Pan American World Airways
History
Formation
Juan Trippe surveying his office globe.
Pan American Airways Incorporated was founded on March 14, 1927, by Major Henry H. "Hap" Arnold and partners. Their shell company was able to obtain the U.S. mail delivery contract to Cuba, but lacked the physical assets to do the job. On June 2, 1927, Juan Trippe formed the Aviation Corporation of America with the backing of powerful and politically-connected financiers who included William A. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney.[citation needed] Their operation had the all-important landing rights for Havana, having acquired a small airline established in 1926 by John K. Montgomery and Richard B. Bevier as a seaplane service from Key West, Florida to Havana, and carried mail over the route for the first time on October 19, 1927.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] The three companies merged into a holding company called the Aviation Corporation of the Americas on June 23, 1928.[citation needed] Richard Hoyt was named as chairman of the new company, but Trippe and his partners held forty percent of the equity and Whitney was made president. Trippe became the operational head of the new Pan American Airways Incorporated, created as the primary operating subsidiary of Aviation Corporation of the Americas.
Flown cover carried from Key West, FL, to Havana, Cuba, on the first contract air mail flight operated by Pan American Airways, Oct 19, 1927 (Signed by pilot Cy Caldwell)
A sign hangs on the original office in Key West, Florida
The U.S. government approved the original Pan Am's mail delivery contract with little objection, out of fears that the German-owned Colombian carrier SCADTA (currently Avianca) 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 American competitors, seeing the airline as the "chosen instrument" for U.S. 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 (NYRBA), giving it a seaplane route along the east coast of South America to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and westbound to Santiago, Chile. Its Brazilian 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 hottest stocks on the New York Curb Exchange in 1929, and flurries of speculation surrounded each of its new route awards. On a single day in March, its stock rose 50% in value.[citation needed] 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 U.S.-Mexico 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).
Pan Am and its flight crews
The Sikorsky S-42 was one of Pan Am's earlier flying boats and was used to survey the San Francisco-China route.
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.[citation needed] 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 astral 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. By the time a man became a pilot at Pan Am, he had first gained years of practical experience, not only in flying seaplanes, but in anchoring, sea tides, engine repair, astral, radio, and dead-reckoning navigation. Many had merchant marine certifications and radio licenses as well as pilot certificates.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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.
The Clipper Era
PAA's "Clipper" routes in "The Americas"(1936)
1941 advertising mailer for Pan Am's "Flying Clipper Cruises" to South America
While Pan Am was developing its South American network, it also negotiated with Bernt Balchen, of the Norwegian airline DNL, in 1937 for a cooperative Trans-Atlantic flight to Europe. The agreement was for Pan Am to use its Clippers on flights from New York to Reykjavk, Iceland; DNL would then take over with their Sikorsky S-43 aircraft onwards to Bergen, Norway.[citation needed] This plan was dropped when Pan Am pulled out and instead turned to Britain and France to begin seaplane service between the United States and Europe. Britain's state-owned Imperial Airways was eager to cooperate with Pan Am, but France was less willing to help, because its state carrier Aropostale was a major player in Latin America and a Pan Am competitor on some routes.[citation needed] Eventually, Pan Am reached an agreement with both countries to offer service from Norfolk, Virginia, to Europe via Bermuda and the Azores using Sikorsky S-40 flying boats. Starting in June 1937, a joint service from the U.S. mainland to Bermuda was inaugurated, with Pan Am using Sikorsky flying boats and Imperial Airways using 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 flights.
PAA's China Clipper service cut the time of a transpacific crossing from as much as six weeks by sea to just six days by air.
Pan Am planned to start land plane service over Alaska to Japan and China, and sent Lindbergh on a survey flight in 1930; the ongoing political upheaval in the Soviet Union and Japan made the route nonviable.[citation needed] 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 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 and ran its first survey flight to Honolulu in April with a Sikorsky S-42 flying boat.[citation needed] 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 (12,875km) flight arrived in the Philippine capital on November 29 and returned to San Francisco on December 6, cutting the time of travel over that by steamship by more than a full month.[citation needed] (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 and $1,710 round trip.
Stamps issued by the United States and Philippine Islands for Air Mail carried on the first flights in each direction of PAA's Transpacific "China Clipper" service between San Francisco, CA, and Manila, PI. (November 22 - December 6, 1935)
On August 6, 1937, Juan Trippe accepted U.S 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 semimonthly service which reduced San Francisco-Singapore travel times from 25 days to 6 days. The Boeing 314s were used on transatlantic routes starting in 1939.
Flown cover carried around the world on PAA Boeing 314 Clippers and by Imperial Airways, June 24-July 28, 1939
Pan Am's flying boat terminal at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida, was a hub of inter-American travel during the 1930s and 1940s.
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. The single fare was $375 equivalent to $5,300 today.[citation needed] After the outbreak of World War II, the terminal became Foynes until the service ceased for the winter on October 5. Throughout the war, Pan Am flew over ninety million miles worldwide in support of military operations.
In 1940, Pan Am, TWA, and Northwest Airlines began using the Boeing 307 Stratocruiser for passenger services. It was the first pressurized 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 liners, 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.[citation needed]
During World War II, most of the Clippers were pressed into the military, and Pan Am flight crews operated the aircraft under contract.[citation needed] 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 was in January 1943, when Franklin Roosevelt became the first U.S. 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.
Postwar developments
Pan Am Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Clipper Seven Seas at London Heathrow in 1954
After the war, Pan American's fleet was quickly replaced by faster and longer range airliners, such as the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, Douglas DC-6B, and Lockheed Constellation.[citation needed] On June 17, 1947, Pan American World Airways opened the first ever regularly-scheduled around-the-world service with Constellation L749 Clipper America. For almost 40 years, Pan Am westbound round-the-world route was Flight 001 originating in San Francisco with stops including Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila, Kolkata, Delhi, Beirut, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London, and finally New York. The westbound flight lasted 46 hours after its first takeoff. Meanwhile, Pan Am Flight 002 circled the globe eastbound.
Although Pan Am lobbied to gain protection of its position as America's major international airline, it encountered increasing competition first from American Overseas Airlines, and later from a number of carriers designated to compete with Pan Am in certain markets, such as TWA to Europe, Braniff to South America, American Airlines and United Airlines for domestic flights, and Northwest Orient to East Asia. In 1950, shortly after starting an around-the-world service and developing the concept of "economy class" passenger service, Pan American Airways, Inc. was renamed Pan American World Airways, Inc.
The Pan Am Building, now the MetLife Building, served as the Pan Am headquarters; it is located in Midtown Manhattan
With strong competition on many of its routes, Pan Am began investing in innovations such as jet aircraft and wide-body types. Pan Am purchased the DC-8 and the Boeing 707, which Boeing modified to seat six passengers across instead of five under pressure from Pan Am. The airline inaugurated transatlantic jet service from New York to Paris on October 26, 1958, with a B707-123 Clipper America.
Pan Am was the launch customer of the Boeing 747, and it initially ordered 25 of them in April 1966. On January 15, 1970, First Lady Pat Nixon officially christened a Pan Am Boeing 747 at Washington Dulles International Airport in the presence of Pan Am chairman Najeeb Halaby. Rather than breaking a bottle of champagne, Mrs. Nixon pulled a lever which sprayed red, white, and blue water on the aircraft.[citation needed] During the next few days Pan Am flew several of their 747 jets to various major airports in the U.S. as part of a public relations effort, allowing the public to tour the airplanes. Pan Am then began operation of the first commercially scheduled 747 service on the evening of January 21, 1970, when Clipper Young America flew from New York to London. An engine failure caused a delayed departure of several hours on this first flight, resulting in a substitution to a second 747 which completed the route to London's Heathrow Airport.
Boeing 747-100 Clipper Neptune's Car (N742PA) at Zrich 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 British Overseas Airways Corporation and Air France it did not purchase the supersonic jet. Pan Am also was the first U.S. airline to sign for the Boeing 2707, the American supersonic transport project, with 15 delivery positions reserved; these aircraft never saw service after Congress voted against additional funding in 1971.
The Pan Am Worldport at JFK airport, once the center of the airline's New York operations, was sold to Delta Air Lines in 1991.
With traffic increasing in 1962, Pan Am commissioned IBM to build PANAMAC, a large computer that booked airline and hotel reservations. It also held large amounts of information about cities, countries, airports, aircraft, hotels, and restaurants.[citation needed] 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 that was the world's largest airline terminal for many years.[citation needed] It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000m) 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. Continuing the airline's tradition of bold architecture,[weaselwords] Pan Am built a gilded training building in the style of Edward Durell Stone designed by Steward-Skinner Architects in Miami.
At its peak during the early 1970s, Pan Am's advertised under the slogan, "World's Most Experienced Airline.", and was providing scheduled service to every continent except for Antarctica, and as many as 160 nations. Most of its routes were between New York, Europe, and South America, and between Miami and the Caribbean.[citation needed] Starting in 1964, the airline was providing helicopter service between New York's major airports and Manhattan. Aside from the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and 747, the Pan Am jet fleet also included Boeing 720s, 727s (which replaced the 720s), 737s, and Boeing 747SPs, which allowed Pan Am to fly nonstop flights from New York to Tokyo. The airline also operated Lockheed L-1011s, DC-10s, and Airbus A300s and A310s. Pan Am was also involved in other businesses that included a hotel chain, the InterContinental Hotel, and a business jet, the Falcon. The airline was involved in creating a missile-tracking range in the South Atlantic and operating a nuclear-engine testing laboratory in Nevada.
The airline als
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