Pan American World Airways – Pan Am for short – was the major international US carrier for much of the 20th century. The airline pioneered long distance air travel and once had a route network spanning much of the globe.
A number of external factors and internal decisions contributed to the airline’s eventual bankruptcy in December 1991. The carrier that many people thought was too big to fail did, reminding us that no company, no matter how well known, is immune to the realities of business.
A Video About Pan Am
There is an excellent video about the airline online, called “Bankrupt – Pan Am”. This is from Bright Sun Films and runs for just over 18 minutes and I think it’s well worth checking out.
The history of the airline is covered in the beginning, with some great images and film selections. Making this really great are the original interview pieces with a former Purser who adds some interesting detail to the proceedings.
Of course, the issues that caused the airline to fail are discussed in detail. From the oil crisis in 1973 to the National merger, through to the Pacific route sale, it’s all here.
For those who are not aware of the history of the airline, this gives a decent enough overview of some of the factors in the airline’s demise.
Overall Thoughts
Hindsight is a funny thing and looking back, there are many things people might have done differently. However, in the context of the time, people did what they thought was right and the story ended up playing out as it did.
The series of unfortunate accidents and terrorist attacks certainly did not help either. There are a number of good books on what happened to the airline, and SkyGods: The Fall of Pan Am by Robert Gandt is certainly an interesting read.
Did you ever fly on Pan Am? What were they like? Maybe you worked for them? I’d love to hear anyone’s recollections. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Steve Fitzgerald on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
I flew Pan-Am a few times, I think, from LAX-FRA and LAX-LHR (probably). This was in the mid-’80s and I was a young kid. I remember that we were on a half-empty flight, seated in the non-smoking section, but that my dad kept going back to the smoking section and coming back smoky. I distinctly remember lying across three of the four denim blue center seats and resting my head on my mother’s lap and being very annoyed that the armrests couldn’t go all the way up to make laying down more comfortable. I recall that experience sometimes when I… Read more »
Thanks for sharing your memories there! I think they did a big refurbishment of the cabins in the late 1980s so you might have had an old configuration there. Interesting that you remember the contrast between Pan Am and BA too.
In the 1970s and before things started to go downhill PA was certainly a powerhouse. The WorldPort was quite the terminal as was the Pan Am Building. Even in the early days of business class, PA did it “right”. One time went JFK/NAS in a 707 with a short stop in Rock Sound (where Juan Trippe had a home). Service was always superb.
Yes, they were the airline of all airlines. I remember reading that when he 747s were introduced, other airlines sent their staff on board to check out how they ran the service. It was a long decline, but they sure were the top of the heap for longer, that’s for sure!
Best part was the free helicopter rides from NYC midtown to JFK when you flew business class.
That’s something you can do again today, but of course it’s not complimentary!
My first PA flight was my Honeymoon. PA presented us with a box containing a mini wedding cake & cake topper.My airline of choice was PA until the end. Living in NYC the Pan Am Building was a landmark- with its copter club/landing pad (closed after a crash that shut down Park Ave). There was a wonderful ticket office(remember actual tickets-not boarding passes) where one could obtain tickets, information and buy their World Guide
That is so cute that you got a mini wedding cake and cake topper. That’s pretty awesome really. Great that you remained loyal right through to the end. I never really experienced ticket offices, but I’ve heard they were filled with wonderful things if you were into aviation. I would have loved them! Thanks for sharing that!
I was a child in the early 80s when I took a Pan AM flight which I believe was from NYC to Tokyo. I’m assuming it was a B747SP from the timeframe, but my younger self wasn’t as interested in plane types as I am now.
Sounds like it would have been a 747SP for a flight that long. Fantastic that you got to fly on PA though!!
Flew PA once in the early 70’s. Mom and I were non-revving on a TWA 747 LIS-JFK. The TP flight cancelled that day and they sent everyone over to TW. So we got bumped but TWA sent us over to PA who had a 707 scheduled around the same time. That flight was about half full at best and Mom and I got 3 seats to ourselves. Don’t remember much about the flight itself as I was 6-7 years old but it was the only time I crossed the Atlantic on a narrowbody aircraft.
That’s pretty cool that you got to fly on the 707 with Pan Am. It’s something I would have loved to have done, even if I didn’t remember it so well.
I flew aboard a morning JFK-PIT Pan Am flight in the late 1980’s. The timing meant that it didn’t connect with flights arriving from Europe. That might have been the reason that the fare was only $39. That and the return flight were the only times that I used the now demolished Pan Am terminal though I did go out of my way to use it to check into a Delta flight even though the Delta flight was actually leaving from another terminal. I also flew the return flight and 2 other flights. That low usage didn’t help Pan Am… Read more »
Oh that’s pretty cool, nice to see you got to use Pan Am and the Worldport a JFK before it was demolished. Yes, the late 1980s was really the end for Pan Am… though people say if Lockerbie hadn’t have happened, they may well have made it, but who knows!
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Shortly after Lockerbie I purchased Pan Am SFO-LHR tickets in winter 1989 for our honeymoon through a student travel agency for about $450 each round trip. Pan Am had a promotion where tickets to Europe earned a free ticket anywhere they flew in North America or Caribbean. We flew Pan Am to St. Croix, USVI. I really wanted to go to barbados, but we could not afford hotel stays there. Only remember the flight experience returning to SFO with a large contingent of British bikers headed to races at Laguna Seca, near Monterey, California. There were about 12 cases of… Read more »
That’s a pretty decent promotion, allowing a free ticket anywhere in North America or Caribbean if you take a trip to Europe. I suppose they had to do something like that to get people back on board after Lockerbie. Nice that you took full advantage of that! Loved hearing about the return flight to SFO. Sounds like a real party flight, that one 🙂 Thanks for the comment, I enjoyed reading that!
Hello Trent, I made several flights with PA and these were: FRA-THF-FRA (B727), FRA-LHR (B747) and LHR-SFO (B747). What I can remember is that service was alright but not spectacular as one would find with an Asian carrier. Latterly PA suffered from cost-cutting and the age of its B747 fleet. I didn’t view all the video but one thing (from the consumer’s viewpoint) may not have been noted: the fact that PA quit IATA which then enabled it to launch the first ever RTW fare. (At that time such fare innovations were anathema for trade body IATA)
Hey Alex! Nice that you managed do fly on the IGS routes in Germany. I’ve only used THF once, very close to when it closed. I never knew Pan Am quit IATA – that’s an interesting detail. Makes sense, I’ve heard that body could be quite restrictive. Thanks for sharing all of this!
Yes it was Ed Acker who joined PA in 1982 who was responsible for leaving IATA (although PA did rejoin later) as his airline wanted more pricing freedom. IATA in those days was held back by its underperforming members who always rejected any pricing innovations. Wiki has info about this airline veteran. THF was one of the finest downtown airports anywhere in the world. One could step outside a take the U-Bahn a few stops to Mitte district. I was lucky to take many flights into THF … initially with PA in 1971 and then after the Wall came down… Read more »
He was the ex-Air Florida guy, right? I have heard a little about him. Fair enough regarding IATA. Yeah, THF is really well located to get into Berlin. I flew there in 2008 on Brussels Airlines only a little bit before it closed. Really exciting landing – a shame it was closed, but it was bound to happen.
Correct. His career history can be seen on Wiki.