American Airlines launched a new elevated food offering at JFK in April 2017. Flagship First Dining, a sit-down fine dining experience featuring high quality regionally-inspired dishes, available for First Class passengers on the ground before they fly.

To raise awareness for the launch we created an immersive dining experience, built from the ground up in a retail space in SoHo and invited 150 guests, including elite flyers, corporate travel buyers, media and influencers. The progressive culinary event took place in a series of rooms, each reflecting an item on the JFK Flagship menu, hosted by the purveyors, and telling the distinct local stories of the produce. From shaking up cocktails with acclaimed mixologist Pam Wiznitzer, to wine and cheese pairing with Sprout Creek Farms and master sommelier Des Echavarrie, to tasting the signature flagship burger with heritage beef purveyor, Ron Jocye of Joyce Farms.

Each space included unexpected personalized elements, like leather luggage tags embossed on site with your initials, to a board engraved with your name when you sat down to try the burger, and fun social engagements, selfies printed on a cookie and a boomerang photo indoor swing. American Airlines firmly established themselves as an innovator in the category with a commitment to exceptional service.

The Flagship First Dining event was so well received it is now being continued as the lounges open across the country with the next in Los Angeles in October 2017.