The history of Pan American Airways

Pan American Airways was founded on March 14, 1927 by Major Henry Arnold and his partners. Their company was able to obtain a contract to transport mail to Cuba, but was unable to execute it. Shipping work. On June 2, 1927, Juan Trippe founded the Aviation Corporation of America, founded by William A. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and several other powerful and politically connected investors are behind the company, with Whitney serving as president. After purchasing a company established in 1926 to provide seaplane services in Key West, Florida, landing rights in Havana were acquired. On October 11, 1927, New York banker Richard Hoyt established The Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways. The three companies merged into one holding company on June 23, 1928, named American Airlines. Richard Hoyt served as chairman of the company, Tripp and his partners obtained 40% of the company's equity, and Whitney served as president. Pan Am became a subsidiary of American Airlines, headed by Tripp.

Before the merger, the U.S. government approved Pan Am’s mail transportation contract in order to prevent SCADTA, then a Colombian airline owned by German capital, from obtaining air traffic rights from the United States to Latin America without competitors. and considered Pan Am the company of choice for U.S. foreign routes. Pan Am expanded with government support and a monopoly on foreign mail-carrying contracts.

Tripp and his partners plan to expand Pan Am's route network to Central and South America. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Pan Am purchased many ailing airlines in Central and South America and negotiated contracts with the United States Postal Service for most of its mail delivery to the region. In September 1929, Tripp and Charles Lindbergh went to several Latin American countries to discuss landing rights, including SCADTA's base in Colombia. Routes to Peru along the west coast of South America will be launched at the end of the year. The following year, due to the acquisition of NYRBA (New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line), it acquired a route along the east coast of South America to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then westward to Santiago, Chile, and transformed the airline. It's called "Panair do Brasil". Pan American also formed Pan American-Grace Airways with Grace Shipping Company in the 1930s to gain a foothold in the Andes.

American Airlines, the parent company of Pan American Airways, was the hottest stock on the New York Curb Exchange in 1929, causing a stir every time it announced a new route. Buying and selling boom. In one day in March, American Airlines' stock price climbed as much as 50%. Tripp and his partners blocked a proposed takeover of Pan Am by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) and continued to run Pan Am's operations. (UATC is the parent company of today's Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and United Airlines) As Pan Am expanded in South America, it also discussed cooperation with Bernt Balchen of Norwegian DNL Airlines in 1937 to fly across the Atlantic to Europe. Route cooperation agreement. The agreement involves Pan Am flying passengers to Reykjavik, Iceland, and then transferring to DNL Airlines' Sikorsky S-43 to Bergen, Norway.

However, the plan was later shelved, and Pan Am instead planned routes from the United States to the United Kingdom and France. The British state-owned Imperial Airways is very eager to cooperate with Pan Am to launch transatlantic routes, but France is because its national airline "Aéropostale" is the main airline in Latin America and directly competes with Pan Am on some routes. But there was not much interest in the cooperation agreement. However, in the end, the two countries still reached an agreement with Pan American to cooperate in launching a route from Norfolk, Virginia to Europe via Bermuda and the Azores, but this route has not been fully put into service. On June 16, 1937, Pan Am partnered with Imperial Airways to provide routes from New York to Bermuda. Pan Am flew a Sikorsky S-42 named the Bermuda Clipper, while Imperial Airways used Shorts C-class seaplanes to serve the route. Pan Am also won a mail delivery contract from Boston to Halifax that same year.

The first commercial survey flight across the North Atlantic was carried out on July 5, 1937. A Sikorsky S-42 named Pan Am Clipper III took off from New York, stopped in Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada, and then arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador. Botwood. The next day, Pan Am Clipper 3, piloted by Harold Gray, left Botwood for Foynes, Ireland. On the same day, an Imperial Airways C-class airship also took off from Furniss for Botwood, arriving in Montreal on July 8 and New York on the 9th. The test flight marked the official launch of transatlantic commercial flights.

A batch of six Boeing 314 seaplanes was delivered to Pan Am in early 1939. On June 28, 1939, Pan Am launched a weekly flight between the United States and Britain using this new aircraft. It took off from New York, stopped at Shadyacre, Botwood and Furness, and finally arrived at Southampton. A one-way ticket cost $375, the equivalent of $5,000 today. After the outbreak of World War II, the terminal was changed to Furniss until October 5, when the service was grounded due to winter. During World War II, Pan Am's Boeing 314s frequently flew across the mid-Atlantic and around the world to support military operations.

Pan Am Airways planned to fly to Japan and China via Alaska in 1930, and commissioned Lindbergh to survey the route. However, it could not be opened because of the deteriorating relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and Japan. Tripp therefore decided to launch routes from San Francisco, California via Honolulu to Hong Kong and Auckland. In 1934, after acquiring landing rights at Pearl Harbor, Midway, Wake Island, Guam, and Subic Bay in Manila, Pan Am shipped $500,000 worth of aviation equipment to various midway stations in March 1935. The first reconnaissance flight was carried out by a Sikorsky S-42 in April, and at the end of the year a mail delivery contract was awarded from San Francisco to Guangdong, China. The first flight departed on November 22 using a Martin M-130. Later, Pan Am switched to using Boeing 314 to fly this Pacific route. Passengers heading to China could transfer in Hong Kong to the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) route network operated by Pan Am to other cities in China.

Pan Am named most of its aircraft after "clippers", and the word "clipper" was taken from the 19th century high-speed sailing ship - clipper ship. These The aircraft was the only passenger aircraft capable of intercontinental flight at the time. To compete with the cruise liners, Pan Am offered first-class passengers, and flight crew members wore formal navy attire rather than the leather jackets and scarves worn by mail pilots. Normal boarding procedures were also followed when boarding the aircraft. However, during World War II, most clipper aircraft were requisitioned by the military, and flight crews assisted the military on a contract basis.

During this era, Pan Am was the first to sail across West and Central Africa to Iran, and was the first to launch a round-the-world route in early 1942. In January 1943, U.S. President Roosevelt flew from Miami to Banjul, British Gambia on a Pan Am Boeing 314 named "Dixie Clipper", becoming the first person to fly abroad. Current President of the United States. Gene Roddenberry, the author of "Star Trek", also served as a Pan American pilot during this period. He was aboard the Clipper Eclipse when it crashed in Syria on June 19, 1947. After the war, Pan Am's fleet was replaced by faster aircraft such as Boeing 377s, Douglas DC-6s, and Lockheed Constellations. Pan Am has monopolized all westbound air passengers with its global routes for 40 years. Flight 001 departed from San Francisco and stopped all over the world, including Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Calcutta, Delhi, Beirut, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London and finally New York, the whole journey took 46 hours. Flight 002 flew eastward around the world.

Although Pan Am strives to improve its status as an international airline, its advantages are decreasing year by year. American Overseas Airlines was the first to break Pan Am's monopoly, and subsequently more and more airlines joined the competition. For example, Trans World Airlines, Braniff International Airways and Northwest Orient have joined the competition in Europe, South America and East Asia respectively. Shortly after launching global routes in 1950, Pan American began studying the concept of economy class and changed its name to Pan American World Airways.

Faced with significant competition on various routes, Pan Am began to make some innovations, including the purchase of two jet airliners, the DC-8 and the Boeing 707. On October 26, 1958, the Boeing 707 began flying on the New York to Paris route.

Pan Am Airways was the first customer of the Boeing 747, ordering 25 Boeing 747s in April 1966. On January 15, 1970, the first Pan Am Boeing 747 was delivered from Washington Dulles International Airport. First Lady Patricia Nixon (Pat Nixon) was baptized, and Pan American President Najib Halabi also attended the ceremony. The first commercial flight using a Boeing 747 departed from New York to London at dusk on January 21, 1970. Unfortunately, the aircraft, numbered N736PA, was completely destroyed after colliding with another 747 in the Canary Islands of Spain in 1977, killing 583 people.

Pan American Airways signed an option for six Concordes on June 4, 1963. It was one of the first three airlines to sign an option, but it did not purchase the Concorde in the end. , Pan American is also a potential customer of Boeing's supersonic passenger aircraft Boeing 2707, but Boeing 2707 has never been put into service.

In the 1950s, Pan Am's business became more and more diversified, including the establishment of the Intercontinental Hotel and the purchase of a business jet. Also involved in constructing the South Atlantic missile tracking system and operating a nuclear engine laboratory in Nevada.

As the number of passengers increased year by year, Pan Am ordered "PANAMAC" from IBM in 1962. PANAMAC was a large computer used for booking flights and hotel rooms. It also carried a large number of cities, Information about countries, airports, planes, hotels and restaurants. PANAMAC occupied the entire fourth floor of the Pan American Building in Manhattan, the largest commercial building at the time. Pan Am also built a passenger terminal called Worldport at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was the largest passenger terminal in the world at the time, with an oval roof area of ??16,000 square meters.

At its peak, Pan Am operated scheduled service to six continents. Most routes are from New York to Europe and South America and from Miami to the Caribbean.

Since 1964, Pan Am has provided helicopter service between Manhattan and major New York airports. In addition to DC-8s, Boeing 707s, and 747s, the Pan Am fleet also includes Boeing 720s, Boeing 727s, Boeing 737s, Boeing 747SPs, L-1011 Samsung airliners, DC-10s, A300s, and A310s.

Pan Am also participates in some famous humanitarian missions. At that time, Pan Am used DC-6B to fly 650 flights per week between West Germany and West Berlin. By 1966, it switched to Boeing 727 flights. During the Vietnam War, Pan Am also flew R&R flights (Rest and Recreation, meaning rest and recreation) for the US military, taking US military personnel to Hong Kong, Tokyo and other Asian cities for vacation.

In the early 1970s, the Pan American route network covered 160 countries around the world. Its advanced fleet, experienced and professional flight crews and multi-lingual cabin attendants had already suffered a lot. favor. The brand slogan "World's Most Experienced Airline" promoted in advertisements at that time made Pan Am even more famous. Jacqueline Kennedy also preferred Pan Am's first-class service between New York and Athens over Olympic Airlines, owned by her husband, Aristotle Onassis. The good times didn't last long. In 1973, the oil crisis caused Pan Am's operating costs to rise significantly. High oil prices, reduced demand for air travel, and an oversupply of international flights (in 1969, the United States opened air traffic rights on trans-Pacific routes, introducing multi-company competition), which resulted in a significant decrease in Pan American passenger volume and seriously affected its profits. Like other major airlines, Pan Am introduced a large number of Boeing 747s, originally hoping to cater to the growth in passenger traffic, but the situation was obviously contrary to expectations.

On September 23, 1974, some Pan Am employees placed an advertisement in the New York Times, arguing that government policies would jeopardize Pan Am's financial ability. The ad cites the example that Pan Am has to pay $4,200 when landing at Sydney Airport, while Qantas only has to pay $178 when landing in Los Angeles. He also believes that the air mail delivery fee paid by the U.S. Postal Service to foreign airlines is five times that of Pan Am. Finally, the ad asks why the Export-Import Bank of the United States lends to Japan, France, and Saudi Arabia at 6 percent interest, but Pan American loans charge 12 percent interest.

In order to compete fairly with other airlines, Pan Am began to try to enter the US domestic market. After many failed attempts to apply for a domestic route license, Pan Am finally received permission to operate domestic flights between its domestic hubs in 1979 following the enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act. However, the Air Transport Deregulation Act also affected its overseas markets, and some airlines with domestic route networks began to compete with Pan American on international routes.

The Pan American Building was sold to Metlife in 1981

Under the management of President William Seawell, Pan American acquired the building in 1980 National Airlines uses this to expand its domestic route network. However, due to the scramble to raise the price, Pan Am paid far more for National Airlines than its market value. Not only did National fail to bring profits to Pan Am, but it made its fleet more complex, its route network failed to match Pan Am's (National's route network was concentrated in Florida), and the cultures of the two companies were even different. All the same. The acquisition became known as "Seawell's Folly". In order to save Pan Am, Swale sold some of the company's assets, including selling the Pan Am Building to Metlife in 1981 and the entire Pacific route network to United Airlines in 1985.

The proceeds from the asset sales were used to purchase new aircraft, including the Airbus A310 and A320 (the A320 was never delivered to Pan Am). Pan Am also began providing shuttle service between Boston, New York, and Washington. However, continued losses and deteriorating service continued to plague Pan Am.

Pan America’s symbolic image has also made it a target for terrorist attacks. In order to identify security vulnerabilities and convince the public that flying on Pan Am flights was safe, Pan Am established a security system called Alert Management Systems in 1986. However, the new system did not improve security, and Pan Am kept security procedures at a minimum to save money and reduce inconvenience to passengers. In December 1988, the FAA discovered 236 security breaches among 29 airlines, and Pan Am was fined for 19 security breaches.

In 1986, Pan Am finally fell. Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked in Pakistan. More than 140 passengers and crew were injured or killed. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people and causing passengers to avoid flying with Pan Am. Pan Am also needs to face a lawsuit from the families of more than 100 victims of Flight 103, claiming $300 million. Pan Am countered that six government agencies, including the CIA, State Department, etc., had received warnings of bomb attacks but had not informed Pan Am. Families of the victims believe Pan Am is simply shirking responsibility. The Lockerbie crash dealt a fatal blow to Pan Am.

In August 1990, the Persian Gulf War broke out, resulting in a significant reduction in transatlantic air traffic. On October 23, 1990, Pan Am sold this profitable route to London Heathrow Airport to United Airlines (the route was transferred in April 1991 with the approval of the relevant British and American authorities). After the sale of the route, Pan Am will only have two daily flights to London Gatwick Airport. Despite this, Pan Am declared bankruptcy in January 1991. Delta Air Lines purchased Pan Am's remaining profitable assets, including all European routes and Worldport at JFK International Airport, and injected capital to maintain Pan Am's service to the Caribbean and Latin America. During this period, Pan American still recorded huge losses. After Delta Air Lines stopped injecting capital, Pan Am finally folded on December 4, 1991. The last Pan Am flight was operated by a Boeing 727 named Clipper Goodwill, flight number 436 from Bridgetown, Barbados to Miami. Pan Am's final hub, Miami, is divided between United and American Airlines. The Pan Am trademark was sold to investors, which led to the emergence of several Pan Am airlines.

In the book "Pan Am: An Aviation Legend" (Pan Am: An Aviation Legend), the author Barnaby Conrad believed that Pan Am's decline was a series of management mistakes, the United States The government does not pay attention to protecting its major airlines and has flawed regulatory policies.