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Biography

Pan American World Airways , commonly known as Pan Am , was the principal and largest international airline|air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December& nbsp;4, 1991. Founded in 1927 as a scheduled air mail and passenger service operating between Key West, Florida and Havana , Cuba, the airline became a major company credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry, including the widespread use of jet aircraft , Wide-body aircraft|jumbo jet s, and computerized reservation system s. It was also a founding member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global airline industry association. Airliner World (IATA: A new mandate in a changed world) , p. 32, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011 Identified by its blue globe logo, the use of the word " Clipper " in aircraft names and call sign s, and the white pilot uniform caps, the airline was a cultural icon of the 20th century. In an era dominated by flag carrier s that were wholly or majority government-owned, it was also the unofficial flag carrier of the United States. During most of the jet era, Pan Am's flagship Airport terminal|terminal was the Worldport (Pan Am)|Worldport located at John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

History

Formation

Pan American Airways, Incorporated (PAA) was founded as a Shell corporation#Different meaning|shell company publicly held company with no or nominal assets other than money on March 14, 1927 by United States Army Air Corps|Air Corps Major#United States|Major s Henry H. Arnold|Henry H. "Hap" Arnold , Carl Andrew Spaatz|Carl A. Spaatz , and John H. Jouett as a counterbalance to the German-owned Colombia n carrier SCADTA , operating in Colombia since 1920. SCADTA lobbied hard for landing rights in the Panama Canal Zone , ostensibly to survey air routes for a connection to the United States, which the Air Corps viewed as a precursor to a possible German aerial threat to the canal. Arnold and Spaatz drew up the prospectus (finance)|prospectus for Pan American when SCADTA hired a company in Delaware to obtain air mail contracts from the Federal government of the United States|US government . Pan American was able to obtain the Airmails of the United States|US mail delivery contract to Cuba, but lacked any aircraft to perform the job and did not have landing rights in Cuba.

On June 2, 1927 Juan Trippe formed the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (ACA) with the backing of powerful and politically connected financiers who included Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and W. Averell Harriman , and raised $250,000 in startup capital from the sale of stock .Anthony J. Mayo, Nitin Nohria and Mark Rennella, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders: What the Airline Industry Can Teach Us about Leadership (Macmillan, 2009) p49 Their operation had the all-important landing rights for Havana, having acquired American International Airways, a small airline established in 1926 by John K. Montgomery and Richard B. Bevier as a seaplane service from Key West, Florida, to Havana. ACA met its deadline of having an air mail service operating by October 19, 1927 by chartering a Fairchild FC-2 floatplane from a small Dominican Republic carrier, West Indian Aerial Express.John R. Steele, "The Very Beginning"

The Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways company was established on October 11, 1927 by New York City investment bank er Richard Hoyt, who served as president. This company merged with PAA and ACA on June 23, 1928.
Richard Hoyt was named as president of the new Aviation Corporation of the Americas, but Trippe and his partners held 40% of the equity (finance)|equity and Whitney was made president. Trippe became operational head of Pan American Airways, the new company's principal operating subsidiary.

The US government approved the original Pan Am's mail delivery contract with little objection, out of fears that SCADTA would have no competition in bidding for routes between Latin America and the United States. The government further helped Pan Am by insulating it from its US competitors, seeing the airline as the "chosen instrument" for US foreign air routes. The airline expanded internationally, benefiting from a virtual monopoly on foreign routes.

Trippe and his associates planned to extend Pan Am's network through all of Central America|Central and South America. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Pan Am purchased a number of ailing or defunct airlines in Central and South America and negotiated with postal officials to win most of the government's Airmails of the United States#Beginning Contract Air Mail (CAM) service|airmail contracts to the region. In September 1929 Trippe toured Latin America with Charles Lindbergh to negotiate landing rights in a number of countries, including Barranquilla SCADTA's home turf of Colombia, Maracaibo and Caracas . By the end of the year, Pan Am offered flights along the west coast of South America to Peru . The following year, Pan Am purchased the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line , giving it a seaplane route along the east coast of South America to Buenos Aires , Argentina, and westbound to Santiago, Chile . Its Brazil ian subsidiary NYRBA do Brasil was later renamed as Panair do Brasil . Pan Am also partnered with W. R. Grace and Company|Grace Shipping Company in 1929 to form Pan American-Grace Airways , better known as Panagra , to gain a foothold to destinations in South America.

Pan Am's holding company , the Aviation Corporation of the Americas, was one of the most sought after stock#Shares|stock s on the New York Curb Exchange in 1929, and flurries of speculation surrounded each of its new route awards. In April 1929 Trippe and his associates reached an agreement with United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) to segregate Pan Am operations to south of the Mexico – United States border , in exchange for UATC taking a large shareholder stake (UATC was the parent company of what are now Boeing , Pratt & Whitney , and United Airlines ). The Aviation Corporation of the Americas changed its name to Pan American Airways Corporation in 1931.

Flight crews

Critical to Pan Am's success as an airline was the proficiency of its flight crews, who were rigorously trained in long-distance flight, seaplane anchorage and berthing operations, over-water navigation, radio procedure, aircraft repair, and marine tides. During the day, use of the compass while judging drift from sea currents was normal procedure; at night, all flight crews were trained to use celestial navigation . In bad weather, pilots used dead reckoning and timed turns, making successful landings at fogged-in harbors by landing out to sea, then taxiing the plane into port. Many pilots had Merchant Navy|merchant marine certifications and radio licenses as well as pilot certificates. A Pan Am flight captain would normally begin his career years earlier as a radio operator or even mechanic, steadily gaining his licenses and working his way up the flight crew roster to navigator, Second Officer (civil aviation)|second officer , and First Officer (civil aviation)|first officer . Before the World War II|war , it was not unusual to see a Pan Am first officer or captain changing a cylinder head or other engine part while the plane rocked at a floating berth in a remote anchorage.Masland, William M., Through the Back Doors Of The World In A Ship That Had Wings , Vantage Press (1984)

Pan Am's mechanics and support staff were similarly trained. Newly hired applicants were frequently paired with experienced flight mechanics in several areas of the company until they had achieved proficiency in all aircraft types. Emphasis was placed on learning to maintain and overhaul aircraft in harsh seaborne environments when faced with logistical difficulties, as might be expected in a small foreign port without an aviation infrastructure or even an adequate road network. Many crews supported repair operations by flying in spare parts to planes stranded overseas, in some cases performing repairs themselves.

Clipper era

Pan Am inaugurated its South American routes using Sikorsky S-38 and Sikorsky S-40|S-40 flying boat s. The latter were three large passenger craft put in service by Trippe in 1931 to provide greater carrying capacity than the eight-passenger S-38. Carrying the nicknames American Clipper , Southern Clipper , and Caribbean Clipper , they were the first of the series of 28 Clipper s that came to symbolize Pan Am between 1931 and 1946.

In 1937 Pan Am turned to Britain and France to begin seaplane service between the United States and Europe. Pan Am reached an agreement with both countries to offer service from Norfolk, Virginia , to Europe via Bermuda and the Azores using the S-40s. Starting in June 1937, a joint service from the Contiguous United States|US mainland to Bermuda was inaugurated, with Pan Am using Sikorsky flying boats and Imperial Airways using the Short Empire|C class flying boat RMA Cavalier .

On July 5, 1937 the first commercial survey flights across the Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic were conducted. The Pan Am Clipper III , a Sikorsky S-42 , landed at Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador|Botwood in the Bay of Exploits in Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland from Port Washington, New York , via Shediac, New Brunswick . The next day Pan Am Clipper III left Botwood for Foynes in Ireland. The same day, a Short Empire C-Class flying boat, the Caledonia , left Foynes for Botwood, and landed July 6, 1937, reaching Montreal on July 8 and New York on July 9. These test flights marked the first steps toward commercial transatlantic flight s in heavier-than-air craft.

Trippe then decided to start a service from San Francisco to Honolulu , and from there to Hong Kong and Auckland following existing steamship routes. After negotiating traffic rights in 1934 to land at Pearl Harbor , Midway Atoll|Midway Island , Wake Island , Guam , and Subic Bay, Philippines|Subic Bay ( Manila ), Pan Am shipped $500,000 worth of aeronautical equipment westward in March 1935 using the North Haven a 15,000 ton merchant ship it chartered for the purpose of provisioning each island that the clippers would stop at on their 4 to 5 day flight. see page 863 Pan Am ran its first survey flight to Honolulu in April 1935 with a Sikorsky S-42 flying boat. The airline won the contract for a San Francisco – Guangzhou|Canton mail route later that year and operated its first commercial flight carrying mail and express (no passengers) in a Martin M-130 from Alameda, California|Alameda to Manila amid massive media fanfare on November 22, 1935. The five-leg, 8,000-mile (12,875& nbsp;km) flight arrived in Manila on November 29 and returned to San Francisco on December 6, cutting the one way travel time in either direction between the two cities via the fastest scheduled steamship service by over two weeks. Wings Over The Pacific (Both the United States and Philippines|Philippine Islands issued special stamps for the two flights.) The first passenger flight left Alameda on October 21, 1936. The fare from San Francisco to both Manila and Hong Kong in 1937 was $950 one way (about $14,700 in 2010) and $1,710 round trip (about $26,400).Pan American Airways System U.S. Cy. Passenger Tariff – Pacific, Orient, & Alaska Services Eff. May 1, 1937

On August 6, 1937 Juan Trippe accepted US aviation's highest annual prize, the Collier Trophy , on behalf of PAA from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the company's "establishment of the transpacific airline and the successful execution of extended overwater navigation and the regular operations thereof."LIFE, August 23, 1937 Later, Pan Am used Boeing 314 flying boats for the Pacific route: in China, passengers could connect to domestic flights on the Pan Am-operated China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) network, co-owned with the Government of the Republic of China|Chinese government . Pan Am flew to Singapore for the first time in 1941, starting a semi-monthly service which reduced San Francisco–Singapore travel times from 25 days to six days. The Boeing 314s were used on transatlantic routes starting in 1939.

Six large, long-range Boeing 314 flying boats were delivered to Pan Am in early 1939. The new type enabled commencement of a regular weekly transatlantic passenger and air mail service between the United States and Britain on June 24, 1939. The route was from New York via Shediac, Botwood, and Foynes to Southampton . After the outbreak of World War II, the terminal became Foynes until the service ceased for the winter on October 5; transatlantic service to Lisbon via the Azores continued into 1941. Throughout the war, Pan Am flew over 90 million miles (145 million kilometers) worldwide in support of military operations.

In 1940 Pan Am and Trans World Airlines|TWA began using the Boeing 307|Boeing 307 Stratoliner for passenger services. It was the first cabin pressurization|pressurize d airliner to go into commercial service and the first to include a flight engineer as a member of the crew. The Boeing 307 's airline service proved short-lived, as all five models built were commandeered for military service at the outbreak of World War II.
The "Clippers" — the name hearkened back to the 19th century clipper ship s — were the only American passenger aircraft of the time capable of intercontinental travel. To compete with ocean liner s, the airline offered First class travel|first-class seats on such flights, and the style of flight crews became more formal. Instead of being leather-jacketed, silk-scarved airmail pilots, the crews of the "Clippers" wore naval-style uniforms and adopted a set procession when boarding the aircraft. The China Clipper became well known for its South Sea s routings.

In 1942, while waiting at Foynes, County Limerick , Ireland for a Pan Am Clipper flight to New York, passengers were served a drink today known as Irish coffee by Chef Joe Sheridan.

During World War II most of the Clippers were pressed into military service. Pan Am pioneered a new air route across West Africa|Western and Central Africa to Iran , and in early 1942 the airline became the first to operate a route circumnavigating the globe. Another first occurred in January 1943, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first President of the United States|US president to fly abroad, in the Dixie Clipper . During this period Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a Clipper pilot; he was aboard the Clipper Eclipse when it crashed in Syria on June 19, 1947.

Growing competition after WWII

Air transport's growing importance in the post-war era meant that Pan Am would no longer enjoy the official patronage it had been afforded in pre-war days to prevent the emergence of any meaningful competition, both at home and abroad. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2) , p. 48, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

Although Pan Am continued to use its considerable political influence to lobby for protection of its position as America's primary international airline, it encountered increasing competition — first from American Overseas Airlines|American Export Airlines ( American Overseas Airlines (AOA) from November 1945) across the Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic to Europe, and subsequently from others including Trans World Airlines|TWA to Europe, Braniff International Airways|Braniff to South America, United Airlines|United to Hawaii and Northwest Airlines|Northwest Orient to East Asia, as well as five potential rivals to Mexico . This changed situation resulted from a more enlightened approach of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) towards the promotion of competition between major US carriers on key domestic and international scheduled routes compared with pre-war US aviation policy. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — South American problems) , p. 50, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

Overseas expansion and fleet modernization

AOA was the first airline to begin regular landplane flights across the Atlantic, on October 24, 1945. In January 1946 Pan Am scheduled seven Douglas DC-4|DC-4 s a week east from LaGuardia Airport , five to London (i.e. Bournemouth Airport|Hurn ) and two to Lisbon. Time to Hurn was 17 hours 40 minutes including stops, and 20 hours 45 minutes to Lisbon. A Boeing 314 flying boat flew LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia to Lisbon once every two weeks in 29 hours 30 minutes; flying boat flights ended shortly thereafter.The 1/46 Air Traffic Guide shows the B314 to Lisbon, but a B314 book says PA's last transatlantic B314 was in December 1945.

TWA's transatlantic challenge — the impending introduction of its faster, pressurized Lockheed Constellation s — resulted in Pan Am ordering its own Lockheed Constellation|Constellation fleet at $750,000 apiece. Pan Am began transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1946, beating TWA by three weeks.

In January 1946 Miami to Buenos Aires took 71 hours 15 minutes in a Pan Am Douglas DC-3|DC-3 , but the following summer DC-4s flew New York Kennedy Airport|Idlewild to Buenos Aires in 38 hr 30 min. In January 1958 Pan Am's Douglas DC-7#Design and development|DC-7B s flew New York to Buenos Aires in 25 hours 20 minutes, while the National Airlines (NA)|National – Pan Am – Panagra DC-7B via Panama City|Panama and Lima took 22 hours 45 minutes. Convair CV-240 family|Convair 240 s replaced DC-3s and other pre-war types on Pan Am's shorter flights in the Caribbean and South America. Pan Am also acquired a small number of Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando|Curtiss C-46 s for an all-freight network that eventually extended to Buenos Aires.

In January 1946 Pan Am had no transpacific flights beyond Hawaii, but they soon resumed with DC-4s. In January 1958 the California to Tokyo flight was a daily Boeing 377|Stratocruiser that took 31 hours 45 minutes from San Francisco or 32 hours 15 minutes from Los Angeles. (A flight to Seattle and a connection to Northwest's Douglas DC-7#DC-7C|DC-7C totaled 24 hours 13 minutes from San Francisco, but Pan Am was not allowed to fly that route.) (pdf) January 1, 1958 The Stratocruisers' double-deck fuselage with sleeping berths and a lower-deck lounge helped it compete with its rival. "Super Stratocruisers" with additional fuel appeared on Pan Am's transatlantic routes in November 1954, making nonstop eastward and one-stop westward schedules more reliably.

In June 1947 Pan Am started the first scheduled round-the-world airline flight. In September the weekly DC-4 was scheduled to leave San Francisco at 2200 Thursday as Flight 1, stopping at Honolulu, Midway Atoll|Midway , Wake Island|Wake , Guam, Manila, Bangkok and arriving in Kolkata|Calcutta on Monday at 1245, where it met Flight 2, a Constellation that had left New York at 2330 Friday. The DC-4 returned to San Francisco as Flight 2; the Constellation left Calcutta 1330 Tuesday, stopped at Karachi , Istanbul , London, Shannon, County Clare|Shannon , Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander , and arrived LaGuardia Thursday at 1455. A few months later PA 3 took over the Manila route while PA 1 shifted to Tokyo and Shanghai. All Pan Am round-the-world flights included at least one change of plane until Boeing 707 s took over in 1960. PA 1 became daily in 1962–63, making different en route stops on different days of the week. When Boeing 747s finished replacing 707s in 1971 all stops except Tehran and Karachi were served daily in both directions. For a year or so in 1975–76 Pan Am finally completed the round-the-world trip, New York to New York.

In January 1950 Pan American Airways Corporation officially became Pan American World Airways, Inc. (The airline had begun calling itself Pan American World Airways in 1943.) Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — New name, new aircraft) , p. 50, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011 In September of that year Pan Am completed the $17.45& nbsp;million purchase of American Overseas Airlines from American Airlines . That month Pan Am also ordered 45 Douglas DC-6#Operational history|Douglas DC-6B s. The first of these, Clipper Liberty Bell (N6518C), Aviation News (The Douglas DC-4, DC-6 and DC-7) , p. 64/5, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011 inaugurated Pan Am's all- economy class|tourist class Rainbow service between New York and London on May 1, 1952 to complement the all- first class (aviation)|first President Stratocruiser service. From June 27, 1960 Douglas DC-6#Operational history|DC-6B s also began replacing DC-4s on Pan Am's internal German routes. Aeroplane — Pan Am and the IGS , Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 8, Temple Press, London, October 2, 1968

Pan Am introduced the Douglas DC-7#DC-7C|Douglas DC-7C "Seven Seas" on transatlantic routes in summer 1956. In January 1958 the DC-7C nonstop to London took 10 hours 45 minutes, enabling Pan Am to hold its own against TWA's Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation|Super Constellation s and Lockheed L-1649 Starliner|Starliner s. In 1957 Pan Am started DC-7C flights direct from the West Coast of the United States|US West Coast to London and Paris with a fuel stop in Canada or Greenland . The introduction of the faster Bristol Britannia turboprop by rival British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) between New York and London from December 19, 1957 ended Pan Am's competitive leadership in that market.

In January 1958 Pan Am scheduled 47 flights a week east from Idlewild to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond.

Jet age

With growing competition on many of its routes, Pan Am began investing in innovations such as jet aircraft and wide-body aircraft|widebody types .Pan Am was the launch customer of the Boeing 707, placing an order for 20 in October 1955. It also ordered 25 of Douglas Aircraft Company|Douglas 's Douglas DC-8|DC-8 for additional revenue-generating capacity due to its ability to seat six across (as opposed to five-abreast seating Boeing had originally offered on its Boeing 707|707 ). The combined order value was $269& nbsp;million. To maintain its competitive lead as the first US aircraft manufacturer to offer a jetliner and meet its rival's competitive challenge, Boeing modified the 707's fuselage to seat six passengers across as well. The airline inaugurated transatlantic jet service from John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York Idlewild to Paris – Le Bourget Airport|Paris Le Bourget (stopping at Gander International Airport|Gander to refuel) on October 26, 1958, with Boeing 707-120|Boeing 707–121 Clipper America (N711PA) carrying 111 passengers. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — Leading the way) , p. 50, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

Introduction of the Boeing 707-320|320 "Intercontinental" series 707 in 1959 enabled non-stop transatlantic jet crossings with a viable payload (air and space craft)|payload in both directions. These later-model 707s' increased capacity reduced available seat miles#Cost per Available Seat Mile (CASM)|seat-mile cost s, helping Pan Am reinforce its transatlantic market dominance.

Widebody era

Pan Am was also the launch customer of the Boeing 747 , placing a $525& nbsp;million order for 25 in April 1966. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — A falling star) , p. 51, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011 On January 15, 1970 First Lady of the United States|First Lady Pat Nixon officially christened a Pan Am Boeing 747 the Juan T. Trippe at Washington Dulles International Airport|Washington Dulles in the presence of Pan Am president Najeeb Halaby . During the next few days, Pan Am flew several of their new Boeing 747|747 s to various major airports in the US as part of a public relations effort, allowing the public to tour the airplanes. Pan Am then began its final preparations for the first commercial 747 service on the evening of January 21, 1970, when Clipper Young America was scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York John F. Kennedy to London Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow . An engine failure delayed the inaugural flight's departure by several hours, necessitating the substitution of the originally scheduled aircraft with another 747, which eventually flew to London Heathrow. Passengers cheered and drank champagne as the jet finally lifted off from the runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy Airport .

Pan Am carried 11 million passengers over 20 billion miles (32,186,880,000 km) in 1970, the year it revolutionized air travel with the first Airliner#wide-body airliners|widebodied airliner . Jets Monthly (Next Month: Come fly with me ...) , p. 74, Kelsey Publishing, Cudham, January 2012

Supersonic plans

Pan Am was one of the first three airlines to sign options for the Concorde|Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde , but like other airlines that took out options — with the exception of BOAC and Air France — it did not purchase the supersonic aircraft|supersonic jet . Pan Am was the first US airline to sign for the Boeing 2707 , the American supersonic transport (SST) project, with 15 delivery positions reserved; these aircraft never saw service after United States Congress|Congress voted against additional funding in 1971.

Computerized reservations, Pan Am Building and Worldport

Pan Am commissioned IBM to build PANAMAC, a large computer that booked airline and hotel reservations, which was installed in 1964. It also held large amounts of information about cities, countries, airports, aircraft, hotels, and restaurants.
The computer occupied the fourth floor of the Pan Am Building , which was the largest commercial office building in the world for some time. When it was completed, the building became "the world's largest office building in bulk, a title it would lose a few years later to 55 Water Street downtown." The airline also built Worldport, a terminal building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000& nbsp;m²) roof, suspended far from the outside columns of the terminal below by 32 sets of steel posts and cables. The terminal was designed to allow passengers to board and disembark via stairs without getting wet by parking the nose of the aircraft under the overhang. The introduction of the jetway|jetbridge made this feature obsolete. Pan Am built a gilded training building in the style of Edward Durell Stone designed by Steward-Skinner Architects in Miami.

Pan Am at its peak

At its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pan Am advertised under the slogan, the "World's Most Experienced Airline". It carried 6.7& nbsp;million passengers in 1966, and by 1968, its 150 jets flew to 86 countries on every continent except for Antarctica over an unduplicated scheduled route network covering 81,410& nbsp;miles (131,000& nbsp;km). The number of scheduled destinations served peaked at 160. During that period, the airline was profitable and its cash reserves totaled $1& nbsp;billion. Most of its routes were between New York, Europe, and South America, and between Miami and the Caribbean. In 1964, Pan Am began providing a helicopter shuttle service between New York's three main airports John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy , LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark and Lower Manhattan in association with New York Airways . Aside from the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and 747, the Pan Am jet fleet also included Boeing 720#Further developments|Boeing 720B s and Boeing 727|727 s (the first aircraft to sport Pan Am — rather than Pan American — titles) during that period. (In subsequent years the airline operated Boeing 737 s and Boeing 747SP|747SP s (which allowed it to fly nonstop New York to Tokyo), Lockheed L-1011 Tristar s, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 s, and Airbus A300 s and Airbus A310|A310 s as well.) Pan Am also owned the InterContinental|InterContinental Hotel chain and had a financial interest in the Falcon Jet Corporation, which held exclusive marketing rights to the Dassault Falcon 20 business jet in North America. The airline was furthermore involved in creating a missile-tracking range in the South Atlantic and operating a nuclear-engine testing laboratory in Nevada . In addition, Pan Am participated in several notable humanitarian flights.
At the height of Pan Am's success, the airline was well regarded for its modern fleet and experienced and professional crews: cabin staff were multilingual and usually college graduates, frequently with nursing training. During this period, Pan Am's onboard service and cuisine, inspired by Maxim's Paris|Maxim's de Paris , were delivered "with a personal flair that has rarely been equaled."

Internal German Services (IGS) and other operations

From 1950 until 1990 Pan Am operated a comprehensive network of high-frequency, short-haul scheduled services between West Germany and West Berlin , first with Douglas DC-4 s, then with DC-6Bs (from 1960) and Boeing 727 s (from 1966). Aeroplane — Tempelhof trials prelude to Pan Am 727 order , Vol. 108, No. 2773, p. 11, Temple Press, London, December 10, 1964 Aeroplane — The Battle of Berlin , Vol. 111, No. 2842, p. 15, Temple Press, London, April 7, 1966 Aeroplane — Commercial continued, Pan Am 727s take over in Berlin , Vol. 111, No. 2853, p. 11, Temple Press, London, June 23, 1966 Aeroplane — Pan Am and the IGS , Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 5, 6, 8, Temple Press, London, October 2, 1968 Aircraft Illustrated (Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof) , Vol 42, No 1, p. 34, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009 (This had come about as a result of an agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, which prohibited Germany from having its own airlines and restricted the provision of commercial air services from and to Berlin to air transport providers headquartered in these four countries. Rising Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the three Western powers resulted in unilateral Soviet Union|Soviet withdrawal from the Four Power Agreement on Berlin|quadripartite British Control Commission|Allied Control Commission in 1948, culminating in the History of Germany (1945–1990)|division of Germany the following year. These events, together with Soviet insistence on a very narrow interpretation of the post-war agreement on the Western powers' access rights to Berlin meant that until the end of the Cold War air transport in West Berlin continued to be confined to the carriers of the remaining Allied Control Commission powers, with aircraft required to fly across hostile East Germany|East German territory through three wide West Berlin Air Corridor|air corridors at a maximum altitude of .the cruising altitude of propliner s employed on the Berlin Blockade#Aircraft used in the Berlin airlift|Berlin Airlift ) The airline's West Berlin operation consistently accounted for more than half of the city's entire commercial air traffic during that period. Aeroplane — Pan Am and the IGS , Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 6, Temple Press, London, October 2, 1968 Aeroplane — Pan Am and the IGS , Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 4, Temple Press, London, October 2, 1968

Pan Am also operated R& R (Military)|Rest and Recreation (R& R) flights during the Vietnam War . These flights carried American service personnel for R& R leaves in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other Asian cities.

Revenue passenger traffic (1951–1975)

(scheduled flights only)Handbook of Airline Statistics (biannual CAB publication)>

Year	Revenue passenger mile s	Revenue passenger kilometers
1951	1,551,000,000	2,496,000,000
1955	2,676,000,000	4,307,000,000
1960	4,833,000,000	7,777,000,000
1965	8,869,000,000	14,273,000,000
1970	16,389,000,000	26,376,000,000
1975	14,863,000,000	23,919,000,000

Downturn

Fallout from 1973 oil crisis

Pan Am had invested in a large fleet of new Boeing 747s in the expectation that demand for air travel would continue to rise. This was not the case as the simultaneous introduction of a large number of these high-capacity aircraft by Pan Am and its principal competitors coincided with an economic slowdown. Reduced demand for air travel following the 1973 oil crisis made the airline industry's overcapacity problem worse, leaving Pan Am with its high overhead (business)|overhead s and fixed cost s as a result of a large decentralized infrastructure in a vulnerable position. In addition, high jet fuel prices and the large number of older, less fuel-efficient narrow-body aircraft|narrowbodied airplanes in its fleet significantly increased the airline's operating cost s. Federal route awards to other airlines, such as the Transpacific Route Case , further reduced the number of passengers Pan Am carried, as well as its profit margin s.

On September 23, 1974 a group of Pan Am employees published an advertisement in The New York Times to register their disagreement over federal policies which they felt were harming the financial viability of their employer. The ad cited discrepancies in airport landing fees, such as Pan Am paying $4,200 to land a plane in Sydney, while the Australian carrier, Qantas , paid only $178 to land a jet in Los Angeles. The ad also contended that the United States Postal Service was paying foreign airlines five times as much to carry US mail in comparison to Pan Am. Finally, the ad questioned why the Export-Import Bank of the United States loaned money to Japan, France, and Saudi Arabia at 6% interest while Pan Am paid 12%.

By the mid-1970s, Pan Am had racked up $364& nbsp;million of accumulated lossesover a 10-year period and its debts approached $1& nbsp;billion. This threatened the airline with bankruptcy. Former American Airlines vice president of operations, William T. Seawell, who had replaced Najeeb Halaby as Pan Am president in 1972, began implementing a turnaround management|turnaround strategy that entailed trimming the network by 25%, slashing the 40,000-strong workforce by 30% including wage cuts, introducing stringent economies and rescheduling debt, in addition to reducing the size of the fleet. These measures aided by the use of deferred tax|tax-loss credits enabled Pan Am to avert financial collapse and return to the black in 1977.

Attempts to build a US domestic network

Since the 1930s, Juan Trippe had coveted domestic routes for Pan Am. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, as well as in the mid-1970s, the airline attempted to merge with American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines and Trans World Airlines . As rival airlines convinced Congress that Pan Am would use its political clout to monopolize all US air routes, the CAB repeatedly denied the airline permission to operate within the United States, either as a result of organic growth or a merger with another airline. As a consequence, Pan Am remained an American carrier operating international routes only (aside from Hawaii and Alaska ). The last time Pan Am was permitted to merge with another airline prior to the Airline Deregulation Act|deregulation of the airline industry in the United States was in 1950, when it took over American Overseas Airlines. Following the US airline industry's deregulation in 1978, a growing number of US domestic operators began competing with Pan Am internationally.

National Airlines takeover

In order to acquire domestic routes, Pan Am, under president Seawell, set its eyes on National Airlines (NA)|National Airlines . Pan Am wound up in a bidding war with Frank Lorenzo , which greatly raised the price of National's stock. Nevertheless, Pan Am was granted permission to buy National in 1980 in what was described as the "Coup of the Decade." The acquisition of National Airlines for $437& nbsp;million further burdened Pan Am's balance sheet, which was already under strain as a result of financing the large number of Boeing 747s that were ordered in the mid-1960s. This acquisition did little to improve Pan Am's competitive position in relation to nimbler, lower-cost competitors in a deregulated industry as National's North-South route structure provided insufficient feed at Pan Am's transatlantic and transpacific gateways in New York and Los Angeles respectively. In addition, both airlines had incompatible fleets (apart from the Boeing 727) and organizational culture|corporate culture s (partly as a result of the former being perceived by some Pan Am employees as mainly a regional "backwoods" carrier with few trunk routes), and the integration was poorly handled by Pan Am management who presided over an increase in labor costs as a result of harmonizing National's pay scales with Pan Am's. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — National acquisition) , pp. 51/2, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011 Although revenues increased by 62% from 1979 to 1980, fuel costs from the merger increased by 157% during a weak economic climate. Further "miscellaneous expenses" increased by 74%.Interview with Russell Ray. "Death of An American Dream" (film)

Disposal of non-core assets and operational cutbacks

As 1980 progressed and the airline's financial situation worsened, Seawell began selling Pan Am's non-core assets. The first asset to be sold off was the airline's 50% interest in Falcon Jet Corporation in August. Later in November, Pan Am sold the Pan Am Building to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company for $400& nbsp;million. In September 1981 Pan Am sold off its InterContinental Hotels Group|InterContinental hotels chain. Before this transaction closed, Seawell was replaced by C. Edward Acker , Air Florida 's founder and ex-president as well as a former Braniff International Airways|Braniff International senior management|executive . The combined sale value of the InterContinental chain and the Falcon Jet Corp stake was $500& nbsp;million. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — National acquisition) , p. 52, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

Acker followed up the asset disposal program he had inherited from his predecessor with operational cutbacks. Most prominent among these was the discontinuation of the round-the world service from October 31, 1982, when Pan Am ceased flying between Delhi , Bangkok and Hong Kong due to the sector's unprofitability. To provide additional seating capacity for its 1983 spring/summer season, the airline also acquired three Boeing 747#747-200B|Boeing 747-200B passenger aircraft from Flying Tiger Line|Flying Tigers , who took four of Pan Am's 747-100|747–100 freighters in return.

Fleet restructuring

Despite Pan Am's precarious financial situation, during the summer of 1984, Acker went ahead with an order for new Airbus A300/A310/ Airbus A320 family|A320 wide-body|wide - and narrowbodied aircraft. These technologically advanced aircraft, which were economically and operationally superior to the 747s and 727s Pan Am operated at the time, were intended to make the airline more competitive. Brand-new A300s began replacing aging 727s on the Internal German Services (IGS) and Caribbean networks later the same year while subsequently delivered new A310s replaced some of the 747s on the slimmed-down transatlantic network following ETOPS certification (approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of transoceanic flying with twin-engined aircraft). Pan Am's decision not to take delivery of the A320s and to sell its delivery positions to Braniff meant that the majority of its short-haul US domestic and European mainline feeder routes, as well as most of its IGS services, continued to be flown with technologically obsolete 727s until the airline's demise. This put it at a commercial disadvantage against rivals operating state-of-the-art aircraft with a greater passenger appeal. In September 1984 Pan American World Airways created a holding company called Pan Am Corporation to assume ownership and control of the airline and the services division.

Sale of Pacific division

Given the airline's dire state, in April 1985, Acker sold Pan Am's entire Pacific Division, which consisted of 25% of its entire route system, to United Airlines for $750& nbsp;million. This sale also enabled Pan Am to address fleet incompatibility issues related to the earlier acquisition of National Airlines as it included Pan Am's Pratt & Whitney JT9D -powered 747SPs, its Rolls-Royce RB211 -powered Lockheed L-1011 Tristar|L-1011 s and the General Electric CF6 -powered McDonnell-Douglas DC-10|DC-10 s inherited from National, which were transferred to United along with the Pacific routes.

Establishment of local feeder networks

The acquisition in June 1986 of Pennsylvania -based regional airline|commuter airline Ransome Airlines for $65& nbsp;million was meant to address the issue of providing additional feed for Pan Am's mainline services at its hubs in New York, Los Angeles and Miami in the United States, and Berlin in Germany. The renamed Pan Am Express launched commuter routes from New York, Los Angeles and San Diego in the US, and Berlin, Germany. Miami services were added the following spring. However, the regional Pan Am Express operation provided only an incremental feed to Pan Am's international route system, which was now focused on the Atlantic Division.

US East coast shuttle

In an attempt to gain a presence on the busy Washington, D.C.|Washington –New York–Boston commuter air corridor, the Ransome Airlines|Ransome acquisition was accompanied by the $100& nbsp;million purchase of New York Air 's shuttle service between Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. This parallel move was intended to enable Pan Am to provide a high-frequency service for high- Yield management#Airlines|yield business travelers in direct competition with the long-established, successful Eastern Air Lines shuttle operation. The renamed Delta Shuttle|Pan Am Shuttle began operating out of LaGuardia Airport's refurbished historic Marine Air Terminal in October 1986. However, it did not address the pressing issue of Pan Am's continuing lack of a strong domestic feeder network.

Financial, operational and reputational setbacks

Thomas G. Plaskett, a former American Airlines and Continental executive, replaced Acker as president in January 1988 (joining Pan Am from the latter). While a program to refurbish Pan Am aircraft and improve the company's on-time performance began showing positive results (in fact, Pan Am's most profitable quarter ever was the third quarter of 1988), on December 21, 1988, the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103|Pan Am flight 103 above Lockerbie , Scotland, resulted in 270 fatalities., BBC News, September 2, 2009, accessed September 10, 2009 Pan Am's iconic image had made it a repeated target for terrorists, resulting in many travelers avoiding the airline as they had begun to associate it with danger. Faced with a $300& nbsp;million lawsuit filed by more than 100 families of the Pan Am flight 103 victims, the airline subpoena ed records of six US government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency|CIA , the Drug Enforcement Administration , and the United States Department of State|State Department . Though the records suggested that the US government was aware of warnings of a bombing and failed to pass the information to the airline, the families claimed Pan Am was attempting to shift the blame.

Also, in December 1988 the FAA fined Pan Am for 19 security failures, out of the 236 that were detected amongst 29 airlines.

Failed bid for Northwest Airlines

In June 1989 Plaskett presented Northwest Airlines with a $2.7& nbsp;billion takeover bid that was backed by Bankers Trust , JP Morgan Chase#J.P. Morgan & Company|Morgan Guaranty Trust , Citigroup|Citicorp and Bache & Co.#Acquisition by Prudential|Prudential-Bache . The proposed merger was Pan Am's final attempt to create a strong domestic network to provide sufficient feed for the two remaining mainline hubs at John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York JFK and Miami. It was also intended to help the airline regain its status as a global airline by re-establishing a sizable transpacific presence. The merger was expected to result in annual savings of $240& nbsp;million. In the event, billionaire financier Al Checchi outbid Pan Am by presenting Northwest's directors with a superior proposal.

Fallout from 1990–91 Persian Gulf War

The first Gulf War triggered by the Iraq i invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 sent fuel prices sky-rocketing, which severely depressed global economic activity. This in turn caused a sharp contraction of worldwide air travel demand, plunging hitherto profitable operations including Pan Am's prime transatlantic routes into steep losses. These unforeseen events constituted a further major blow to Pan Am, which was still reeling from the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie disaster . To shore up its finances, Pan Am sold most of its routes serving London Heathrow — arguably Pan Am's most important international destination — to United Airlines. This left Pan Am with only two daily London flights,from Detroit and Miami which used London Gatwick Airport|Gatwick as their London terminal from the start of the 1990/91 winter timetable. Further asset disposals included Pan Am's sale of its IGS routes to Berlin to Lufthansa for $150& nbsp;million, which became effective at the same time and brought the total value of asset disposals to $1.2& nbsp;billion. These measures were accompanied by the elimination of 2,500 jobs (8.6% of its work force). (This had already been announced by the airline in September 1990.)

Bankruptcy

Pan Am was forced to declare Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|bankruptcy on January 8, 1991. Delta Air Lines purchased the remaining profitable assets of Pan Am, including its remaining European routes,including the Frankfurt International Airport|Frankfurt mini hub the Delta Shuttle|Shuttle operation, 45 jets and the Worldport (Pan Am)|Pan Am Worldport at John F. Kennedy Airport, for $416& nbsp;million and injected $100& nbsp;million as a 45% owner of a reorganized but smaller Pan Am serving the Caribbean, Central and South America from a main airline hub|hub in Miami. The airline's creditors would hold the other 55%. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — Down ... but not quite out) , p. 52, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

The Boston–New York LaGuardia– Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport|Washington National Pan Am Shuttle service was taken over by Delta Air Lines|Delta in September 1991. Two months later Delta assumed all of Pan Am's remaining transatlantic traffic rights, except Miami to Paris and London.

In October 1991 former Douglas Aircraft Company|Douglas Aircraft executive Russell Ray, Jr. was hired as Pan Am's new president and CEO. As part of this restructuring, Pan Am relocated its headquarters from the Pan Am Building in New York City to new offices in the Miami area in preparation for the airline's relaunch from both Miami and New York on November 1, 1991.Dunlap, David W. "." The New York Times . Friday September 4, 1992. Retrieved on August 25, 2009. The new airline would have operated approximately 60 aircraft and generate about $1.2& nbsp;billion in annual revenues with 7,500 employees. Following the relaunch, Pan Am continued to sustain heavy losses. Revenue throughout October and November 1991 fell short of what had been anticipated in the reorganization plan, with Delta claiming that Pan Am was losing $3& nbsp;million a day. This undermined Delta's, Financial District, Manhattan|Wall Street 's and the traveling public's confidence in the viability of the reorganized Pan Am.

Pan Am's senior executives outlined a projected shortfall of between $100 and possibly $200& nbsp;million, with the airline requiring a $25& nbsp;million installment just to fly through the following week. On the evening of December 3, Pan Am's Creditors Committee advised United States bankruptcy court|US Bankruptcy Judge Cornelius Blackshear that it was close to convincing an airline (TWA) to invest $15& nbsp;million to keep Pan Am operating. A deal with TWA owner Carl Icahn could not be struck. Pan Am opened for business at 9:00& nbsp;am and within the hour, Ray was forced to withdraw Pan Am's plan of reorganization and execute an immediate shutdown plan for Pan Am. Over 9,000 employees lost their jobs. As a result of this action, Delta was sued for more than $2.5& nbsp;billion on December 9, 1991 by the Pan Am Creditors Committee. Shortly thereafter, a large group of former Pan Am employees sued Delta. In December 1995 a US federal judge ruled in favor of Delta, concluding that it was not liable for Pan Am's demise.

Pan Am ceased operations on December 4, 1991, following a decision by Delta's CEO Ron Allen and other senior executives not to go ahead with the final $25& nbsp;million payment Pan Am was scheduled to receive the weekend after Thanksgiving .Salpukas, Agis. "." The New York Times . Thursday December 5, 1991. Retrieved on August 28, 2009. As a result, some 7,500 Pan Am employees lost their jobs, thousands of whom had worked in the New York City area and were preparing to move to the Miami area to work at Pan Am's new headquarters near Miami International Airport . Economists predicted that 9,000 jobs in the Miami area, including jobs at companies not connected to Pan Am that were dependent on the airline's presence, would be lost after it folded. The carrier's last flown scheduled operation was Pan Am flight 436 which departed that day from Bridgetown, Barbados at 2& nbsp;pm ( Eastern Time Zone|EST ) for Miami under the command of Captain Mark Pyle flying Clipper Goodwill , a Boeing 727–200 (N368PA). June, 1992, p.18 Air Line Pilots Association (publisher)

Pan Am was the third major airline to shut down in 1991, after Eastern Air Lines and Midway Airlines (1976-1991)|Midway Airlines .

After serving only two months as Pan Am's CEO, Ray was replaced by Peter McHugh to supervise the sale of Pan Am's remaining assets by Pan Am's Creditor's Committee. Pan Am's last remaining hub (at Miami International Airport) was split during the following years between United Airlines and American Airlines. TWA's Carl Icahn purchased Pan Am Express at a court ordered bankruptcy auction for $13& nbsp;million, renaming it Trans World Express. The Pan Am brand was sold to Charles Cobb, CEO of Cobb Partners and former Ambassadors of the United States|United States Ambassador to the Iceland#Republic of Iceland (1944–present)|Republic of Iceland under George H.W. Bush|President George H.W. Bush and Under Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce|US Department of Commerce under Ronald Reagan|President Reagan . Cobb, along with Hanna-Frost partners invested in a Pan American Airways (1996-1998)|new Pan American World Airways headed by veteran airline executive Martin R. Shugrue, Jr, a former Pan Am executive with 20 years of experience at the original carrier.

In his book, Pan Am: An Aviation Legend , Barnaby Conrad III contends that the collapse of the original Pan Am was a combination of corporate mismanagement, government indifference to protecting its prime international carrier, and flawed regulatory policy. He cites an observation made by former Pan Am Vice President for External Affairs, Stanley Gewirtz:

Under the terms of bankruptcy, the airline's International Flight Academy in Miami was permitted to remain open. It was established as an independent training organization beginning in 1992 under its current name, Pan Am International Flight Academy . The company began operating by using the flight simulation and type rating training center of the defunct Pan Am. In 2006, American Capital Strategies invested $58 million into the academy. Pan Am International Flight Academy is the only surviving division of Pan American World Airways.

Reuse of name

Aside from the aforementioned flight academy, the Pan Am brand has been resurrected five times after 1991, but the reincarnations were related to the original Pan Am in name only.

Airlines

Pan American World Airways trademarks and some assets were purchased by Eclipse Holdings, Inc. at an auction by the US Bankruptcy Court on December 2–3, 1993. The scheduled airline rights were sold to Pan American Airways on December 20–29, 1993 by Eclipse Holdings, which was to retain the Pan Am charter rights and operate through its subsidiary Pan Am Charters, Inc., now Airways Corporation. Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 — Down ... but not quite out) , p. 53, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

Pan American Airways (1996–1998)|The first reincarnation of the original Pan Am operated from 1996 to 1998, with a focus on low-cost, long-distance flights between the US and the Caribbean with the IATA airline designator PN .

Pan American Airways (1998–2004)|The second was unrelated to the first and was a small regional carrier based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire that operated between 1998 and 2004. It found its niche in operating usually at smaller airports near major ones, such as Portsmouth International Airport at Pease|Pease International (Portsmouth) , and Gary/Chicago International Airport|Gary Municipal Airport in Indiana . It used the International Air Transport Association|IATA code PA , and the International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO code PAA .

Boston-Maine Airways , a sister company of the second reincarnation, operated the "Pan Am Clipper Connection" brand from 2004 to February 2008. A domestic airline in the Dominican Republic , descended from the company's first reincarnation, continues to trade as Pan Am Dominicana .

In November 2010 Pan American Airways, Incorporated, was resurrected for the fifth time by a company named World-Wide Consolidated Logistics, Inc. The reincarnated operator is based at Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport in Brownsville, Texas . The airline's inaugural flight was to Monterrey, Mexico , on November 12, 2010. The airline had said it would carry cargo only at first but intended to announce passenger service by 2011. However, no passenger flights have yet been made.

Railways

In 1998 Guilford Transportation Industries purchased Pan American World Airways and all related naming rights. The railway is now operated as Pan Am Railways .

Record-setting flights

When Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor was bombed a Boeing 314 was in New Zealand. With its Pacific bases attacked or abandoned, the seaplane was ordered to return via Australia, India, Arabia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean. It arrived in New York on January 6 after the first (almost) round-the-world airliner flight.
During the mid-1970s Pan Am set two round-the-world records. Liberty Bell Express, a Boeing 747SP|Boeing 747SP-21 named Clipper Liberty Bell , broke the commercial round-the-world record set by a Flying Tiger Line Boeing 707 with a new record of 46 hours, 50 seconds. The flight left New York-JFK on May 1, 1976 and returned on May 3. The flight stopped only in New Delhi and Tokyo, where a strike among the airport workers delayed it two hours. The flight beat the Flying Tiger Line's record by 16 hours 24 minutes.
To commemorate its 50th birthday, Pan Am organized a round-the-world flight San Francisco to San Francisco, this time over the North Pole and the South Pole with stops in London Heathrow, Cape Town and Auckland . 747SP-21 Clipper New Horizons was the former Liberty Bell , making the plane the only one to go around the globe over the Equator and the poles. The flight made it in 54 hours, 7 minutes, and 12 seconds, creating six new world records certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale|FAI . The captain who commanded the flight also commanded the Liberty Bell Express flight.

In popular culture

Pan Am held a lofty position in the popular culture of the Cold War era. One of the most famous images in which a Pan Am plane formed a backdrop was The Beatles ' 1964 arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport aboard a Pan Am Boeing 707-320|Boeing 707–321 , Clipper Defiance .

From 1964 to 1968 con artist Frank Abagnale , Jr. masqueraded as a Pan Am pilot, Deadhead (aviation)|dead-heading to many destinations in the cockpit jump seat . He also used Pan Am's preferred hotels, paid the bills with bogus checks, and later cashed fake payroll checks in Pan Am's name. He documented this era in the memoir Catch Me If You Can (book)|Catch Me if You Can , which became a distantly related Catch Me if You Can|movie in 2002. Abagnale called Pan Am the " Ritz-Carlton of airlines" and noted that the days of luxury in airline travel are over.

In the 1960s Pan Am established a waiting list for future flights to the moon , issuing free "First Moon Flights Club" membership cards to those who requested them. A fictional Pan Am "Space Clipper," a commercial spaceplane called the Orion III spaceplane| Orion III , had a prominent role in Stanley Kubrick 's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey and was featured prominently in one of the movie's posters. Plastic models of the 2001 Pan Am Space Clipper were sold by both the Aurora Plastics Corporation|Aurora Company and Airfix at the time of the film's release in 1968. A satire of the movie by Mad (magazine)|Mad magazine in 1968 showed Pan Am female flight attendant s in "Actionwear by Monsanto" outfits as they joked about the problems their passengers faced while vomiting in zero gravity. The film's sequel, 2010 (film)|2010 , also featured Pan Am in a background television commercial in the home of David Bowman (Space Odyssey)|David Bowman 's mother with the slogan, "At Pan Am, the sky is no longer the limit."

The airline appeared in other movies, notably in several James Bond films. The company's Boeing 707s were featured in Dr. No (film)|Dr. No and From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love , while a Pan Am 747 and the Worldport appeared in Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die .

Another instance is the movie Hook (film)|Hook : Peter Banning ( Robin Williams ) and his family are flying to London via Pan Am – intended to be a play on the fact that he is Peter Pan .

A term used in popular psychology is "Pan American (or Pan Am) Smile." Named after the greeting flight attendants (or at least actresses playing flight attendants on TV advertisements) supposedly gave to passengers. It consists of a perfunctory mouth movement without the activity of facial muscles around the eyes that characterizes a smile#Duchenne smiling|genuine smile .

In 2011, American Broadcasting Company|ABC announced a new television series based on the lives of a 1960s Pan Am flight crew. The series, titled Pan Am (TV series)|Pan Am , began airing in September 2011. It was canceled in May 2012, bringing an end to the Pan Am name on television.

Acquisitions and divestitures

1927: Pan American Airways, Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways, and Aviation Corporation of the Americas founded.

1928: All three precursor firms merge into Aviation Corporation of the Americas, with Pan American Airways as its brand.

1929: Mexicana de Aviación|Mexicana of Mexico acquired by Pan Am.

1929: Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA), operating on the west coast of South America, formed as a 50–50 joint venture with W. R. Grace and Company .

1930: New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) acquired, allowing Pan Am to operate along the east coast of South America. NYRBA's Brazilian subsidiary is renamed Panair do Brasil .

1931: Majority control of SCADTA of Colombia acquired in secret.

1932: Cubana de Aviación|Cubana of Cuba acquired.

1933: China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) acquired.

1937: CNAC merged with China Airways .

1940: Minority holders of SCADTA bought-out.

1940: Aerovías of Guatemala formed.

1941: SCADTA merged into SACO (Colombia)|SACO to form Avianca , owned by the Colombia n government.

1943: Avensa|Aerovías Venezolanas Sociedad Anónima (AVENSA) of Venezuela founded as a joint venture.

1944: Cuba n investors acquire 56% of Cubana through a initial public offering|stock float .

1946: InterContinental , a chain of hotels, founded.

1949: Pan Am acquires a stake in Middle East Airlines (MEA), as well as a management contract.

1949: Pan Am's 20% stake in CNAC acquired by Republic of China|Chinese Nationalists , with assets split variously between the Nationalists and the People's Republic of China.

1950: American Overseas Airlines (AOA) acquired from American Airlines .

1954: Cuban government acquires Pan Am's remaining stake in Cubana.

1955: Pan Am's 49% stake in MEA is sold to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

1959: Mexican government acquires Pan Am's stake in Mexicana and Aeroméxico .

1961: Brazilian government acquires Panair do Brasil .

1967: PANAGRA sold to Braniff International Airways .

1976: AVENSA stake divested to Venezuela n government.

1980: National Airlines (NA)|National Airlines acquired.

1980: MetLife Building|Pan Am Building sold to MetLife .

1981: InterContinental sold to Grand Metropolitan .

1986: Pacific Division sold to United Airlines .

1989: Pan Am unsuccessfully attempts to buy Northwest Airlines .

1990: London Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow routes sold to United Airlines.

1990: Internal German Services Division sold to Lufthansa .

1991: Pan AM declares bankruptcy.

1991: Atlantic Division, Pan Am Shuttle, and New York City Worldport sold to Delta Air Lines .

Accidents and incidents

Pan Am aircraft were involved in numerous accidents and incidents, including a number of aircraft hijacking s and terrorist attacks.

An accident involving a Pan Am plane on December 8, 1963 led to the FAA's ordering the installation of safety devices on aircraft. The 707, named Clipper Tradewind (N709PA) and operating as Pan Am Flight 214|flight 214 , was in a Holding (aviation)|holding pattern on a flight from Baltimore to Philadelphia when it was last seen going down in flames. It was determined that lightning had ignited vapors in the plane's fuel tanks. As a result of the disaster, static discharger|lightning discharge wick s were installed on all commercial airliners.

Between 1965 and 1974 a further five Pan Am 707s were involved in major accidents that resulted in substantial loss of lives. Three of these occurred on the airline's Pacific network between December 1973 and April 1974 within a time span of five months. More than 300 lives were lost in all five accidents, two-thirds of which were accounted for by the last three (30 fatalities: September 17, 1965 / Boeing 707-120|707-121B Pan Am Flight 292|N708PA Montserrat , Caribbean; 51 fatalities: December 12, 1968 / Boeing 707-320B|707-321B Pan Am Flight 217|N494PA near Caracas , Venezuela; 78 fatalities: July 22, 1973 / 707-321B Pan Am Flight 816|N417PA near Papeete Faa'a International Airport|Faaa ; 97 fatalities: January 30, 1974 / 707-321B Pan Am Flight 806|N454PA near Pago Pago International Airport|Pago Pago , American Samoa ; 107 fatalities: April 22, 1974 / 707-321B Pan Am Flight 812|N446PA near Denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport|Ngurah Rai , Bali , Indonesia).

A Pan Am 727 was also involved in an enduring Cold War mystery that remains unresolved to this day, which occurred on November 15, 1966. On that day, Clipper München , a Pan Am Boeing 727-100|Boeing 727–21 (N317PA) operating the return leg of the airline's daily cargo flight from Berlin to Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport ( Pan Am Flight 708|Pan Am flight 708 ) was due to land that night at Tegel Airport, rather than Tempelhof, due to runway resurfacing work taking place at that time at the latter. Berlin Control had cleared flight 708 for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to Tegel Airport's runway 08, soon after the crew had begun its descent from Flight Level|flight level (FL) 090 (9,000 feet) to FL 030 (3,000 feet) before entering the southwest air corridor over German Democratic Republic|East Germany on the last stretch of its journey to Berlin. The aircraft impacted the ground near Dallgow-Döberitz|Dallgow , East Germany, almost immediately after the crew had acknowledged further instructions received from Berlin Control, just from Tegel Airport. All three crew members lost their lives in this accident. Visibility was poor, and it was snowing at the time of the accident. Following the accident, the Soviet military authorities in East Germany returned only half of the aircraft's wreckage to their US counterparts in West Berlin. This excluded vital parts, such as the flight data recorder (FDR), the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) as well as the plane's Aircraft flight control system|flight control systems , its air navigation|navigation and communication equipment. The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident report|investigation report concluded that the aircraft's descent below its altitude clearance limit was the accident's probable cause. However, the NTSB was unable to establish the factors that had caused the crew to descent (aircraft)|descend below its cleared minimum altitude. Aeroplane, Safety – Berlin crash mystery , Vol. 116, No. 2968, p. 11, Temple Press, London, September 4, 1968

On September 6, 1970, two men Aircraft hijacking|hijack ed Pan Am flight 93, a 747-100|Boeing 747–121 (N752PA) en route from Amsterdam to New York, as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings . The flight diverted to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport|Beirut International Airport to take on board seven other gang members for the next leg to Cairo International Airport , where the hijackers ordered the aircraft evacuated and destroyed it with explosives.

On December 17, 1973 five Palestinian people|Palestinian terrorists, who had had taken six hostages at Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport|Fiumicino Airport , bombed Pan Am Flight 110|Pan Am flight 110 while passengers boarded. The Boeing 707-320B|Boeing 707-321B ( Clipper Celestial , N407PA) caught fire, killing 30 people.

On July 9, 1982 Clipper Defiance , a 727-200|Boeing 727–235 (N4737), operating Pan Am Flight 759|Pan Am flight 759 , crashed minutes after takeoff from New Orleans International Airport in the worst accident in aviation history involving microburst -induced wind shear . All 145 passengers and crew members perished, as well as eight people on the ground when the plane careered through a residential area adjacent to the airport.

On August 11, 1982 Pan Am Flight 830|Pan Am flight 830 , a 747-100|Boeing 747–121 (N754PA), was bombed over the Pacific Ocean killing one passenger before safely landing in Honolulu.

On September 5, 1986 a Pan Am 747 named the Clipper Empress of the Seas (N656PA), operating as Pan Am Flight 73|Pan Am flight 73 , was taken over by hijackers while on a scheduled stop in Karachi. The flight never departed Karachi, but 20 people were killed when the aircraft was stormed on the ground.

On November 6, 1986 Eastern Air Lines Captain George Baines was flying in his private aircraft, a Piper PA-23 (N2185P), from his home to Tampa International to catch a flight. As he approached Tampa International's runway 36L (now 1L) in heavy fog, he declared a missed approach and went around to try it again. On the second attempt, he touched down on a parallel taxiway and ultimately collided with a Pan Am 727-200|727–200 that was taxiing on this taxiway. Baines lost his life in the accident. He was the only fatality. No other injuries were reported.

Pan Am Flight 1736

Clipper Victor , which was the first Boeing 747 to carry fare-paying passengers in 1970 (N736PA), was involved in the Tenerife airport disaster|Tenerife disaster on March 27, 1977 the deadliest air disaster in aviation history. On that day, Clipper Victor operated a charter flight , PA 1736, from Los Angeles to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria|Las Palmas in the Canary Islands , Spain, via New York. The aircraft diverted to Tenerife North Airport|Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife because of a bomb scare at Las Palmas. Although visibility was impossible due to thick fog, a KLM 747 pilot did not wait to to be cleared for takeoff and collided with the Pan Am airplane on the runway. A total of 583 people were killed. 335 passengers on the Pan Am plane died while 61 survived.

Pan Am Flight 103

Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan Am's third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York John F. Kennedy Airport . On December 21, 1988 the aircraft flying this route, a 747-100|Boeing 747–121 , , named Clipper Maid of the Seas , was blown up as it flew over Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland, UK, when approximately of plastic explosive was detonated in its forward cargo hold, triggering a sequence of events that led to the rapid destruction of the aircraft. The aircraft that crashed was the 15th 747 built and was delivered to Pan Am in February 1970. Until the September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001 attacks , the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was the second-deadliest terrorist attack against the United States and remains the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil to this day. A total of 270 people lost their lives, including 11 in the town of Lockerbie.

Fleet

Fleet in 1990

The following were aircraft operated Pan Am and Pan Am Express in March 1990, a year and a half before the airline's collapse:

>

Aircraft !! In Service !! Orders !! Notes
Airbus A300-B4
Airbus A310-200
Airbus A310-300
Boeing 727–200
Boeing 737–200
Boeing 747–100
Boeing 747-200B
Total

>

Aircraft !! In Service !! Orders
ATR 42–300
De Havilland Canada Dash 7
Total

Fleet history

All the aircraft ever operated by Pan Am:

>

Aircraft	Years operated	Total	Type	Notes
Airbus A300-B4	1984–1991	13	Jet aircraft	2 more ordered
Airbus A310-224	1985–1991	7	Jet aircraft
Airbus A310-324	1987–1991	14	Jet aircraft
Airbus A320-200	N/ A	0	Jet aircraft	Braniff (BN) .
Avions de Transport Régional ATR-42	? ? -1991	12	Turboprop aircraft	Operated by Pan Am Express
BAe Jetstream 31	? ? ?	10	Turboprop aircraft	Operated by Pan Am Express
Boeing 307 Stratoliner	1940–1948	3	Propeller aircraft
Boeing 314	1939–1946	9	Flying boat	Carried first Transatlantic Air Mail
Boeing 377 Stratocruiser	1949–1961	28	Propeller aircraft	AOA
Boeing 707–121	1958–1974	8	Jet aircraft	Launch customer of the 707 series
Boeing 707–321	1959–1973	26	Jet aircraft
Boeing 707-321B	1962–1981	60	Jet aircraft
Boeing 707-321C	1963–1979	34	Jet aircraft
Boeing 720B	1963–1974	9	Jet aircraft
Boeing 727–121	1965–1991	46	Jet aircraft
Boeing 727–200	1979–1991	105	Jet aircraft
Boeing 737–200	1982–1991	16	Jet aircraft
Boeing 747–100	1969–1991	44	Jet aircraft	Boeing 747–100 series and Boeing 747 33 Boeing 747-100
Boeing 747-212B	1974–1991	7	Jet Aircraft	Boeing 747-212B s were previously owned and operated by Singapore Airlines .
Boeing 747-273C	? ? -1983	1	Cargo Aircraft	Operated by Pan Am Cargo , was previously operated by World Airways .
Boeing 747-221F	? ? -1983	2	Cargo Aircraft	Operated by Pan Am Cargo
Boeing 747SP	1976–1986	11	Jet Aircraft	10 Boeing 747SP>Boeing 747SP-21 s owned by Pan Am 1 Boeing 747SP
Consolidated Commodore	1930–1943	14	Flying boat
Convair CV-240	1948–1957	20	Propeller aircraft
Convair CV-340	1953–1955	6	Propeller aircraft
Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando	1948–1956	12	Propeller aircraft
de Havilland Canada Dash 7	? ? -1991	8	Turboprop aircraft	Operated by Pan Am Express
Douglas Dolphin	? ? ?	2	Flying boat	Transferred to CNAC
Douglas DC-2	1934–1941	9	Propeller aircraft
Douglas DC-3	1937–1948	90	Propeller aircraft
Douglas DC-4	1947–1961	22	Propeller aircraft
Douglas DC-6	1953–1968	49	Propeller aircraft
Douglas DC-7	1955–1966	37	Propeller aircraft
Douglas DC-8#Series 30>Douglas DC-8-32	1960–1970	19	Jet aircraft
Douglas DC-8#Super Sixty Series>Douglas DC-8-62	1970–1971	1	Jet aircraft	DC-8-62 just operated one year
McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10	1980–1984	11	Jet aircraft	National in 1980
McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30	1980–1985	5	Jet aircraft	National in 1980
Fairchild FC-2	1928–1933	5	Propeller aircraft	Panagra
Fairchild 71	1930–1940	3	Propeller aircraft
Fairchild 91	1936–1937	2	Propeller aircraft	4 more ordered, but all cancelled
Fokker F-10A	1929–1935	12	Propeller aircraft
Fokker F.VIIa/ 3m	1927–1930	3	Propeller aircraft	First Pan Am owned airplane to carry air mail
Ford Trimotor	1929–1940	11	Propeller aircraft
Lockheed Model 9 Orion	1935–1936	2	Propeller aircraft
Lockheed Model 10 Electra	1934–1938	4	Propeller aircraft
Lockheed L-049 Constellation	1946–1957	29	Propeller aircraft
Lockheed L-749 Constellation	1947–1950	4	Propeller aircraft
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation	1955	1	Propeller aircraft
Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar	1980–1986	12	Jet aircraft
Martin M-130	1935–1945	3	Flying boat	Carried first Transpacific Air Mail
Sikorsky S-36	? ? ?	5	Flying boat
Sikorsky S-38	1928–1943	24	Flying boat
Sikorsky S-40	1931–1944	3	Flying boat	First aircraft to carry the Clipper name
Sikorsky S-42	1934–1946	10	Flying boat
Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper	1936–1945	10	Flying boat

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1. Andrew W.K. 2. Blue 3. Bond 4. Jacques Brel 5. Billy Cobham 6. Max Creek 7. Mimic 8. Pan American 9. Powerman 5000 10. Premiata Forneria Marconi 11. Tito Puente 12. Peter Rowan 13. Jimmy Witherspoon 14. Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs 15. Soda Stereo 16. Doug Stone 17. Ute Lemper 18. Llama 19. Puerto Rico 20. Thailand 21. Smile 22. Eric Dolphy 23. Up 24. Dinah Washington 25. Isaac Hanson

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