now, the cynic would say that this happened in an airline setting during a time of regulation; now no airline could afford to serve a sandwich. Why can’t they afford it? They are addicted, like crack, to crazy pricing schemes. In the hope of extracting the last penny, they do the opposite.

What if we had a different airline industry, where consumers decided that when they went on vacation, they might pay $100 extra for the knowledge that:

• they won’t be bumped
• they might get something to eat at mealtime
• they might not lose their luggage
• the seat will be clean and not be stained
• the pilot will make more than $18,000 a year
• they won’t get dumped in an airline terminal at 2 a.m. with no food
• they might get a free deck of cards to take home
• the stewardess will be hot

Perhaps this is all wishful thinking. And the last item is a joke. But seriously, any person who works for a major U.S. legacy airline cannot seriously talk about “branding” when their “brand” is leased out to an airline that hires inexperienced kids to fly.

HAVANA - We all have nostalgia for pre-Castro Cuba, and this is the year to remember what was, especially as Jan 1 is the 50th anniversary of when Fidel Castro declared victory over Fulgencio Batista‘s government.

We can look back on some of the great Cuban brands associated with Havana. To get there, we would have had to take a steamship from the Spanish Line, Saguenay Shipping Ltd, West Indian Fruit & Steamship Co., Inc. or the S.S. City of Havana, which ferried cars between Havana and Stock Island, Florida.

If we were flying, we could have taken:

• Q Airways from West Palm to Isle of Pines on a DC-4.
• Guest Airlines, flying DC-3s and Viscounts
• Cubana Airlines, with their Viscounts and Britannias
• Pan American World Airways, from Miami, flying DC-7Bs, DC-6Bs and DC-7cs

Rum and Cigar Brands

• Bacardi rum
• Matusalem (also known as Matusa) rum
• Top cigar brands included Monte Christo (#4 was best), H. Upmann, Romeo y Julieta, Hoyo de Monterrey, Larranaga and Partagas

Hotel Brand Names

• Nacional: The grand hotel of Havana
• The Hilton, (Habana Libre), at the revolution a new luxury hotel. This Hilton was known for its Sugar Bar on the roof. Fidel was known to hang out there. Commie dictators always love the fancy new Western places, don’t they!

Restaurant Brands

• Floridita: The most famous restaurant and home of the frozen daiquiri, reputedly the best in the world, and the mulata, made with different dark rums. Pompano baked in a bag was a specialty too.
• Trader Vic’s: Yes, there was a Trader Vic’s in the Hilton.
• La Roca: This was a business lunch spot favored by Americans.
• Tally-Ho: French food in English decor.
• Prilla’s: Cuban society spot
• La Rue 19: Another French spot
• Mes Amis: Frenchy but with American customers, with host Tony Gorrodi, who was the pianist
• El Carmelo: Open air terrace dining
• El Palacio De Cristal: Western food
• La Zaragozana: Established in 1830, known for rabbit and Galacian stew
• La Bodeguita Del Medio: A bohemian restaurant, with walls covered in celeb photos
• Churley’s Louisiana: American gathering spot with hot fudge sundaes.
• Sloppy Joe’s: The famous bar/spot at Zulueta and Animas.
• The Yank: An American owned steak house on the road near Arroyo Arenas.

Nightclubs

• Tropicana: The government took it over; it was an old Spanish mansion with two shows each night
• Hotel nightclubs included the Casino Parisien, Caribe Room, Copa Room and Casino.
• Bambu Club: aCuban nightclub.
• Mambo: Known for “unescorted” women who would ”retire with you to a back room.”
• Shanghai Theater: a burlesque closed by the Castro regime.

Retail Brand Bames

• El Encanto, at Galiano and San Rafael Streets, a giant department store
• Fin dee Siglo, another chic department store
• Woolworth’s: Yes, there was a Woolworth’s.

This week, Landor Associates, the branding firm, redid the positioning of KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines. This was to help build on KLM’s long heritage. KLM is part of Air France, but keeps a distinct identity.

I thought of this in the merger of Northwest and Delta. In the merger, Delta has unceremoniously decided to completely eliminate the Northwest brand in favor of its own. That is in spite of the fact that Northwest has built up acres of goodwill in the U.S. and Asia over the last half century. We wrote about it a number of times here. That makes it true!

Perhaps Delta ought to do something radical. Like do some survey work, and find out some of the core brand strength of Northwest, and build upon it. Terminals can be renamed for Delta. Divisions can be renamed for Delta. Sub-brands of Delta can bear the Northwest name.

One could argue that KLM and Air France have more overlapping routes than Northwest and Delta, yet they are not merging them. Yes, you could argue that the two airlines represent two languages and countries. But I would argue that the Southern/businesslike/Coca-Cola style of Delta and the Northwest/Ecotopia/Cary Grant/Asian feel of Northwest are two VERY different places and mindsets.

Frankly, there are enormous constituencies in a re-brand. There are printing folks. There are signage folks. There are uniform folks. There are marketing folks. They all want a piece of killing off the brand. They all have a stake in the brandicide. Frankly, in a re-brand, everyone tends to focus on the re-brand, and for management that is clueless, it diverts attention from the real issues. It’s cover for what can be a messy merger of two very different companies.

As a result, we have had to put Northwest on our Deathwatch list as, Delta officials are about to commit a brandicide on them. This brandicide will result in the loss of millions of dollars in advertising goodwill and intellectual property built up over seven decades, as well as lost business. Saving some aspects of the brand could SAVE Delta some cash. Read our post Delta Must Preserve the Northwest Brand.

BrandlandUSA Rule:

When you are thinking about eliminating a brand, realize that it is not zero sum. It is not one, or the other. Find meaningful pieces of the secondary brand, and utilize those bits. Don’t just try to merge the logos and colors. The question is not should Northwest be eliminated. The question is how can the value of Northwest be preserved within the newly merged airlines.

But there is another way to experience the old stuff. By U.S. Helicopter. Back in the day, New York Airways ran Sikorsky helicopters from the top of the Pan Am (now Met Life) building to the Pan Am Worldport. It proved a bit (understatement) dangerous landing those big Sikorskys atop the building, but the people who actually got to land there still recall the excitement of leaving for a trip by stepping onto the roof of the tower.

Eventually, New York Airways ended, as did Pan Am. But for us folks who long for a smidge of excitement in air travel, there is still helicopter service to JFK from Manhattan. Lucky for us it still goes to the old Pan Am Worldport, which is now Delta’s nifty (but busy) Terminal 3.

The company providing the service is called US Helicopter, and the company operates 27 daily flights, Monday through Friday, connecting the Downtown Manhattan Heliport near Wall Street and the East 34th Street Heliport in Midtown Manhattan with Delta’s Terminal 3, Gate 11 at JFK.

You would do well to book a flight on Delta to New York in October. Delta is offering their 8 minute helicopter ride with US Helicopter for $45 one way (it is usually $159) through Oct 31 to passengers flying into JFK. The company also runs its own specials on its website. Security screening is in Manhattan, so you don’t have to do it again at JFK.

Futurist Dream

The company New York Airways, led by Robert L. Cummings, opened in December 1965, the vision of Pan Am founder Juan Trippe, what Meredith L. Clausen in her book “The Pan Am Building” called “Futurist” dreams. It was launched with Vertol 107 helicopters. There was a Pan Am check in desk on the first floor of the Pan Am building. Passengers would then board an elevator, then take an escalator to the roof of the building. Critics called the service a p.r. “gimmick” that was merely about promoting Pan Am. The service ended after a May 16, 1977 rotor blade snap that killed five, four while boarding. While nothing was wrong with helicopters per se, they needed to land in less gust prone places that weren’t right above Grand Central Station.

Book via delta.com, through Delta at (800) 221-1212. A one-way flight on US Helicopter is complimentary when purchasing eligible First class, Business Class or unrestricted Economy tickets.

What’s one of the most historic airport buildings in the world? There are many, including the former Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia, now the home of the Delta Shuttle.

Delta also has another historic terminal on Long Island with a “way-cool” factor. It is Delta’s Terminal 3, the former Pan American Worldport, at John F. Kennedy International Airport. WorldPort was the trademarked name for the terminal during Pan Am’s ownership. Delta should be commended for keeping these two icons of American history in such great working shape (Editor’s Note: Occasional fix ups through the years have played havoc with the over-capacity Worldport, and it has gotten a bit run down.)

Delta actually operates Terminal 2 (built in 1962 for Braniff, Northeast and Northwest) and 3; there is a connector in between. Above, a Prelinger Archive 1958 film from the Library of Congress; BrandlandUSA found it and thought it would be a great primer for anyone about to go to Delta’s JFK terminal to go overseas.

The terminal was built by Pan Am when the jet age began. It is famous for its four-acre “flying saucer” roof suspended far from the outside columns of the terminal by 32 sets of prestressed steel posts and cables. It was built to allow the parking of aircraft under the overhang; passengers would enter planes from the rear in open Jetways. It was greatly expanded in 1972 when the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet arrived. Recently, Delta has improved the experience there.

The American Institute of Architects Guide to New York City called the terminal a “genuine architectural attempt to answer the problem of all-weather connections to the planes” but derided the overall concept as “compromised by an overabundance of distracting detail.”

It was designed by Ives, Turano & Gardner Associated Architects and Walter Prokosch of Tippets-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton. The zodiac figures across the building’s facade were made by sculptor Milton Hebald, though have been removed by the Port Authority. In 1971 the terminal was expanded to accommodate the large Boeing 747.

Delta Air Lines purchased the WorldPort, which is now known simply as “Terminal 3,” and operates all of its long-haul flights out of JFK to Europe, Asia, Africa and South America from the building.

In March of 2006, Delta announced that it would spend $10 million to renovate Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, including its public spaces, BusinessElite lounge and Crown Room Clubs. It even added a Todd English’s Bonfire Steakhouse to Terminal 2.

In the July 2007 issue of Delta’s Sky magazine, Delta Senior Vice President Joanne Smith remarked on the “distinctive” saucer roof in an article on new flooring, lighting and signage at this “historic airport.” Click on the image at right for a direct link to Delta’s website, with descriptions of services offered at Terminal 3.