Pan American World Airways
Encyclopedia
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier
in the United States
from 1927 until its collapse on December 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
, jumbo jet
s, and computerized reservation systems. It was also a founder member of the International Air Transport Association
(IATA), the global airline industry association. 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 wholly-/majority-government-owned flag carrier
s, it was also the unofficial flag carrier of the United States. Pan Am's flagship
terminal
was the Worldport
located at John F. Kennedy Airport
in New York
.
Pan American Airways, Incorporated (PAA) was founded as a shell company publicly held company with no or nominal assets other than money on March 14, 1927, by Air Corps
Majors Henry H. "Hap" Arnold
, 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 for Pan American when SCADTA chartered a company in Delaware
to obtain air mail contracts from the US
government. Pan American was able to obtain the 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. 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.
The Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways company was established on October 11, 1927, by New York City investment banker 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 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 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 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 SCADTA's home turf of Colombia. 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 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 stocks 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.
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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 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, and first officer. Before the 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.
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.
Pan Am inaugurated its South American routes using Sikorsky S-38
and 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 Clippers 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 US mainland to Bermuda was inaugurated, with Pan Am using Sikorsky flying boats and Imperial Airways using the C class flying boat
RMA Cavalier.
On July 5, 1937 the first commercial survey flights across the North Atlantic
were conducted. The Pan Am Clipper III, a Sikorsky S-42, landed at Botwood
in the Bay of Exploits
in 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 the beginning of commercial transatlantic flight
s.
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 Island
, Wake Island
, Guam
, and 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. 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 – Canton
mail route later that year and operated its first commercial flight carrying mail and express in a Martin M-130
from Alameda
to Manila amid massive media fanfare on November 22, 1935. The five-leg, 8,000-mile (12,875 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. (Both the United States and Philippine Islands issued special stamps for the two flights.) The first passenger flight over this route left Alameda on October 21, 1936. The fare from San Francisco to both Manila and Hong Kong in 1937 was $950 one way (approximately $14,700 in 2010) and $1,710 round trip (approximately $26,400).
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." 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 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.
A fleet of six large, long-range Boeing 314 flying boats was 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 worldwide in support of military operations.
In 1940 Pan Am and TWA
began using the Boeing 307
Stratoliner for passenger services. It was the first 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 ships — were the only American passenger aircraft of the time capable of intercontinental travel. To compete with ocean liner
s, the airline offered 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 Seas 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 the military. During this era Pan Am pioneered a new air route across 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 US president to fly abroad, in the Dixie Clipper. It was also during this period that Star Trek
creator Gene Roddenberry
was a Clipper pilot. He was aboard the Clipper Eclipse when it crashed in Syria
on June 19, 1947.
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.
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 Export Airlines
(American Overseas Airlines
(AOA) from November 1945) across the Atlantic
to Europe, and subsequently from others including TWA
to Europe, Braniff
to South America, United
to Hawaii and 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.
AOA was the first airline to begin regular landplane flights across the Atlantic, on October 24, 1945. In January 1946 Pan Am scheduled seven DC-4
s a week east from LaGuardia Airport
, five to London (i.e. 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
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 Constellation
fleet at $750,000 apiece. Pan Am began transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1946, beating TWA by three weeks.
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
, Wake
, Guam, Manila, Bangkok and arriving in 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
, 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
; Tokyo and London were always on Flight 1's route thereafter. All Pan Am round-the-world flights included at least one change of plane until Boeing 707s 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 1946 Miami to Buenos Aires took 71 hours 15 minutes in a Pan Am DC-3, but the following summer DC-4s flew Idlewild to Buenos Aires in 38 hr 30 min. In January 1958 Pan Am's DC-7
B flew New York to Buenos Aires in 25 hours 20 minutes, while the National
- Pan Am - Panagra DC-7B via Panama
and Lima
took 22 hours 45 minutes. Convair 240s 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 few Curtiss C-46s 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 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 DC-7
C totalled 24 hours 13 minutes from San Francisco, but Pan Am was not allowed to fly that route.) The Stratocruisers' double-deck fuselage with sleeping berths and a lower-deck lounge helped it compete with its rival. Modified Stratocruisers with additional fuel tanks went into service on Pan Am's transatlantic routes in November 1954; the aim was to reliably fly nonstop New York to London and return with one stop instead of two.
In 1943-44 the airline had begun calling itself Pan American World Airways and in January 1950 Pan American Airways Corporation officially became Pan American World Airways, Inc. In September of that year Pan Am completed the $17.45 million purchase of American Overseas Airlines from American Airlines
. That month Pan Am also ordered 45 Douglas DC-6
Bs. The first of these, Clipper Liberty Bell (N6518C), inaugurated Pan Am's all-tourist
class Rainbow service between New York and London on May 1, 1952 to complement the all-first
President Stratocruiser service. From June 27, 1960 DC-6
Bs also began replacing DC-4s on Pan Am's internal German routes.
Pan Am introduced the Douglas DC-7
C "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 Super Constellation
s and Starliner
s. In 1957 Pan Am started DC-7C flights direct from the 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.
With growing competition on many of its routes, Pan Am began investing in innovations such as jet aircraft and 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
's 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 707
). The combined order value was $269 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 New York Idlewild
to Paris Le Bourgetstopping in Gander on October 26, 1958, with Boeing 707-121 Clipper America (N711PA) carrying 111 passengers.
Introduction of the 320 "Intercontinental" series 707 in 1959 enabled non-stop transatlantic jet crossings with a viable payload in both directions. These later-model 707s' increased capacity reduced seat-mile costs, helping Pan Am reinforce its transatlantic market dominance.
Pan Am was also the launch customer of the Boeing 747
, placing a $525 million order for 25 in April 1966. On January 15, 1970, First Lady Pat Nixon
officially christened a Pan Am Boeing 747 the Juan T. Trippe at Washington Dulles
in the presence of Pan Am president Najeeb Halaby
. During the next few days, Pan Am flew several of their new 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 New York John F. Kennedy
to 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 Airport
.
Pan Am was one of the first three airlines to sign options for the Concorde
, but like other airlines that took out options — with the exception of BOAC and Air France
— it did not purchase the 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 Congress voted against additional funding in 1971.
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. The airline also built Worldport
, a terminal building at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000 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 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.
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 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 miles (131,000 km). The number of scheduled destinations served peaked at 160. During that period, the airline was profitable and its cash reserves totaled $1 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 airportsJohn F. Kennedy
, LaGuardia and 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 720Bs, 727
s (the first aircraft to sport Pan Am — rather than Pan American — titles), 737
s, and Boeing 747SP
s, which allowed Pan Am to fly nonstop New York to Tokyo. The airline also operated Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s, and Airbus A300
s and A310
s. Pan Am also owned the InterContinental Hotel
chain and had a financial interest 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.
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). (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
withdrawal from the quadripartite
Allied Control Commission in 1948, culminating in the 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 German territory through three 25-mile wide air corridors
at a maximum altitude of 10,000 feetthe cruising altitude of propliner
s employed on the 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.
Pan Am operated 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.
It is said that 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 de Paris
, were delivered "with a personal flair that has rarely been equaled."
Pan Am's London reservations number was REGent PAWA (7292). Not many people were aware of this, as London numbers were rarely quoted as letters other than the exchange name itself—unlike in New York.
Revenue passenger traffic (in millions of passenger-miles), scheduled flights only: 1,551 in 1951, 2,676 in 1955, 4,833 in 1960, 8,869 in 1965, 16,389 in 1970 and 14,863 in 1975.
made the airline industry's overcapacity problem worse, leaving Pan Am with its high 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 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, Australia, 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 million of accumulated lossesover a 10-year period and its debts approached $1 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 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 tax-loss credits
enabled Pan Am to avert financial collapse and return to the black in 1977.
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 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.
In order to acquire domestic routes, Pan Am, under president Seawell, set its eyes on 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 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 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. 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%. 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 million. In September 1981, Pan Am sold off its 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
executive
. The combined sale value of the InterContinental chain and the Falcon Jet Corp stake was $500 million.
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 747-200B passenger aircraft from Flying Tigers
, who took four of Pan Am's 747-100 freighters in return.
Despite Pan Am's precarious financial situation, during the summer of 1984, Acker went ahead with an order for new Airbus A300/A310/A320
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.
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 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 747SP
s, its Rolls-Royce RB211
-powered L-1011
s and the General Electric CF6
-powered DC-10s inherited from National, which were transferred to United along with the Pacific routes.
The subsequent acquisition in June 1986 of Pennsylvania
-based commuter
airline Ransome Airlines
for $65 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.
In an attempt to gain a presence on the busy Washington–New York–Boston commuter air corridor, the Ransome
acquisition was accompanied by the $100 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
business travelers in direct competition with the long-etablished, successful Eastern Air Lines shuttle operation. The renamed 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.
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 third quarter of 1988), on December 21, 1988, the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103
above Lockerbie
, Scotland
, resulted in 270 fatalities. 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 million lawsuit filed by more than 100 families of the Pan Am flight 103 victims, the airline subpoenaed records of six US government agencies, including the CIA
, the Drug Enforcement Administration
, and the 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.
In June 1989 Plaskett presented Northwest Airlines with a $2.7 billion takeover bid that was backed by Bankers Trust
, Morgan Guaranty Trust, Citicorp
and 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 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 million. In the event, billionaire financier Al Checchi
outbid Pan Am by presenting Northwest's directors with a superior proposal.
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 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 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 million, which became effective at the same time and brought the total value of asset disposals to $1.2 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.)
Pan Am was forced to declare bankruptcy
on January 8, 1991. Delta Air Lines
purchased the remaining profitable assets of Pan Am, including its remaining European routesincluding the Frankfurt
mini hub, the Shuttle operation, 45 jets and the Pan Am Worldport
at John F. Kennedy Airport, for $416 million and injected $100 million as a 45% owner of a reorganized but smaller Pan Am serving the Caribbean, Central and South America from a main hub
in Miami. The airline's creditors would hold the other 55%.
The Boston-New York LaGuardia-Washington National Pan Am Shuttle service was taken over by 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
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. The new airline would have operated approximately 60 aircraft and generate about $1.2 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 million a day. This undermined Delta's, 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 million, with the airline requiring a $25 million installment just to fly through the following week. On the evening of December 3 Pan Am's Creditors Committee advised US Bankruptcy Judge
Cornelius Blackshear that it was close to convincing an airline (TWA) to invest $15 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 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 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 million payment Pan Am was scheduled to receive the weekend after Thanksgiving
. 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 pm (EST
) for Miami under the command of Captain Mark Pyle flying Clipper Goodwill, a Boeing 727–200 (N368PA).
Pan Am was the third major airline to shut down in 1991, after Eastern Air Lines and 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 million and promptly renamed it Trans World Express. The Pan Am brand was sold to Charles Cobb, CEO of Cobb Partners and former United States Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland under President George H.W. Bush and Under Secretary of the US Department of Commerce under President Reagan. Cobb, along with Hanna-Frost partners invested in a 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 the airline bankruptcy, the airline's International Flight Academy in Miami, Florida 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.
In November 2010 Pan American Airways, Inc., was resurrected for a fifth time. The company's inaugural flight was to Monterrey, Mexico, on November 12, 2010. The airline has said it will carry cargo only at this stage but intends to announce passenger service by 2011.
The first 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.
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 airports, such as Pease International (Portsmouth), and Gary Municipal Airport, in Indiana. It used the IATA
code PA, and the 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.
Pan American Airways and World-Wide Consolidated Logistics, Inc. will open cargo service to Latin America in 2011.
In 1998, Guilford Transportation Industries purchased Pan American World Airways and all related naming rights. The railway is now operated as Pan Am Railways
.
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
-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 FAI
. The captain who commanded the flight also commanded the Liberty Bell Express flight.
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
-321, Clipper Defiance.
From 1964 to 1968, con artist Frank Abagnale
, Jr. masqueraded as a Pan Am pilot, 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, which became a distantly related 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, had a prominent role in Stanley Kubrick
's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
and was featured in the movie's poster. Plastic models of the 2001 Pan Am Space Clipper were sold by both the Aurora Company
and Airfix
at the time of the film's release in 1968. A satire of the movie by 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, also featured Pan Am in a background television commercial in the home of David Bowman's widow 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
and From Russia with Love
, while a Pan Am 747 and the Worldport
appeared in Live and Let Die
.
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 genuine smile.
In 2011, ABC
announced a new television series based on the lives of a 1960s Pan Am flight crew. The series, titled Pan Am
, began airing in September 2011.
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 flight 214
, was in a 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, 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 / 707-121B N708PA Montserrat
, Caribbean; 51 fatalities: December 12, 1968 / 707-321B N494PA near Caracas
, Venezuela; 78 fatalities: July 22, 1973 / 707-321B N417PA near Papeete
Faaa
; 97 fatalities: January 30, 1974 / 707-321B N454PA near Pago Pago
, American Samoa
; 107 fatalities: April 22, 1974 / 707-321B N446PA near Denpasar
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, a company Boeing 727–21 (N317PA) operating the return leg of the airline's daily cargo flight from Berlin to Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (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
(FL) 090 to FL 030 before entering the southwest air corridor over East Germany
on the last stretch of its journey to Berlin. The aircraft impacted the ground near Dallgow
, East Germany, almost immediately after the crew had acknowledged further instructions received from Berlin Control, just 10 mi (16.1 km) 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 flight control systems, its navigation
and communication equipment. The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) 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 descend
below its cleared minimum altitude.
On November 24, 1968 three hijacker
s demanding to go to Cuba took over a Pan Am Boeing 707 operating as flight 281
from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico
. The hijacking ended the same day with the release of the aircraft and its occupants.
On August 3, 1970 a lone hijacker, who demanded to be flown to Hungary
, took over a Pan Am Boeing 727-21 operating as flight 742 from Munich Riem Airport
to Berlin Tempelhof Airport. The hijacking ended the same day with the release of the aircraft and its 125 occupants.
On September 6, 1970 Pan Am flight 93, two men hijack
ed a Boeing 747-121 (N752PA) en route from Amsterdam
to New York as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings
. The flight diverted to Beirut International Airport
to take on board seven other gang members for the next leg to Cairo
. The hijackers instructed all 170 occupants to evacuate the aircraft immediately after landing at Cairo International Airport
, following which they detonated explosives on board resulting in the plane's destruction.
On December 17, 1973 five Palestinian
terrorists, who had had taken six hostages at Rome
Fiumicino Airport, bombed Pan Am flight 110
while passengers boarded. The Boeing 707-321B (Clipper Celestial, N407PA) caught fire, killing 30 people.
On July 9, 1982 Clipper Defiance, a Boeing 727-235 (N4737), flying as 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
, a 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
, 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 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 that was taxiing on this taxiway. Baines lost his life in the accident. He was the only fatality. No other injuries were reported.
, which was the first Boeing 747 to operate carry fare-paying passengers in 1970 (N736PA), was involved in the 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
in the Canary Islands
, Spain
, via New York. The aircraft diverted to Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife
because of a bomb scare at Las Palmas. With visibility lessened by thick fog, a KLM 747 taking off in the mistaken belief they were cleared 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.
in Dumfries and Galloway
, Scotland, UK
, when approximately 450 gram (0.992080179831949 lb) 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 ever built delivered to Pan Am in February 1970. Until the September 11, 2001 attacks, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was the second-deadliest terrorist attack against the United States and remains the largest terrorist attack on British soil to this day. A total of 270 people lost their lives, including 11 in the town of Lockerbie.
Pan Am Fleet, March 1990
Pan Am Express Fleet, March 1990
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991. Founded in 1927 as a scheduled air mail and passenger service operating between Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
and Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, the airline became a major company credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry, including the widespread use of jet aircraft
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
, jumbo jet
Wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with two passenger aisles, also known as a widebody aircraft or twin-aisle aircraft. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers...
s, and computerized reservation systems. It was also a founder member of the International Air Transport Association
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
(IATA), the global airline industry association. Identified by its blue globe logo, the use of the word "Clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
" in aircraft names and call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
s, and the white pilot uniform caps, the airline was a cultural icon of the 20th century. In an era dominated by wholly-/majority-government-owned flag carrier
Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...
s, it was also the unofficial flag carrier of the United States. Pan Am's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
terminal
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
was the Worldport
Worldport (Pan Am)
Terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, formerly known by the trademarked name Worldport, is an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways in 1960, now expected to be completely demolished by 2015....
located at John F. Kennedy Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Formation
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
Majors Henry H. "Hap" Arnold
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps , Commanding General of the U.S...
, Carl A. Spaatz, and John H. Jouett as a counterbalance to the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-owned Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n carrier SCADTA
SCADTA
The Colombian-German Air Transport Society , or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline of the American continent, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCADTA merged with Colombian regional carrier Colombian Air Service , or SACO. Together, SCADTA and SACO...
, operating in Colombia since 1920. SCADTA lobbied hard for landing rights in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, 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 for Pan American when SCADTA chartered a company in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
to obtain air mail contracts from the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government. Pan American was able to obtain the 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
Juan Trippe
Juan Terry Trippe was an American airline entrepreneur and pioneer, and the founder of Pan American World Airways, one of the world's most prominent airlines of the twentieth century.-Early years:...
formed the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (ACA) with the backing of powerful and politically connected financiers who included Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....
and W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
, and raised $250,000 in startup capital from the sale of stock. 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
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
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
Fairchild FC-2
The Fairchild FC-1 and its derivatives were a family of light, single engine, high wing utility monoplanes produced in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s...
floatplane from a small Dominican Republic carrier, West Indian Aerial Express.
The Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways company was established on October 11, 1927, by New York City investment banker Richard Hoyt, who served as president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
. 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 and Whitney was made president. Trippe became operational head of Pan American Airways, the new company's principal operating subsidiary.
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
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
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
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
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on foreign routes.
Trippe and his associates planned to extend Pan Am's network through all of 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 airmail contracts to the region. In September 1929, Trippe toured Latin America with Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
to negotiate landing rights in a number of countries, including SCADTA's home turf of Colombia. By the end of the year, Pan Am offered flights along the west coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. The following year, Pan Am purchased the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line
New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line
New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line was an airline that operated seaplane service from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and intermediate points on the east coast of South America during the 1920s. It was forced to merge into its competitor, Pan American World Airways, in 1930.NYRBA...
, giving it a seaplane route along the east coast of South America to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and westbound to Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
. Its Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian subsidiary NYRBA do Brasil was later renamed as Panair do Brasil
Panair do Brasil
Panair do Brasil is a defunct airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America.-NYRBA do Brasil :...
. Pan Am also partnered with Grace Shipping Company
W. R. Grace and Company
W. R. Grace and Company is a Columbia, Maryland, United States based chemical conglomerate.The company has two main divisions, Davison Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. The Davison unit makes chemical catalysts, refining catalysts, and silica-based products that let other companies make...
in 1929 to form Pan American-Grace Airways
Pan American-Grace Airways
Pan American-Grace Airways, better known as Panagra, was an airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company.-History:...
, better known as Panagra, to gain a foothold to destinations in South America.
Pan Am's holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, the Aviation Corporation of the Americas, was one of the most sought after stocks 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
United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of the Boeing firms teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of aircraft engine and airframe...
(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
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
, and United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
). The Aviation Corporation of the Americas changed its name to Pan American Airways Corporation in 1931.
Flight crews
Celestial navigation
Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is a position fixing technique that has evolved over several thousand years to help sailors cross oceans without having to rely on estimated calculations, or dead reckoning, to know their position...
. In bad weather, pilots used dead reckoning
Dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
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 marine
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
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, and first officer. Before the 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.
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
Sikorsky S-38
-See also:...
and S-40
Sikorsky S-40
-References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56639-7.* Yenne, Bill. Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press, 2003. ISBN 1-932302-03-4.-External links:* * * * ...
flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
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 Clippers that came to symbolize Pan Am between 1931 and 1946.
In 1937 Pan Am turned to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, to Europe via Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
using the S-40s. Starting in June 1937, a joint service from the US mainland to Bermuda was inaugurated, with Pan Am using Sikorsky flying boats and Imperial Airways using the C class flying boat
Short Empire
The Short Empire was a passenger and mail carrying flying boat, of the 1930s and 1940s, that flew between Britain and British colonies in Africa, Asia and Australia...
RMA Cavalier.
On July 5, 1937 the first commercial survey flights across the North Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
were conducted. The Pan Am Clipper III, a Sikorsky S-42, landed at Botwood
Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest: Point LeamingtonNorth: Northern ArmNortheast: Bay of Exploits, Burnt Arm, LaurencetonWest: Division No. 6, Subd. CBotwoodEast: Bay of Exploits, Division No. 6, Subd. A...
in the Bay of Exploits
Bay of Exploits
The Bay of Exploits is a large bay in the northeast of Newfoundland. It extends from the mouth of the Exploits River and opens on to Notre Dame Bay to the north. It is approximately 1,000 square kilometers The Bay of Exploits is a large bay in the northeast of Newfoundland. It extends from the...
in Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
from Port Washington, New York
Port Washington, New York
Port Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the community population was 15,846....
, via Shediac, New Brunswick
Shediac, New Brunswick
Shediac is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Situated on Shediac Bay, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait, the town calls itself the "Lobster Capital of the World" and hosts an annual festival every July which promotes its ties to lobster fishing; the largest lobster...
. The next day Pan Am Clipper III left Botwood for Foynes
Foynes
Foynes is a village and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 606 as of the 2006 census.-Foynes's role in aviation:...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The same day, a Short Empire
Short Empire
The Short Empire was a passenger and mail carrying flying boat, of the 1930s and 1940s, that flew between Britain and British colonies in Africa, Asia and Australia...
C-Class flying boat, the Caledonia, left Foynes for Botwood, and landed July 6, 1937, reaching Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on July 8 and New York on July 9. These test flights marked the first steps toward the beginning of commercial transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
s.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
following existing steamship routes. After negotiating traffic rights in 1934 to land at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Midway Island
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
, Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, and Subic Bay (Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
), 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. 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 – Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
mail route later that year and operated its first commercial flight carrying mail and express in a Martin M-130
Martin M-130
|-See also:-External links:* at the University of Miami Library*...
from Alameda
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
to Manila amid massive media fanfare on November 22, 1935. The five-leg, 8,000-mile (12,875 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. (Both the United States and Philippine Islands issued special stamps for the two flights.) The first passenger flight over this route left Alameda on October 21, 1936. The fare from San Francisco to both Manila and Hong Kong in 1937 was $950 one way (approximately $14,700 in 2010) and $1,710 round trip (approximately $26,400).
Collier Trophy
The Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautics Association , presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space...
, on behalf of PAA from President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
for the company's "establishment of the transpacific airline and the successful execution of extended overwater navigation and the regular operations thereof." Later, Pan Am used Boeing 314
Boeing 314
The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short S.26. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary...
flying boats for the Pacific route: in China, passengers could connect to domestic flights on the Pan Am-operated China National Aviation Corporation
China National Aviation Corporation
The China National Aviation Corporation , was a major airline in the Republic of China and is currently a state owned aviation holding company in the People's Republic of China, which owns a majority of Air China and Air Macau.-History:In 1929, it was established as China Airways by...
(CNAC) network, co-owned with the Chinese government
Government of the Republic of China
The Republic of China was formally established by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1912 in Nanjing under the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China but this government was moved to Beijing in the same year and continued as the internationally recognized government of China until 1928. In the history...
. Pan Am flew to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
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.
Foynes
Foynes is a village and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 606 as of the 2006 census.-Foynes's role in aviation:...
to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. After the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the terminal became Foynes until the service ceased for the winter on October 5; transatlantic service to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
via the Azores continued into 1941. Throughout the war, Pan Am flew over 90 million miles worldwide in support of military operations.
In 1940 Pan Am and TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
began using the Boeing 307
Boeing 307
The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner was the first commercial transport aircraft with a pressurized cabin. This feature allowed the plane to cruise at an altitude of 20,000 ft , well above weather disturbances. The pressure differential was 2.5 psi , so at 14,700 ft the cabin altitude...
Stratoliner for passenger services. It was the first pressurize
Cabin pressurization
Cabin pressurization is the pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at altitude.-Need for cabin pressurization:...
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 ships — were the only American passenger aircraft of the time capable of intercontinental travel. To compete with ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
s, the airline offered first-class
First class travel
First class is the most luxurious class of accommodation on a train, passenger ship, airplane, or other conveyance. It is usually much more expensive than business class and economy class, and offers the best amenities.-Aviation:...
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 Seas routings.
In 1942, while waiting at Foynes, County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, Ireland for a Pan Am Clipper flight to New York, passengers were served a drink today known as Irish coffee
Irish coffee
Irish coffee is a cocktail consisting of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar, stirred, and topped with thick cream. The coffee is drunk through the cream. The original recipe explicitly uses cream that has not been whipped, although whipped cream is often used. Irish coffee may be considered a...
by Chef Joe Sheridan.
During World War II most of the Clippers were pressed into the military. During this era Pan Am pioneered a new air route across Western and Central Africa to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, 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 US president to fly abroad, in the Dixie Clipper. It was also during this period that Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
creator Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
was a Clipper pilot. He was aboard the Clipper Eclipse when it crashed in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
on June 19, 1947.
Postwar developments
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 Export Airlines
American Overseas Airlines
American Overseas Airlines was an airline that operated between the United States and Europe between 1945 and 1950. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-Early history:...
(American Overseas Airlines
American Overseas Airlines
American Overseas Airlines was an airline that operated between the United States and Europe between 1945 and 1950. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-Early history:...
(AOA) from November 1945) across the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to Europe, and subsequently from others including TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
to Europe, Braniff
Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...
to South America, United
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
to Hawaii and Northwest Orient
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...
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.
AOA was the first airline to begin regular landplane flights across the Atlantic, on October 24, 1945. In January 1946 Pan Am scheduled seven DC-4
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
s a week east from LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
, five to London (i.e. Hurn
Bournemouth Airport
Bournemouth Airport is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England...
) and two to Lisbon. Time to Hurn was 17 hours 40 minutes including stops, and 20 hours 45 minutes to Lisbon. A Boeing 314
Boeing 314
The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short S.26. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary...
flying boat flew LaGuardia
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
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
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
s — resulted in Pan Am ordering its own Constellation
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
fleet at $750,000 apiece. Pan Am began transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1946, beating TWA by three weeks.
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
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
, Wake
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
, Guam, Manila, Bangkok and arriving in 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
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Istanbul, London, Shannon
Shannon, County Clare
Shannon or Shannon Town , named after the river near which it stands, is a town located in County Clare. It was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off the N19 road, a spur of the N18/M18 road between Limerick city and Ennis....
, Gander
Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador
Gander is a Canadian town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor...
, 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
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
; Tokyo and London were always on Flight 1's route thereafter. All Pan Am round-the-world flights included at least one change of plane until Boeing 707s 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
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
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 1946 Miami to Buenos Aires took 71 hours 15 minutes in a Pan Am DC-3, but the following summer DC-4s flew Idlewild to Buenos Aires in 38 hr 30 min. In January 1958 Pan Am's DC-7
Douglas DC-7
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and...
B flew New York to Buenos Aires in 25 hours 20 minutes, while the National
National Airlines (NA)
National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
- Pan Am - Panagra DC-7B via Panama
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
and Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
took 22 hours 45 minutes. Convair 240s 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 few Curtiss C-46s 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 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 DC-7
Douglas DC-7
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and...
C totalled 24 hours 13 minutes from San Francisco, but Pan Am was not allowed to fly that route.) The Stratocruisers' double-deck fuselage with sleeping berths and a lower-deck lounge helped it compete with its rival. Modified Stratocruisers with additional fuel tanks went into service on Pan Am's transatlantic routes in November 1954; the aim was to reliably fly nonstop New York to London and return with one stop instead of two.
In 1943-44 the airline had begun calling itself Pan American World Airways and in January 1950 Pan American Airways Corporation officially became Pan American World Airways, Inc. In September of that year Pan Am completed the $17.45 million purchase of American Overseas Airlines from American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
. That month Pan Am also ordered 45 Douglas DC-6
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
Bs. The first of these, Clipper Liberty Bell (N6518C), inaugurated Pan Am's all-tourist
Economy class
__FORCETOC__Economy class, also called coach class , steerage, or standard class, is the lowest class of seating in air travel, rail travel, and sometimes ferry or maritime travel....
class Rainbow service between New York and London on May 1, 1952 to complement the all-first
First class (aviation)
First class is a luxury travel class on some airliners that exceeds business class, premium economy, and economy class. On a passenger jetliner, first class refers to a limited number of seats or cabins located in the front of the aircraft which are notable for their comfort, service, and privacy...
President Stratocruiser service. From June 27, 1960 DC-6
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
Bs also began replacing DC-4s on Pan Am's internal German routes.
Pan Am introduced the Douglas DC-7
Douglas DC-7
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and...
C "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 Super Constellation
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an aircraft in the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The aircraft was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner and first flew in 1950...
s and Starliner
Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
The Lockheed L-1649 Starliner was the last model of the Lockheed Constellation line. Powered by four Wright R-3350 TurboCompound engines, it was built at Lockheed's Burbank, California plant from 1956 to 1958.-Design and Development:...
s. In 1957 Pan Am started DC-7C flights direct from the US West Coast to London and Paris with a fuel stop in Canada or Greenland. The introduction of the faster Bristol Britannia
Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the British Empire...
turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
by rival British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
(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.
With growing competition on many of its routes, Pan Am began investing in innovations such as jet aircraft and widebody types
Wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with two passenger aisles, also known as a widebody aircraft or twin-aisle aircraft. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers...
.
Pan Am was the launch customer of the Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
, placing an order for 20 in October 1955. It also ordered 25 of Douglas
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
's DC-8
Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...
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 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
). The combined order value was $269 million. To maintain its competitive lead as the first US aircraft manufacturer to offer a jetliner
Jetliner
Jetliner are an alternative rock band from the USA. They focus on melodic piano based rock and have been compared to Queen and early Elton John, being heavily influenced by early 70s rock. Composed of Adam Paskowitz of The Flys, son of Doc Paskowitz, on piano and lead vocals, Jeff Kluesner on...
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 New York Idlewild
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
to Paris Le Bourgetstopping in Gander on October 26, 1958, with Boeing 707-121 Clipper America (N711PA) carrying 111 passengers.
Introduction of the 320 "Intercontinental" series 707 in 1959 enabled non-stop transatlantic jet crossings with a viable payload in both directions. These later-model 707s' increased capacity reduced seat-mile costs, helping Pan Am reinforce its transatlantic market dominance.
Pan Am was also the launch customer of the Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
, placing a $525 million order for 25 in April 1966. On January 15, 1970, First Lady Pat Nixon
Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...
officially christened a Pan Am Boeing 747 the Juan T. Trippe at Washington Dulles
Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
in the presence of Pan Am president Najeeb Halaby
Najeeb Halaby
Najeeb Elias Halaby Jr. was a US businessman, government official, and the father of Queen Noor of Jordan.-Early life and ancestry:Halaby was born in Dallas, Texas. His father was Najeeb Elias Halaby Sr. a Syrian Christian, who emigrated to the United States from Syria in 1891...
. During the next few days, Pan Am flew several of their new 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
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 New York John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
to London Heathrow
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
. 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 Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
.
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
, but like other airlines that took out options — with the exception of BOAC and Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
— it did not purchase the supersonic jet
Supersonic aircraft
A supersonic aircraft is designed to exceed the speed of sound in at least some of its normal flight configurations.-Overview:The great majority of supersonic aircraft today are military or experimental aircraft...
. Pan Am was the first US airline to sign for the Boeing 2707
Boeing 2707
The Boeing 2707 was developed as the first American supersonic transport . After winning a competition for a government-funded contract to build an American SST, Boeing began development at its facilities in Seattle, Washington...
, the American supersonic transport
Supersonic transport
A supersonic transport is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. The only SSTs to see regular service to date have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 with its last ever...
(SST) project, with 15 delivery positions reserved; these aircraft never saw service after Congress voted against additional funding in 1971.
Pan Am commissioned IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
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. The airline also built Worldport
Worldport (Pan Am)
Terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, formerly known by the trademarked name Worldport, is an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways in 1960, now expected to be completely demolished by 2015....
, a terminal building at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000 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 jetbridge
Jetway
A jet bridge is an enclosed, movable connector which extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, allowing passengers to board and disembark without having to go outside...
made this feature obsolete. Pan Am built a gilded training building in the style of Edward Durell Stone
Edward Durell Stone
Edward Durell Stone was a twentieth century American architect who worked primarily in the Modernist style.-Early life:...
designed by Steward-Skinner Architects in Miami.
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 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 miles (131,000 km). The number of scheduled destinations served peaked at 160. During that period, the airline was profitable and its cash reserves totaled $1 billion. Most of its routes were between New York, Europe, and South America, and between Miami and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. In 1964, Pan Am began providing a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
shuttle service between New York's three main airportsJohn F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
, LaGuardia and Newark
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , first named Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States...
and Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
in association with New York Airways
New York Airways
New York Airways was a helicopter airline in the New York City area. Founded in 1949 as a mail and cargo carrier, on July 9, 1953 it became the first scheduled helicopter airline to carry passengers in the United States...
. Aside from the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and 747, the Pan Am jet fleet also included Boeing 720Bs, 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
s (the first aircraft to sport Pan Am — rather than Pan American — titles), 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
s, and Boeing 747SP
Boeing 747SP
The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but...
s, which allowed Pan Am to fly nonstop New York to Tokyo. The airline also operated Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s, and Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
s and A310
Airbus A310
The Airbus A310 is a medium- to long-range twin-engine widebody jet airliner. Launched in July 1978, it was the second aircraft created by Airbus Industrie,a consortium of European aerospace companies, Airbus is now fully owned by EADS and since 2001 has been known as Airbus SAS. the consortium of...
s. Pan Am also owned the InterContinental Hotel
InterContinental
InterContinental is a brand of upscale luxury hotels, founded by Pan American World Airways, under Juan Trippe, and now owned by InterContinental Hotels Group. The chain operates over 200 hotels and resorts in approximately 75 nations.-History:...
chain and had a financial interest the Falcon Jet Corporation, which held exclusive marketing rights to the Dassault Falcon 20
Dassault Falcon 20
The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet and was the first of a family of business jets built by Dassault Aviation.-Design and development:...
business jet
Business jet
Business jet, private jet or, colloquially, bizjet is a term describing a jet aircraft, usually of smaller size, designed for transporting groups of up to 19 business people or wealthy individuals...
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
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. In addition, Pan Am participated in several notable humanitarian flights.
From 1950 until 1990, Pan Am operated a comprehensive network of high-frequency, short-haul scheduled services between West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, first with Douglas DC-4
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
s, then with DC-6Bs (from 1960) and Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
s (from 1966). (This had come about as a result of an agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
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
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tensions between the Soviet Union and the three Western powers resulted in unilateral Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
withdrawal from the quadripartite
Four Power Agreement on Berlin
The Four Power Agreement on Berlin also known as the Berlin Agreement or the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin was agreed on 3 September 1971 by the four wartime allied powers, represented by their Ambassadors...
Allied Control Commission in 1948, culminating in the 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 German territory through three 25-mile wide air corridors
West Berlin Air Corridor
During the Cold War era , the West Berlin Air Corridors comprised three regulated airways for civil and military air traffic of the Western Allies between West Berlin and West Germany passing over the former East Germany's territory. The corridors were under control of the all-Allied Berlin Air...
at a maximum altitude of 10,000 feetthe cruising altitude of propliner
Propliner
A propliner is a large, propeller-driven airliner. Typically, the term is used for piston-powered airliners that flew before the beginning of the jet age, not for modern turbine-powered propeller airliners...
s employed on the 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.
Pan Am operated Rest and Recreation
R&R (military)
R&R, military slang for rest and recuperation , is a term used for the free time of a soldier in the US military or International UN staff serving in non-family duty stations. R&R includes various forms, including mail, sports, film screenings, using the services of prostitutes and leave time...
(R&R) flights during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. These flights carried American service personnel for R&R leaves in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other Asian cities.
It is said that 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 de Paris
Maxim's Paris
Maxim's is the name of a restaurant in Paris, France, located at No. 3 of the rue Royale. It is known for its art nouveau interior decor.-History:...
, were delivered "with a personal flair that has rarely been equaled."
Pan Am's London reservations number was REGent PAWA (7292). Not many people were aware of this, as London numbers were rarely quoted as letters other than the exchange name itself—unlike in New York.
Revenue passenger traffic (in millions of passenger-miles), scheduled flights only: 1,551 in 1951, 2,676 in 1955, 4,833 in 1960, 8,869 in 1965, 16,389 in 1970 and 14,863 in 1975.
Downturn
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 crisis1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
made the airline industry's overcapacity problem worse, leaving Pan Am with its high overhead
Overhead (business)
In business, overhead or overhead expense refers to an ongoing expense of operating a business...
s and fixed cost
Fixed cost
In economics, fixed costs are business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced by the business. They tend to be time-related, such as salaries or rents being paid per month, and are often referred to as overhead costs...
s as a result of a large decentralized infrastructure in a vulnerable position. In addition, high jet fuel
Jet fuel
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
prices and the large number of older, less fuel-efficient narrowbodied
Narrow-body aircraft
A narrow-body aircraft is an airliner with a fuselage aircraft cabin width typically of 3 to 4 metres , and airline seat arranged 2 to 6 abreast along a single aisle...
airplanes in its fleet significantly increased the airline's operating cost
Operating cost
Operating costs can be described as the expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility.-Business operating costs:...
s. Federal route awards to other airlines, such as the Transpacific Route Case
Transpacific Route Case
The Transpacific Route Case was a major administrative law case argued before the Civil Aeronautics Board for much of the 1960s. Before the case, the only U.S. airlines permitted to fly transpacific routes were Pan Am and Northwest Orient...
, further reduced the number of passengers Pan Am carried, as well as its profit margin
Profit margin
Profit margin, net margin, net profit margin or net profit ratio all refer to a measure of profitability. It is calculated by finding the net profit as a percentage of the revenue.Net profit Margin = x100...
s.
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
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, Australia, while the Australian carrier, Qantas
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
, paid only $178 to land a jet in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The ad also contended that the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
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
Export-Import Bank of the United States
The Export-Import Bank of the United States is the official export credit agency of the United States federal government. It was established in 1934 by an executive order, and made an independent agency in the Executive branch by Congress in 1945, for the purposes of financing and insuring...
loaned money to Japan, France, and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
at 6% interest while Pan Am paid 12%.
By the mid-1970s, Pan Am had racked up $364 million of accumulated lossesover a 10-year period and its debts approached $1 billion. This threatened the airline with bankruptcy. Former American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of operations, William T. Seawell, who had replaced Najeeb Halaby as Pan Am president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
in 1972, began implementing a turnaround strategy
Turnaround management
Turnaround management is a process dedicated to corporate renewal. It uses analysis and planning to save troubled companies and returns them to solvency. Turnaround Management involves management review, activity based costing, root failure causes analysis, and SWOT analysis to determine why the...
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 tax-loss credits
Deferred tax
Deferred tax is an accounting concept , meaning a future tax liability or asset, resulting from temporary differences or timing differences between the accounting value of assets and liabilities and their value for tax purposes.- Temporary differences :Temporary differences are differences between...
enabled Pan Am to avert financial collapse and return to the black in 1977.
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
Eastern Air Lines
Eastern Air Lines was a major United States airline that existed from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...
, and Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
. As rival airlines convinced Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
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 deregulation
Airline Deregulation Act
The Airline Deregulation Act is a United States federal law signed into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry from commercial aviation...
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.
In order to acquire domestic routes, Pan Am, under president Seawell, set its eyes on National Airlines
National Airlines (NA)
National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
. Pan Am wound up in a bidding war with Frank Lorenzo
Frank Lorenzo
Francisco Anthony "Frank" Lorenzo is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is most famous for his leadership of Texas International Airlines and its successor holding company Texas Air Corporation between 1972 and 1990, through which he formed or acquired a number of major U.S...
, 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 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 corporate culture
Organizational culture
Organizational culture is defined as “A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to...
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. 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%. 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
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, or MetLife, for short, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with 90 million customers in over 60 countries...
for $400 million. In September 1981, Pan Am sold off its InterContinental
InterContinental Hotels Group
InterContinental Hotels Group plc is a global hotels company headquartered in Denham, United Kingdom. It is the largest hotels company in the world measured by rooms , and has over 4,500 hotels across over 100 countries...
hotels chain. Before this transaction closed, Seawell was replaced by C. Edward Acker, Air Florida
Air Florida
Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now the Kendall CDP in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...
's founder and ex-president as well as a former Braniff International
Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...
executive
Senior management
Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation, they hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by...
. The combined sale value of the InterContinental chain and the Falcon Jet Corp stake was $500 million.
Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel .- History :...
, who took four of Pan Am's 747-100 freighters in return.
Despite Pan Am's precarious financial situation, during the summer of 1984, Acker went ahead with an order for new Airbus A300/A310/A320
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
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
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(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.
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 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
Pratt & Whitney JT9D
-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:*...
-powered 747SP
Boeing 747SP
The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but...
s, its Rolls-Royce RB211
Rolls-Royce RB211
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce plc and capable of generating 37,400 to 60,600 pounds-force thrust. Originally developed for the Lockheed L-1011 , it entered service in 1972 and was the only engine to power this aircraft type...
-powered L-1011
Lockheed L-1011
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as the L-1011 or TriStar, is a medium-to-long range, widebody passenger trijet airliner. It was the third widebody airliner to enter commercial operations, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed...
s and the General Electric CF6
General Electric CF6
The General Electric CF6 is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines produced by GE Aviation. A development of the first high-power high-bypass jet engine available, the TF39, the CF6 powers a wide variety of civilian airliners. The basic engine core formed the basis for the LM2500, LM5000, and...
-powered DC-10s inherited from National, which were transferred to United along with the Pacific routes.
The subsequent acquisition in June 1986 of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
-based commuter
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
airline Ransome Airlines
Ransome Airlines
Ransome Airlines was a commuter airline which was headquartered at Northeast Philadelphia Airport in Northeast Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Dawson Ransome, it began operations as an independent carrier in 1967. Ransome was particularly noted for operating the Dash 7 as it...
for $65 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
Pan Am Express
Pan Am Express was a regional airline of the United States. Initially a banner carrier brand operated by Ransome Airlines, it later entered a codeshare-like affiliated arrangement with Pan American World Airways....
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.
In an attempt to gain a presence on the busy Washington–New York–Boston commuter air corridor, the Ransome
Ransome Airlines
Ransome Airlines was a commuter airline which was headquartered at Northeast Philadelphia Airport in Northeast Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Dawson Ransome, it began operations as an independent carrier in 1967. Ransome was particularly noted for operating the Dash 7 as it...
acquisition was accompanied by the $100 million purchase of New York Air
New York Air
New York Air was a 1980s startup airline owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York City.-History:...
's shuttle service between Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, New York, and Washington, D.C. This parallel move was intended to enable Pan Am to provide a high-frequency service for high-yield
Yield management
Revenue management is the process of understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize yield or profits from a fixed, perishable resource...
business travelers in direct competition with the long-etablished, successful Eastern Air Lines shuttle operation. The renamed Pan Am Shuttle began operating out of LaGuardia Airport's refurbished historic Marine Air Terminal
Marine Air Terminal
-External links:*...
in October 1986. However, it did not address the pressing issue of Pan Am's continuing lack of a strong domestic feeder network.
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 third quarter of 1988), on December 21, 1988, the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
above Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, resulted in 270 fatalities. 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 million lawsuit filed by more than 100 families of the Pan Am flight 103 victims, the airline subpoenaed records of six US government agencies, including the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, the Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
, and the State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. 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.
In June 1989 Plaskett presented Northwest Airlines with a $2.7 billion takeover bid that was backed by Bankers Trust
Bankers Trust
Bankers Trust was an historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1998.-History:A consortium of banks created Bankers Trust to perform trust company services for their clients....
, Morgan Guaranty Trust, Citicorp
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
and 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 New York JFK
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
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 million. In the event, billionaire financier Al Checchi
Al Checchi
Alfred Attilio Checchi is an American politician who was a candidate for Governor of California in the 1998 gubernatorial election, losing to fellow Democrat Gray Davis in the June 1998 primary. Checchi finished in second place in the Democratic primary, capturing 12.49% of the vote. He ran as a...
outbid Pan Am by presenting Northwest's directors with a superior proposal.
The first Gulf War triggered by the Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i invasion of Kuwait
Invasion of Kuwait
The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf...
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 Lockerbie disaster
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
. 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 Gatwick
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
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
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
for $150 million, which became effective at the same time and brought the total value of asset disposals to $1.2 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
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
on January 8, 1991. Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
purchased the remaining profitable assets of Pan Am, including its remaining European routesincluding the Frankfurt
Frankfurt International Airport
Frankfurt am Main Airport , or simply Frankfurt Airport, known in German as Flughafen Frankfurt am Main or Rhein-Main-Flughafen, is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, Germany, southwest of the city centre....
mini hub, the Shuttle operation, 45 jets and the Pan Am Worldport
Worldport (Pan Am)
Terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, formerly known by the trademarked name Worldport, is an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways in 1960, now expected to be completely demolished by 2015....
at John F. Kennedy Airport, for $416 million and injected $100 million as a 45% owner of a reorganized but smaller Pan Am serving the Caribbean, Central and South America from a main hub
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...
in Miami. The airline's creditors would hold the other 55%.
The Boston-New York LaGuardia-Washington National Pan Am Shuttle service was taken over by Delta
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
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
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
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
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to new offices in the Miami area in preparation for the airline's relaunch from both Miami and New York on November 1, 1991. The new airline would have operated approximately 60 aircraft and generate about $1.2 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 million a day. This undermined Delta's, Wall Street
Financial District, Manhattan
The Financial District of New York City is a neighborhood on the southernmost section of the borough of Manhattan which comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York...
'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 million, with the airline requiring a $25 million installment just to fly through the following week. On the evening of December 3 Pan Am's Creditors Committee advised US Bankruptcy Judge
United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. They function as units of the district courts and have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases arising...
Cornelius Blackshear that it was close to convincing an airline (TWA) to invest $15 million to keep Pan Am operating. A deal with TWA owner Carl Icahn
Carl Icahn
Carl Celian Icahn is an American business magnate and investor.-Biography:Icahn was raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor, his mother was a schoolteacher...
could not be struck. Pan Am opened for business at 9:00 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 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 million payment Pan Am was scheduled to receive the weekend after Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
. 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
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
. 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 pm (EST
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
) for Miami under the command of Captain Mark Pyle flying Clipper Goodwill, a Boeing 727–200 (N368PA).
Pan Am was the third major airline to shut down in 1991, after Eastern Air Lines and Midway Airlines.
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
and American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
. TWA's Carl Icahn purchased Pan Am Express at a court ordered bankruptcy auction for $13 million and promptly renamed it Trans World Express. The Pan Am brand was sold to Charles Cobb, CEO of Cobb Partners and former United States Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland under President George H.W. Bush and Under Secretary of the US Department of Commerce under President Reagan. Cobb, along with Hanna-Frost partners invested in a new Pan American World Airways
Pan American Airways (1996-1998)
Pan American Airways was founded in 1996 after an investment group including Charles Cobb, the former Ambassador to Iceland, purchased the rights to the venerable Pan American brand after the original carrier declared bankruptcy...
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
Barnaby Conrad III
Barnaby Conrad III is an American author, artist, and editor.- Biography :Conrad was born in San Francisco in 1952, the son of author Barnaby Conrad, Jr and architect Dale Crichton...
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 the airline bankruptcy, the airline's International Flight Academy in Miami, Florida 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
Pan Am International Flight Academy
Pan Am International Flight Academy is the only remaining division of the once iconic Pan American World Airways, which declared bankruptcy in January 1991 and shut down in December 1991. Pan Am International Flight Academy, Denver, was awarded the Export Achievement Certificate by the Denver...
. The company began operating by using the flight simulation and type rating
Type rating
A type rating is an allowance to fly a certain aircraft type that requires additional training beyond the scope of initial license and aircraft class training. What aircraft require a type rating is decided by the local aviation authority...
training center of the defunct Pan Am. In 2006, American Capital Strategies
American Capital Strategies
American Capital is an alternative asset management company based in Bethesda, Maryland. Founded in 1986 and publicly traded since 1997, American Capital is the largest U.S. publicly traded private equity fund and one of the largest publicly traded alternative asset managers...
invested $58 million into the academy. Pan Am International Flight Academy is the only surviving division of Pan American World Airways.
Reuse of name
The Pan Am brand was resurrected four times after 1991, but the reincarnations were related to the original Pan Am in name only.In November 2010 Pan American Airways, Inc., was resurrected for a fifth time. The company's inaugural flight was to Monterrey, Mexico, on November 12, 2010. The airline has said it will carry cargo only at this stage but intends to announce passenger service by 2011.
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.The first operated from 1996 to 1998, with a focus on low-cost, long-distance flights between the US and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
with the IATA airline designator PN.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
, New Hampshire, that operated between 1998 and 2004. It found its niche in operating usually at smaller airports near major airports, such as Pease International (Portsmouth), and Gary Municipal Airport, in Indiana. It used the IATA
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
code PA, and the ICAO
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
code PAA.
Boston-Maine Airways
Boston-Maine Airways
Boston-Maine Airways was an American airline headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. It operated scheduled commuter services under the Pan Am Clipper Connection banner. Its main base was Pease International Airport, Portsmouth...
, 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
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, descended from the company's first reincarnation, continues to trade as Pan Am Dominicana.
Pan American Airways and World-Wide Consolidated Logistics, Inc. will open cargo service to Latin America in 2011.
Railways
Pan Am Railways
Pan Am Railways, Inc. , known as Guilford Rail System before March 2006, is a holding company that owns and operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine to Rotterdam Junction, New York...
.
Record-setting flights
When Pearl Harbor was bombedAttack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
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
The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but...
-21 named Clipper Liberty Bell, broke the commercial round-the-world record set by a Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel .- History :...
Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
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
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
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
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
and the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
with stops in London Heathrow, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. 747SP-21 Clipper New Horizons was the former Liberty Bell, making the plane the only one to go around the globe over the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
and the poles. The flight made it in 54 hours, 7 minutes, and 12 seconds, creating six new world records certified by the FAI
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
. The captain who commanded the flight also commanded the Liberty Bell Express flight.
Popular culture
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era. One of the most famous images in which a Pan Am plane formed a backdrop was The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' 1964 arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport aboard a Pan Am Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
-321, Clipper Defiance.
From 1964 to 1968, con artist Frank Abagnale
Frank Abagnale
Frank William Abagnale, Jr. is an American security consultant known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger, impostor, and escape artist...
, Jr. masqueraded as a Pan Am pilot, dead-heading to many destinations in the cockpit jump seat
Jump seat
A jump seat , in aviation refers to an auxiliary seat for individuals — other than normal passengers — who are not operating the aircraft. In general, the term 'jump seat' can also refer to a seat — in any type of vehicle — which can fold up out of the way; vehicles include carriages, automobiles,...
. 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, which became a distantly related movie
Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American biographical comedy-drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor...
in 2002. Abagnale called Pan Am the "Ritz-Carlton
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 75 properties located in major cities and resorts in 24 countries worldwide...
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
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, issuing free "First Moon Flights Club" membership cards to those who requested them. A fictional Pan Am "Space Clipper," a commercial spaceplane
Spaceplane
A spaceplane is a vehicle that operates as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere, as well as a spacecraft when it is in space. It combines features of an aircraft and a spacecraft, which can be thought of as an aircraft that can endure and maneuver in the vacuum of space or likewise a spacecraft that...
called the Orion III, had a prominent role in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
and was featured in the movie's poster. Plastic models of the 2001 Pan Am Space Clipper were sold by both the Aurora Company
Aurora Plastics Corporation
The Aurora Plastics Corporation is a U.S. toy and hobby manufacturing and marketing company. It is known primarily for its production of plastic model kits in the 1960s.-History:Aurora Plastics Corporation was founded in March, 1950 by engineer Joseph E...
and Airfix
Airfix
Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. In Britain, the name Airfix is synonymous with the hobby, a plastic model of this type is often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer....
at the time of the film's release in 1968. A satire of the movie by Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
magazine in 1968 showed Pan Am female flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
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, also featured Pan Am in a background television commercial in the home of David Bowman's widow with the slogan, "At Pan Am, the sky is no longer the limit."
The airline appeared in other movies, notably in several James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
films. The company's Boeing 707s were featured in Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
and From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
, while a Pan Am 747 and the Worldport
Worldport (Pan Am)
Terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, formerly known by the trademarked name Worldport, is an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways in 1960, now expected to be completely demolished by 2015....
appeared in Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (film)
Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
.
A term used in popular psychology
Popular psychology
The term popular psychology refers to concepts and theories about human mental life and behavior that are purportedly based on psychology and that attain popularity among the general population...
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 genuine smile.
In 2011, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
announced a new television series based on the lives of a 1960s Pan Am flight crew. The series, titled Pan Am
Pan Am (TV series)
Pan Am is an American period drama television series created by writer Jack Orman. Named for the iconic Pan American World Airways, the series focuses on the pilots and stewardesses of the airline as it operated in the early 1960s at the beginning of the commercial jet age.Sony licensed the rights...
, began airing in September 2011.
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: MexicanaMexicana de AviaciónFounded in 1921, Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. was Mexico's oldest airline, before ceasing operations on August 28, 2010. The group's closure was announced by the company's recently installed management team a short time after the group filed for Concurso Mercantil and US Chapter 15...
of Mexico acquired by Pan Am. - 1929: Pan American-Grace AirwaysPan American-Grace AirwaysPan American-Grace Airways, better known as Panagra, was an airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company.-History:...
(PANAGRA), operating on the west coast of South America, formed as a 50–50 joint venture with W. R. Grace and CompanyW. R. Grace and CompanyW. R. Grace and Company is a Columbia, Maryland, United States based chemical conglomerate.The company has two main divisions, Davison Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. The Davison unit makes chemical catalysts, refining catalysts, and silica-based products that let other companies make...
. - 1930: New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires LineNew York, Rio, and Buenos Aires LineNew York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line was an airline that operated seaplane service from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and intermediate points on the east coast of South America during the 1920s. It was forced to merge into its competitor, Pan American World Airways, in 1930.NYRBA...
(NYRBA) acquired, allowing Pan Am to operate along the east coast of South America. NYRBA's Brazilian subsidiary is renamed Panair do BrasilPanair do BrasilPanair do Brasil is a defunct airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America.-NYRBA do Brasil :...
. - 1931: Majority control of SCADTASCADTAThe Colombian-German Air Transport Society , or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline of the American continent, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCADTA merged with Colombian regional carrier Colombian Air Service , or SACO. Together, SCADTA and SACO...
of Columbia acquired in secret. - 1932: CubanaCubana de AviaciónCubana de Aviación S.A., commonly known as Cubana, is Cuba's largest airline and flag carrier. The airline was founded on 8 October 1929, and has its corporate headquarters in Havana. Its main base is at José Martí International Airport...
of Cuba acquired. - 1933: China National Aviation CorporationChina National Aviation CorporationThe China National Aviation Corporation , was a major airline in the Republic of China and is currently a state owned aviation holding company in the People's Republic of China, which owns a majority of Air China and Air Macau.-History:In 1929, it was established as China Airways by...
(CNAC) acquired. - 1937: CNAC merged with China Airways.
- 1940: Minority holders of SCADTA bought-out.
- 1940: AerovíasAeroviasAerovías is a defunct private passenger and cargo airline formerly based in Guatemala La Aurora International Airport. It was the first private airline in Guatemala. It ceased operations in the mid nineties...
of Guatemala formed. - 1941: SCADTA merged into SACO to form AviancaAviancaAvianca S.A. is the flag carrier airline of Colombia since December 5, 1919 when it was initially registered under the name SCADTA. It is headquartered in Bogotá, D.C. with its hub at the El Dorado International Airport...
, owned by the Colombian government. - 1943: Aerovías Venezolanas Sociedad AnónimaAvensaAvensa was a Venezuelan airline headquartered in Caracas. It is in the process of financial restructuring, after it went into bankruptcy due to poor management in 2002...
(AVENSA) of Venezuela founded as a joint venture. - 1944: Cuban investors acquire 56% of Cubana through a stock float.
- 1946: InterContinentalInterContinentalInterContinental is a brand of upscale luxury hotels, founded by Pan American World Airways, under Juan Trippe, and now owned by InterContinental Hotels Group. The chain operates over 200 hotels and resorts in approximately 75 nations.-History:...
, a chain of hotels, founded. - 1949: Pan Am acquires a stake in Middle East AirlinesMiddle East AirlinesMiddle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...
(MEA), as well as a management contract. - 1949: Pan Am's 20% stake in CNAC acquired by Chinese Nationalists, with assets split variously between the Nationalists and the People's Republic of China.
- 1950: American Overseas AirlinesAmerican Overseas AirlinesAmerican Overseas Airlines was an airline that operated between the United States and Europe between 1945 and 1950. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-Early history:...
(AOA) acquired from American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesAmerican Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
. - 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 CorporationBritish Overseas Airways CorporationThe British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
(BOAC). - 1959: Mexican government acquires Pan Am's stake in Mexicana and AeroméxicoAeroméxicoAirways of Mexico, SA de CV , operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier airline of Mexico based in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. It operates scheduled domestic and international services to North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia...
. - 1961: Brazilian government acquires Panair do BrasilPanair do BrasilPanair do Brasil is a defunct airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America.-NYRBA do Brasil :...
.
- 1967: PANAGRA sold to Braniff International AirwaysBraniff International AirwaysBraniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...
. - 1976: AVENSA stake divested to Venezuelan government.
- 1980: National AirlinesNational Airlines (NA)National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
acquired. - 1980: Pan Am BuildingMetLife BuildingThe MetLife Building, originally called the Pan Am Building, is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
sold to MetLife. - 1981: InterContinental sold to Grand MetropolitanGrand MetropolitanGrand Metropolitan plc is a former United Kingdom-based company operating hotels, holiday centres, entertainment centres, public houses and casinos...
. - 1986: Pacific Division sold to United AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
. - 1989: Pan Am unsuccessfully attempts to buy Northwest AirlinesNorthwest AirlinesNorthwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...
. - 1990: London HeathrowLondon Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
routes sold to United Airlines. - 1990: Internal German Services Division sold to LufthansaLufthansaDeutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
. - 1991: Atlantic Division, Pan Am ShuttleDelta ShuttleDelta Shuttle is the brand name for Delta Air Lines' air shuttle service between LaGuardia Airport in New York City, Logan International Airport in Boston, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport serving Washington, D.C. and Chicago-O'Hare International Airport...
, and New York City WorldportWorldport (Pan Am)Terminal 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, formerly known by the trademarked name Worldport, is an iconic airport terminal built by Pan American World Airways in 1960, now expected to be completely demolished by 2015....
sold to Delta Air LinesDelta Air LinesDelta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
.
Accidents and incidents
Pan Am aircraft were involved in numerous accidents and incidents, including a number of Aircraft hijackingAircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
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 flight 214
Pan Am Flight 214
Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707-121 registered as , was en route from Baltimore to Philadelphia on December 8, 1963, when it crashed near Elkton, Maryland after being hit by lightning, killing all 81 on board.-Flight history:...
, was in a holding pattern
Holding (aviation)
In aviation, holding is a maneuver designed to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace.-Implementation:...
on a flight from Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as 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, lightning discharge wick
Static discharger
Static dischargers are commonly known as static wicks or static discharge wicks. They are used on aircraft to allow the continuous satisfactory operation of onboard navigation and radio communication systems. During adverse charging conditions , they limit the potential static buildup on the...
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 / 707-121B N708PA Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
, Caribbean; 51 fatalities: December 12, 1968 / 707-321B N494PA near Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela; 78 fatalities: July 22, 1973 / 707-321B N417PA near Papeete
Papeete
-Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront esplanade*Bougainville Park -Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront...
Faaa
Faa'a International Airport
- Overview :The Faaa International Airport is a relatively small airport. Air Tahiti has flights every day going to all the other islands in French Polynesia while international flights go to different countries such as the United States or New Zealand. The airport is on Tahiti which is an island...
; 97 fatalities: January 30, 1974 / 707-321B N454PA near Pago Pago
Pago Pago International Airport
Pago Pago International Airport , also referred to as Tafuna Airport , Tafuna Airfield, Tafuna Airbase or Pago Pago International with airport designation PPG is a public airport located seven miles southwest of the central business district of Pago Pago, in the village and plains of Tafuna on...
, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
; 107 fatalities: April 22, 1974 / 707-321B N446PA near Denpasar
Denpasar
Denpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It has a rapidly expanding population of 788,445 in 2010, up from 533,252 in the previous decade. It is located at .-History:...
Ngurah Rai, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, 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, a company Boeing 727–21 (N317PA) operating the return leg of the airline's daily cargo flight from Berlin to Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (flight 708
Pan Am Flight 708
Pan Am Flight 708 was a cargo flight that crashed less than 10 miles west-southwest of Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany, in the early morning hours of November 15, 1966. The flight was a Boeing 727 routed from Frankfurt to Berlin-Tegel and was on initial approach. All three crew members perished....
) 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
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
(ILS) approach to Tegel Airport's runway 08, soon after the crew had begun its descent from Flight Level
Flight level
A Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
(FL) 090 to FL 030 before entering the southwest air corridor over East Germany
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
on the last stretch of its journey to Berlin. The aircraft impacted the ground near Dallgow
Dallgow-Döberitz
Dallgow-Döberitz is a municipality in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:It consists of the villages Dallgow-Döberitz, Rohrbeck and Seeburg. To the east it shares border with the Spandau borough of Berlin. Neighbouring Brandenburg municipalities are Falkensee in the north...
, East Germany, almost immediately after the crew had acknowledged further instructions received from Berlin Control, just 10 mi (16.1 km) 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
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
(FDR), the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
(CVR) as well as the plane's flight control systems, its navigation
Air navigation
The basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another....
and communication equipment. The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
(NTSB) 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 descend
Descent (aircraft)
A descent during air travel is any portion where an aircraft decreases altitude, and is the opposite of an ascent or climb. Descents are an essential component of an approach to landing...
below its cleared minimum altitude.
On November 24, 1968 three hijacker
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
s demanding to go to Cuba took over a Pan Am Boeing 707 operating as flight 281
Pan Am Flight 281
Pan Am Flight 281 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was hijacked on November 24, 1968, by 4 men from JFK International Airport, New York to Havana, Cuba....
from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. The hijacking ended the same day with the release of the aircraft and its occupants.
On August 3, 1970 a lone hijacker, who demanded to be flown to Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, took over a Pan Am Boeing 727-21 operating as flight 742 from Munich Riem Airport
Munich-Riem Airport
Munich-Riem Airport was the main, international airport of Munich until it was closed down on 16 May 1992, the day before the new airport near Freising commenced operation. It was located near the old village of Riem in the Munich borough of Trudering-Riem.-History:Construction on the airport...
to Berlin Tempelhof Airport. The hijacking ended the same day with the release of the aircraft and its 125 occupants.
On September 6, 1970 Pan Am flight 93, two men hijack
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
ed a Boeing 747-121 (N752PA) en route from Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
to New York as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings
Dawson's Field hijackings
In the Dawson's Field hijackings five jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
. The flight diverted to Beirut International Airport
Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport
Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport is located 9 km from the city centre in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon and is the only operational commercial airport in the country. It is the hub for Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines...
to take on board seven other gang members for the next leg to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. The hijackers instructed all 170 occupants to evacuate the aircraft immediately after landing at Cairo International Airport
Cairo International Airport
Cairo International Airport is the busiest airport in Egypt and the primary hub for Star Alliance member EgyptAir. The airport is located to the north-east of the city around from the business area of the city.The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Co...
, following which they detonated explosives on board resulting in the plane's destruction.
On December 17, 1973 five Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
terrorists, who had had taken six hostages at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
Fiumicino Airport, bombed Pan Am flight 110
Pan Am Flight 110
On December 17, 1973, Pan Am Flight 110 was scheduled to fly from Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome to Beirut International Airport in Lebanon and then on to Tehran, Iran...
while passengers boarded. The Boeing 707-321B (Clipper Celestial, N407PA) caught fire, killing 30 people.
On July 9, 1982 Clipper Defiance, a Boeing 727-235 (N4737), flying as Pan Am Flight 759
Pan Am Flight 759
Pan Am Flight 759, operated by a Boeing 727-235, N4737 Clipper Defiance, was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Miami to Las Vegas, with an en route stop at New Orleans...
, crashed minutes after takeoff from New Orleans International Airport in the worst accident in aviation history involving microburst
Microburst
A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
-induced wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
. 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
Pan Am Flight 830 was a Boeing 747-121, named "Clipper Ocean Rover", flying from Narita International Airport in Tokyo to Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii on August 11, 1982....
, a Boeing 747-121 (N754PA), was bombed over the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
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
Pan Am Flight 73, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121, was hijacked on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan, by four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization...
, 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 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 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 VictorClipper Victor
Clipper Victor was a Boeing 747-121 which began service with Pan Am in 1970. It was the first Boeing 747 in service and is notable for its brief but significant history. Its tail number was and was named Clipper Victor...
, which was the first Boeing 747 to operate carry fare-paying passengers in 1970 (N736PA), was involved in the Tenerife disaster on March 27, 1977, the deadliest air disaster in aviation history
Aviation history
The history of aviation has extended over more than two thousand years from the earliest attempts in kites and gliders to powered heavier-than-air, supersonic and hypersonic flight.The first form of man-made flying objects were kites...
. On that day, Clipper Victor operated a charter flight, PA 1736, from Los Angeles to Las Palmas
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, via New York. The aircraft diverted to Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
because of a bomb scare at Las Palmas. With visibility lessened by thick fog, a KLM 747 taking off in the mistaken belief they were cleared 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 New York John F. Kennedy Airport. On December 21, 1988 the aircraft flying this route, a Boeing 747-121, , named Clipper Maid of the Seas, was blown up as it flew over LockerbieLockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
in Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
, Scotland, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, when approximately 450 gram (0.992080179831949 lb) of plastic explosive
Plastic explosive
Plastic explosive is a specialised form of explosive material. It is a soft and hand moldable solid material. Plastic explosives are properly known as putty explosives within the field of explosives engineering....
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 ever built delivered to Pan Am in February 1970. Until the September 11, 2001 attacks, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was the second-deadliest terrorist attack against the United States and remains the largest terrorist attack on British soil to this day. A total of 270 people lost their lives, including 11 in the town of Lockerbie.
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:Pan Am Fleet, March 1990
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300B4 Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS... |
12 | — | |
| Airbus A310-200 | 7 | — | |
| Airbus A310-300 | 12 | — | |
| Boeing 727-200 | 91 | 9 | Orders for used aircraft |
| Boeing 737-200 | 5 | — | |
| Boeing 747-100 | 18 | — | |
| Boeing 747-200B | 7 | — | |
| Total | 152 | 9 |
Pan Am Express Fleet, March 1990
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders |
|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-300 ATR 42 -Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type.... |
8 | 3 |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 7 De Havilland Canada Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier... |
10 | — |
| Total | 18 | 3 |
Fleet History
All the aircraft ever operated by Pan Am:| Aircraft | Years operated | Total | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300-B4 Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS... |
1984-1991 | 13 | Jet aircraft | 2 more ordered |
| Airbus A310-224 Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a medium- to long-range twin-engine widebody jet airliner. Launched in July 1978, it was the second aircraft created by Airbus Industrie,a consortium of European aerospace companies, Airbus is now fully owned by EADS and since 2001 has been known as Airbus SAS. the consortium of... |
1985-1991 | 7 | Jet aircraft | |
| Airbus A310-324 Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a medium- to long-range twin-engine widebody jet airliner. Launched in July 1978, it was the second aircraft created by Airbus Industrie,a consortium of European aerospace companies, Airbus is now fully owned by EADS and since 2001 has been known as Airbus SAS. the consortium of... |
1987-1991 | 14 | Jet aircraft | |
| Airbus A320-200 Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001... |
N/A | 0 | Jet aircraft | 50 ordered, never delivered to PA. First 16 delivered to Braniff (BN) Braniff (1983-1990) Braniff Inc. was an American airline, originally headquartered in Dallas, Texas and later headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It was partially formed from the assets of Braniff International Airways.-History:... . |
| Avions de Transport Régional ATR-42 ATR 42 -Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type.... |
??-1991 | 12 | Turboprop aircraft | Operated by Pan Am Express Pan Am Express Pan Am Express was a regional airline of the United States. Initially a banner carrier brand operated by Ransome Airlines, it later entered a codeshare-like affiliated arrangement with Pan American World Airways.... |
| BAe Jetstream 31 British Aerospace Jetstream The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the Jetstream 31 from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream-Development:... |
??? | 10 | Turboprop aircraft | Operated by Pan Am Express Pan Am Express Pan Am Express was a regional airline of the United States. Initially a banner carrier brand operated by Ransome Airlines, it later entered a codeshare-like affiliated arrangement with Pan American World Airways.... |
| Boeing 307 Stratoliner Boeing 307 The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner was the first commercial transport aircraft with a pressurized cabin. This feature allowed the plane to cruise at an altitude of 20,000 ft , well above weather disturbances. The pressure differential was 2.5 psi , so at 14,700 ft the cabin altitude... |
1940-1948 | 3 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Boeing 314 Boeing 314 The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short S.26. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary... |
1939-1946 | 9 | Flying boat | Carried first Transatlantic Air Mail |
| Boeing 377 Stratocruiser | 1949-1961 | 28 | Propeller aircraft | 8 Stratocruiser acquired from AOA American Overseas Airlines American Overseas Airlines was an airline that operated between the United States and Europe between 1945 and 1950. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-Early history:... |
| Boeing 707-121 Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on... |
1958-1974 | 8 | Jet aircraft | Launch customer of the 707 series |
| Boeing 707-321 Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on... |
1959-1973 | 26 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 707-321B Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on... |
1962-1981 | 60 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 707-321C Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on... |
1963-1979 | 34 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 720B Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is a four-engine narrow-body short- to medium-range passenger jet airliner. Developed by Boeing in the late 1950s from the Boeing 707, the 720 has a shorter fuselage and less range... |
1963-1974 | 9 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 727-121 Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced... |
1965-1991 | 46 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 727-221 Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced... |
1979-1991 | 105 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 737–200 Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers... |
1982-1991 | 16 | Jet aircraft | |
| Boeing 747-100 | 1969-1991 | 44 | Jet aircraft | Launch Customer of the Boeing 747-100 Series 33 Boeing 747–121s owned by Pan Am 5 Boeing 747–122s were bought from United Airlines United Airlines United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental... 4 Boeing 747–123s were bought from American Airlines American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport... 2 Boeing 747–132s were bought from Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day... |
| Boeing 747-212B | 1974-1991 | 7 | Jet Aircraft | All 7 Boeing 747-212Bs were previously owned and operated by Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines Limited is the flag carrier airline of Singapore. Singapore Airlines operates a hub at Changi Airport and has a strong presence in the Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and "Kangaroo Route" markets... . |
| Boeing 747-273C | ??-1983 | 1 | Cargo Aircraft | Operated by Pan Am Cargo Pan Am Cargo Pan Am Cargo or Clipper Cargo was a subsidiary cargo airline of Pan American World Airways. Pan Am Cargo first used propeller aircraft just as the Douglas DC-4... , was previously operated by World Airways World Airways World Airways, Inc. is an American airline headquartered at the HLH Building in Peachtree City, Georgia. For the most part, the company operates non-scheduled services. Its main aircraft and maintenance base is Tampa International Airport.-History:... . |
| Boeing 747-221F | ??-1983 | 2 | Cargo Aircraft | Operated by Pan Am Cargo Pan Am Cargo Pan Am Cargo or Clipper Cargo was a subsidiary cargo airline of Pan American World Airways. Pan Am Cargo first used propeller aircraft just as the Douglas DC-4... |
| Boeing 747SP Boeing 747SP The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but... |
1976-1986 | 11 | Jet Aircraft | Launch Customer of the Boeing 747SP Boeing 747SP The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but... Series 10 Boeing 747SP-21 Boeing 747SP The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but... s owned by Pan Am 1 Boeing 747SP-27 Boeing 747SP The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but... was bought by Braniff Airways |
| 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 De Havilland Canada Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier... |
??-1991 | 8 | Turboprop aircraft | Operated by Pan Am Express Pan Am Express Pan Am Express was a regional airline of the United States. Initially a banner carrier brand operated by Ransome Airlines, it later entered a codeshare-like affiliated arrangement with Pan American World Airways.... |
| Douglas Dolphin | ??? | 2 | Flying boat | Transferred to CNAC |
| Douglas DC-2 Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 was a 14-seat, twin-engine airliner produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247... |
1934-1941 | 9 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Douglas DC-3 Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made... |
1937-1948 | 90 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role... |
1947-1961 | 22 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Douglas DC-6 Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range... |
1953-1968 | 49 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Douglas DC-7 Douglas DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and... |
1955-1966 | 37 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Douglas DC-8-32 Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company... |
1960-1970 | 19 | Jet aircraft | |
| Douglas DC-8-62 Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company... |
1970-1971 | 1 | Jet aircraft | DC-8-62 just operated one year |
| McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 | 1980-1984 | 11 | Jet aircraft | acquired from National National Airlines (NA) National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :... in 1980 |
| McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 | 1980-1985 | 5 | Jet aircraft | acquired from National National Airlines (NA) National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :... in 1980 |
| Fairchild FC-2 Fairchild FC-2 The Fairchild FC-1 and its derivatives were a family of light, single engine, high wing utility monoplanes produced in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s... |
1928-1933 | 5 | Propeller aircraft | First aircraft of Pan Am's subsidiary Panagra Pan American-Grace Airways Pan American-Grace Airways, better known as Panagra, was an airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company.-History:... |
| Fairchild 71 Fairchild 71 -Bibliography:* Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: Prospero Books, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.* Milberry, Larry. Aviation In Canada. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-07-082778-8.... |
1930-1940 | 3 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Fairchild 91 Fairchild 91 The Fairchild 91, , was a small flying boat airliner developed in the United states in the mid-1930s.-Design:Fairchild designed the aircraft in response to a Pan American Airways request for a small flying boat to operate on their river routes along the Amazon and Yangtze... |
1936-1937 | 2 | Propeller aircraft | 4 more ordered, but all cancelled |
| Fokker F-10A Fokker F.VII The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence.... |
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 Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced... |
1929-1940 | 11 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Lockheed Model 9 Orion | 1935-1936 | 2 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Lockheed Model 10 Electra Lockheed Model 10 Electra The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2... |
1934-1938 | 4 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Lockheed L-049 Constellation Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a... |
1946-1957 | 29 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Lockheed L-749 Constellation Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a... |
1947-1950 | 4 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Lockheed L-1049 Constellation Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a... |
1955 | 1 | Propeller aircraft | |
| Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar Lockheed L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as the L-1011 or TriStar, is a medium-to-long range, widebody passenger trijet airliner. It was the third widebody airliner to enter commercial operations, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed... |
1980-1986 | 12 | Jet aircraft | |
| Martin M-130 Martin M-130 |-See also:-External links:* at the University of Miami Library*... |
1935-1945 | 3 | Flying boat | Carried first Transpacific Air Mail |
| Sikorsky S-36 | ??? | 5 | Flying boat | |
| Sikorsky S-38 Sikorsky S-38 -See also:... |
1928-1943 | 24 | Flying boat | |
| Sikorsky S-40 Sikorsky S-40 -References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56639-7.* Yenne, Bill. Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press, 2003. ISBN 1-932302-03-4.-External links:* * * * ... |
1931-1944 | 3 | Flying boat | First aircraft to carry the Clipper name |
| Sikorsky S-42 Sikorsky S-42 |-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56639-7.... |
1934-1946 | 10 | Flying boat | |
| Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper Sikorsky S-43 -External links:* - Howard Hughes Sikorsky S-43... |
1936-1945 | 10 | Flying boat | |
See also
- AvensaAvensaAvensa was a Venezuelan airline headquartered in Caracas. It is in the process of financial restructuring, after it went into bankruptcy due to poor management in 2002...
- Pan Am Air Bridge (Chalk's International Airlines sold its seaplaneSeaplaneA seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
operations to a group of investors who operated Chalk's under the Bridge name with Pan Am logos) - Pan American Airways (1996–1998)
- Pan American Airways (1998–2004)
- Boston-Maine AirwaysBoston-Maine AirwaysBoston-Maine Airways was an American airline headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. It operated scheduled commuter services under the Pan Am Clipper Connection banner. Its main base was Pease International Airport, Portsmouth...
(operated Pan Am Clipper Connection from 2004 to February 2008) - Pan Am RailwaysPan Am RailwaysPan Am Railways, Inc. , known as Guilford Rail System before March 2006, is a holding company that owns and operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine to Rotterdam Junction, New York...
- Pan Am SystemsPan Am SystemsPan Am Systems is a privately held company that controls the following divisions: rail transport; manufacturing and energy; transportation related brands; real estate; and a now-defunct airline division. The company is headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.-History:Guilford Transportation...
- Pan Am destinationsPan Am destinationsThis is a list of destinations of Pan American World Airways before closure, or at closure .Destinations served only by Pan Am Express are not included.- Caribbean :Barbados* Bridgetown...
- Pan Am (TV series)Pan Am (TV series)Pan Am is an American period drama television series created by writer Jack Orman. Named for the iconic Pan American World Airways, the series focuses on the pilots and stewardesses of the airline as it operated in the early 1960s at the beginning of the commercial jet age.Sony licensed the rights...
- Pan Am International Flight AcademyPan Am International Flight AcademyPan Am International Flight Academy is the only remaining division of the once iconic Pan American World Airways, which declared bankruptcy in January 1991 and shut down in December 1991. Pan Am International Flight Academy, Denver, was awarded the Export Achievement Certificate by the Denver...
Only surviving division of Pan American World Airways - Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range DivisionPan American Airways Guided Missile Range DivisionPan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division was a distinct division of Pan American World Airways in the period 1950-1980, responsible as prime contractor of the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range, based out of Patrick Air Force Base, Florida...
External links
- Pan Am Historical Foundation
- University of Miami, Otto G. Richter Library Special Collections Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records
- everythingPanAm
- Pan Am Documentary On the Wings of Giants
- The Flying Clippers TransOceanic Travel and the Pan American Clippers
- "Wings Over The Pacific" Popular Mechanics, June 1935 early article on Pan Am's plans for trans-Pacific air route
- Hacoma.de An overview of some collectibles and memorabilia
- Airchive Historical Pan Am timetables and route maps
- Airline Timetable Images Pan Am timetables from 1928 until 1963, showing where they flew, how often, how long it took and how much it cost
- Pan Am Brands Website of the company that currently owns the Pan Am trademark (unrelated to Pan Am 1927–1991)
- Pan Am Forum discussion forum
- PanAmAir.org
- Pan Am International Flight Academy The only surviving division of Pan American World Airways