![]() The Concorde lounge at Heathrow, for example, offered travelers paying as much as $14,000 for a ticket on the sound-barrier-breaking plane an exclusive spot in which to await the flight. brought a new level of luxury to these clubs. In the mid 1970s, the launch of supersonic flights from France and the U.K. Virtually every company-from United, TWA and Delta to National, Eastern and Pan Am-opened clubs across the country and around the world. ![]() In 1967, American opened the clubs to anyone paying annual dues of $25. Nearly three decades later, the airline was forced to abandon the private club-too many people were clamoring to get in. Soon after, Americans’s frequent flyers were allowed to store their whiskey there, as well. The chairman got around the restriction by storing his personal whiskey collection there for his guests to secretly imbibe. When Smith opened the second private American Airlines club outside Washington, D.C., Virginia law then prohibited private clubs from selling alcohol. The nautical theme continued with attendants called “skippers” and bartenders known as “stewards.” And the liquor flowed. In keeping with American’s moniker as the “Admiral Fleet,” the airline’s best customers were known as “admirals.” You couldn’t independently join-the airline had to invite you, and there were no membership dues. In 1939, he opened the first airport lounge as an invitation-only club at the New York Municipal terminal (now LaGuardia). Smith decided he wanted a place where VIP customers could be coddled before flights. Commercial aviation was barely two decades old when American Airlines chairman C.R.
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