Another Airline Headquarters Is Departing New York City

New York City may be a global destination for business and tourism, but its track record of seeing airlines depart, at least when it comes to their headquarters, continued last week.

Private jet flight provider Wheels Up confirmed its Manhattan headquarters lease is on the market.

A view over Manhattan with the MetLife Building (still with its Pan Am signage) on the left, and the … [+] Chrysler Building at centre, New York City, June 1984. (Photo by Barbara Alper/Getty Images)

Getty Images

While it will take smaller space, its headquarters will now be in Atlanta, closer to where lead investor Delta Air Lines is based.

Delta wants to sell Wheels Up private flights to its corporate customers and high-value flyers.

Last year, the private flight provider opened an operations center in Atlanta.

Its CEO since last Fall, George Mattson, a former board director with the airline, is based there.

Wheels Up has been based in midtown Manhattan since its founding in 2013, first in Times Square and until now in the Starrett-Lehigh Building, at 601 W 26th Street, with dramatic views of the Hudson River.

“With the opening of our Member Operations Center near DeKalb-Peachtree Airport just outside of Atlanta, we need less space in New York City and a more convenient location for those commuting to the office in the city,” a Wheels Up spokesperson says.

Wheels Up follows a long list of airlines that have departed New York City.

While Eastern Air Lines has long been associated with Miami, until 1975, its headquarters was in Rockefeller Center, where the famous Christmas tree is lit every year and is the home for NBC, including the set for the Today Show and Saturday Night Live.

According to the book Rapid Descent, investment in the airline during its early days by the Rockefeller family was likely the reason it was based there.

On the East Side, on Third Avenue below 42nd Street, across the street from each other, used to be the headquarters of American Airlines and TWA.

American Airlines exited in 1979 for a spot near the new Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which was to become its principal hub after the deregulation of the industry enabled airlines to expand at will.

TWA moved to Mount Kisco, 45 miles north of the city, in 1987 after Carl Icahn gained control of the airline.

Its new home was a nondescript office park, near where Icahn owned a home.

The local gathering place for lunches moved from fancy eateries to a nearby Friendly’s hamburger and shake joint.

New York City’s most famous airline, Pan Am, called Manhattan its headquarters until it ceased operations in 1991.

While Wheels Up received a $500 million investment from a Delta-led investment group last year, Pan Am was forced to shutter when Delta backed out of a plan that would have seen a smaller Pan Am continue with a focus on its historic Latin America network.

Delta’s JFK hub and network of routes to Europe and the Caribbean are a legacy of that Pan Am deal.

New York Air was headquartered at LaGuardia Airport until Texas Air merged it with Continental Airlines. It owned both airlines.

Tower Air was headquartered at JFK until it closed in 2000.

The presence of global airlines in New York City has faded for other reasons.

Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue in midtown used to be lined with airline ticket offices.

British Airways, Qantas, KLM, Swissair, Alitalia, Air India, and Philippines Airlines kept street-level offices back before tickets were purchased online.

Like the big department stores, the airlines would create window displays for the festive season.

KLM would put up an intricate replica of Amsterdam’s canals with mechanized boats traversing the miniature waterways, while the Swiss national carrier had an extensive model train display.

Of course, that was before Youtube and Instagram, and the airline offices served as billboards promoting their home countries.

While Wheels Up is leaving, for now, New York City can still count on JetBlue. Its headquarters remains in Queens. However, last week Icahn, who has been accumulating stock in the company, was granted two seats on the airline’s board of directors.