Misplaced Pages

#417582

119-458: Aeroamerica, Inc. was founded as an uncertificated carrier . It was headquartered at Seattle Boeing Field , Washington . In 1975 the airline established an overseas base at Tegel Airport in what used to be West Berlin prior to German reunification . Berlin Tegel was the main operating base from 1975 until 1979. Aeroamerica ceased operations in 1982. Seattle businessman Arthur Joël Eisenberg

238-550: A Boeing 707-120B and a BAC One-Eleven 400 . The latter had originally belonged to American Airlines . During the summer of 1976, the bulk of Aeroamerica's activities increasingly centred on Berlin Tegel, making it West Berlin's leading charter airline at the time. From 1977, the airline's business, which by that time focused on Berlin as well as worldwide ad hoc charters and temporary aircraft leases , gradually declined. On July 1, 1977, 96% of Aeroamerica's unionised German flight attendants voted in favour of strike action in

357-484: A ballot held by the German Salaried Employees' Union . They demanded pay parity with their colleagues working for Pan Am's Internal German Services (IGS) division and employment contracts governed by local labour law to bring them in line with their unionised counterparts at other Allied airlines that employed their flight attendants locally. The company countered these demands by arguing that

476-637: A 149-seat, single-class seating arrangement. Although Aeroamerica applied similar colour schemes featuring the same basic shapes to most of its aircraft, the actual colour combination differed on each individual plane. Aeroamerica's female flight attendants wore "hot pants" . Following the decision of US supplemental carrier Modern Air 's parent company GAC Corp to exit the West Berlin charter market in October 1974, Aeroamerica acquired that airline's West Berlin traffic rights. On October 23, 1974,

595-451: A CAB certificate. The results of such investigations were not necessarily a foregone conclusion. In 1976, the CAB ended a long investigation by deciding ZIA was, in fact, not a common carrier (and thus did not require certification), going against the decision of its own administrative law judge. Ironically, this happened only a year before ZIA separately applied for and received certification as

714-600: A Pan Am Clipper flight to New York in 1942, passengers were served a drink today known as Irish coffee by Chef Joe Sheridan. The growing importance of air transport 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 political influence to lobby for protection of its position as America's primary international airline, it encountered increasing competition – first from American Export Airlines across

833-511: A connection to Northwest's DC-7C totaled 24 hours and 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. "Super Stratocruisers" with more fuel appeared on Pan Am's transatlantic routes in November 1954, making nonstop eastward and one-stop westward schedules more reliable. In June 1947, Pan Am started

952-702: A connection to the United States, which the Air Corps viewed as a precursor to a possible German aerial threat to the canal. In the spring of 1927, the United States Post Office requested bids on a contract to deliver mail from Key West, Florida to Havana , Cuba before 19 October 1927. Arnold and Spaatz drew up the prospectus for Pan American after they learned that SCADTA hired a company in Delaware to obtain air mail contracts from

1071-506: A flight from Miami to Buenos Aires took 71 hours and 15 minutes in a Pan Am DC-3 , but the following summer, DC-4s flew Idlewild to Buenos Aires in 38 hours and 30 minutes. In January 1958, Pan Am's DC-7Bs flew New York to Buenos Aires in 25 hours and 20 minutes, while the National –Pan Am–Panagra DC-7B via Panama and Lima took 22 hours and 45 minutes. Convair 240s replaced DC-3s and other pre-war types on Pan Am's shorter flights in

1190-475: A large Indiana-based air travel club. Voyager, which had a fleet comprising a Boeing 720 , two Lockheed Electras and some piston aircraft and its own terminal at Indianapolis Airport , unsuccessfully appealed to the federal courts. The chief pilot of Voyager was George Mikelsons , who left to found what later became ATA Airlines . The CAB went on to shut two other large clubs in 1974 and 1975. Notwithstanding these enforcement actions, in November 1979 (within

1309-481: A large fleet of Boeing 747s, expecting that air travel would continue to increase. It did not, as the introduction of many wide-bodies by Pan Am and its competitors coincided with an economic slowdown. Reduced air travel after the 1973 oil crisis made the overcapacity problem worse. Pan Am was vulnerable, with its high overheads as a result of a large decentralized infrastructure. High fuel prices and its many older, less fuel-efficient narrow-bodied airplanes increased

SECTION 10

#1732798679418

1428-605: A maximum altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m). The airline's West Berlin operation consistently accounted for more than half of the city's entire commercial air traffic during that period. For years, more passengers boarded Pan Am flights at Berlin Tempelhof than at any other airport. Pan Am operated a Berlin crew base of mainly German flight attendants and American pilots to staff its IGS flights. The German National flight attendants were later taken over by Lufthansa when it acquired Pan Am's Berlin route authorities. Over

1547-578: 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 Barranquilla on SCADTA's home turf of Colombia, as well as Maracaibo and Caracas in Venezuela . By

1666-638: A result of an agreement among 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

1785-481: A service from San Francisco to Honolulu and on to Hong Kong and Auckland following steamship routes. After negotiating traffic rights in 1934 to land at Pearl Harbor , Midway Island , Wake Island , Guam , and Manila , Pan Am shipped $ 500,000 worth of aeronautical equipment and construction crews westward in March 1935 using the S.S. North Haven , a 15,000-ton merchant ship chartered to provision each island that

1904-449: A small airline established in 1926 by John K. Montgomery and Richard B. Bevier as a seaplane service from Key West to Havana. A third company, Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways, was established on October 11, 1927, by New York City investment banker Richard Hoyt to bid for the contract. The Postal Service awarded Pan American Airways the US mail delivery contract to Cuba, at the end of

2023-586: A supplemental air carrier. Air travel clubs were membership organizations, nominally private, that had their own aircraft and ran trips for members. In 1968, the FAA instituted Part 123 of the Federal Aviation Regulations under which air travel clubs had their own operational requirements. Starting in the early 1970s, the CAB went after some of the largest air travel clubs for being de-facto common carriers. In 1973, it shut down Voyager 1000,

2142-508: A viable payload in both directions. Pan Am was a Boeing 747 launch customer, placing a $ 525 million (equivalent to $ 3.77 billion in 2023) order for 25 in April 1966. On January 15, 1970 First Lady Pat Nixon christened Pan Am Boeing 747 Clipper Young America at Washington Dulles and during the next few days, Pan Am flew 747s to major airports in the United States where the public could tour them. Pan Am's inaugural 747 service on

2261-502: A week between Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) and Honolulu (HNL) and was previously operating nonstop Boeing 720 jet service on the weekends between SEA and HNL. The increasingly far-flung nature of the airline's operations overstretched its small fleet. This was compounded by the fleet's advanced age. The combination of these two factors resulted in growing reliability problems. In January 1979, Berliner Flugring, Aeroamerica's main overseas business partner , announced that it would not be renewing

2380-453: A weekly service linking Miami with Berlin via Brussels or Amsterdam from the start of the following year's summer season. As a result of growing financial difficulties, Aeroamerica voluntarily surrendered its operating permit during an informal meeting with the FAA at the end of 1979. This action on the airline's part in turn resulted in legal action brought against it by an aircraft lessor and British Airways over unpaid bills concerning

2499-652: A year or so in 1975–76, Pan Am finally completed the round-the-world trip, New York to New York. In January 1950, Pan American Airways Corporation officially became Pan American World Airways, Inc. (The airline had begun calling itself Pan American World Airways in 1943.) In September 1950 Pan Am completed the $ 17.45 million (equivalent to $ 175.32 million in 2023) purchase of American Overseas Airlines from American Airlines . That month Pan Am ordered 45 Douglas DC-6Bs . The first, Clipper Liberty Bell (N6518C), inaugurated Pan Am's all- tourist class Rainbow service between New York and London on May 1, 1952, to complement

SECTION 20

#1732798679418

2618-524: The Yankee Clipper , piloted by Harold E. Gray , made the first-ever trans-Atlantic passenger flight. The first leg of the flight, Baltimore to Horta , took 17 hours and 32 minutes and covered 2,400 miles (3,900 km; 2,100 nmi). The second leg from Horta to Pan Am's newly built airport in Lisbon took 7 hours and 7 minutes and covered 1,200 miles (1,900 km). The Boeing 314 also enabled

2737-650: The Dixie Clipper piloted by R.O.D. Sullivan. The Eastbound trip departed every Wednesday at Noon and arrived at Marseilles on Friday at 3 pm GCT with return service leaving Marseilles on Sunday at 8 am and arriving at Port Washington on Tuesday at 7 am. The Northern transatlantic route to Britain was inaugurated for Air Mail service on June 24, 1939, by the Yankee Clipper piloted by Harold Gray flying via Shediac (New Brunswick), Botwood (Newfoundland), and Foynes (Ireland) to Southampton . Passenger service

2856-638: 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 the new post-war approach the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) took toward the promotion of competition between major US carriers on key domestic and international scheduled routes compared with pre-war US aviation policy. American Overseas Airlines (AOA)

2975-803: The Boeing 707 and Boeing 747 . Pan Am's modern fleet allowed it to fly larger numbers of passengers, at a longer range, and with fewer stops than rivals. Its primary hub and flagship terminal was the Worldport at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City . During its peak between the late 1950s and early 1970s, Pan Am was known for its advanced fleet, highly trained staff, and amenities. In 1970, it flew 11 million passengers to 86 countries, with destinations in every continent except Antarctica. In an era dominated by flag carriers that were wholly or majority-owned by governments, Pan Am became

3094-551: The Caribbean and South America. Pan Am also acquired a few Curtiss C-46s for a 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

3213-550: The DAG union. However, the conflict escalated during the second week when the local management dismissed without notice two flight attendants who had picketed a Tegel-bound flight in Brussels . As the conflict was still unresolved by the end of July and threatened to disrupt the holiday plans of thousands of West Berliners during the peak month of August, management attempted to break the flight attendants' strike by temporarily reducing

3332-510: The Federal Aviation Administration just like any other carrier. Uncertificated carriers , known by a variety of names over time, such as contract carriers or Part 45 carriers , were airlines which escaped CAB regulation by not being common carriers - in other words, they did not hold themselves out to the public as a carrier. Zantop Air Transport was an example of such a company, flying aircraft on behalf of

3451-821: The InterContinental Hotel chain and had a financial interest in the Falcon Jet Corporation, which held marketing rights to the Dassault Falcon 20 business jet in North America. The airline was involved in creating a missile-tracking range in the South Atlantic and operating a nuclear-engine testing laboratory in Nevada . In addition, Pan Am participated in several notable humanitarian flights. At its height Pan Am

3570-735: The US Department of Transportation (DOT), had a bigger impact on the CAB. The 1966 Act established the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as part of DOT, which absorbed the CAB safety function, which was to investigate most airline accidents. Unlike the FAA, which (renamed as the Federal Aviation Administration) became part of DOT in the 1966 Act, the CAB remained an independent government agency. While CAB regulation suppressed free competition , it provided security for

3689-589: The US government . Also competing for the contract, Juan Trippe formed the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (ACA) on June 2, 1927, with $ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 3.53 million in 2023) in startup capital and the backing of powerful and politically connected financiers including Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and W. Averell Harriman . Their operation had the all-important landing rights for Havana , having acquired American International Airways,

Aeroamerica - Misplaced Pages Continue

3808-606: The Vietnam War . These flights carried American service personnel for R&R leaves in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other Asian cities. In August 1953 PAA scheduled passenger flights to 106 airports; in May 1968 to 122 airports; in November 1978 to 65 airports (plus a few freight-only airports); in November 1985 to 98 airports; in November 1991 to 46 airports (plus 14 more with only "Pan Am Express" prop flights). Pan Am had invested in

3927-614: The Watres Act , which had regulated commercial aviation since the mid-1920s, and created a new agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The agency was renamed in 1940, due to a merger with the Air Safety Board. It became an independent agency under Reorganization Plans Nos. III and IV of 1940, effective on June 30, 1940. The Air Safety Board had formed in 1938. Other predecessor agencies included

4046-590: The Yucatan Peninsula to connect with Pan Am's Caribbean route network. 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

4165-675: 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 20 mi (32 km) wide air corridors at

4284-465: The 1930s, under the leadership of American entrepreneur Juan Trippe , the airline purchased a fleet of flying boats and focused its route network on Central and South America, gradually adding transatlantic and transpacific destinations. By the mid-20th century, Pan Am enjoyed a near monopoly on international routes. It led the aircraft industry into the Jet Age by acquiring new jetliners such as

4403-627: The 1980s, Pan Am gradually sold off its assets before declaring bankruptcy in 1991. By the time it ceased operations, the airline's trademark was the second most recognized worldwide, and its loss was felt among travelers and many Americans as signifying the end of the golden age of air travel. Its brand, iconography, and contributions to the industry remain well known in the 21st century. The airline's name and imagery were purchased in 1998 by railroad holding company Guilford Transportation Industries, which changed its name to Pan Am Systems and adopted Pan Am's logo. Pan American Airways, Incorporated (PAA)

4522-647: The Aeronautics Branch (1926–1934), the Bureau of Air Commerce (1934–1938), and the Bureau of Air Mail, Interstate Commerce Commission (1934–38). The first air accident investigation led by the CAB was the 1940 Lovettsville air disaster . Some duties were transferred to the Federal Aviation Agency in 1958. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was established in 1967, taking over air accident investigation duties. Under

4641-399: The CAB allowed local service carriers to compete on some routes with trunklines and some local service carriers became sizeable airlines. However, as shown in the table below, in 1978, just prior to deregulation, the largest local service carrier Allegheny (soon to rename itself USAir ) was still smaller in revenue terms than the smallest trunk, National , and basic operating statistics show

4760-401: The CAB from regulating certain things: frequency, equipment, accommodations and facilities. It was up to the carrier to determine what aircraft it flew and how often and what airport or ticket facilities it built/rented, and so forth. However, the CAB did generally require a minimum adequate service, e.g. often two flights/day, in a market. The Civil Aeronautics Authority Act of 1938 superseded

4879-647: The CAB saw as making them common carriers. For instance, in February 1961, the issued a cease-and-desist order to, among others, Trans Global Airlines, Inc. aka Golden State Airlines, a Part 45 carrier, for carrying passengers to the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas for "free". The fact that transportation was provided as part of the cost of accommodation did not make the airline any less a common carrier, and therefore guilty of providing interstate air transportation without

Aeroamerica - Misplaced Pages Continue

4998-481: The CAB's taxonomy of certificated scheduled airlines (see "Airline categories" below). However, in 1972 the CAB expanded this category to include aircraft of 30 passengers or fewer, with a payload of less than 7,500 lbs. Such carriers did have to obtain Federal Aviation Administration operational/safety certification but were otherwise able to fly wherever they pleased. The CAB would, on occasion, also exempt air-taxi or commuter operators to operate aircraft larger than

5117-778: The Caribbean. In 1964, Pan Am began a helicopter shuttle between New York's John F. Kennedy , LaGuardia, and Newark airports and Lower Manhattan , operated by New York Airways . Aside from the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and 747, the Pan Am jet fleet included Boeing 720Bs and 727s (the first aircraft to sport Pan Am rather than Pan American – titles ). The airline later had Boeing 737s and 747SPs (which could fly nonstop from New York to Tokyo), Lockheed L-1011 Tristars , McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s , and Airbus A300s and A310s . Pan Am owned

5236-599: The Civil Aeronautics Authority Act that created the CAB. These were carriers such as United Air Lines , American , TWA , etc, all with origins going back to the 1920s and 1930s. For a summary, see the table below. After World War II, the CAB certificated a second set of scheduled carriers, the local service carriers . In theory, local service airlines served smaller routes than the trunklines, though most trunklines tended to have some legacy points on their networks that were quite small. Over time,

5355-735: The Commerce Building (a.k.a. the Herbert C. Hoover Building ), and its offices were in several buildings. After moving into the Universal Building, CAB leased space there. By 1968 the agency had acquired an additional approximately 2,000 square feet (190 m ) of space in the same building, resulting in additional rent expenses. Pan American World Airways#Internal German Services (IGS) and other operations Pan American World Airways , originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am ,

5474-483: The DC-8. The combined order value was $ 269 million. Pan Am's first scheduled jet flight was from New York Idlewild to Paris Le Bourget , stopping at Gander to refuel, on October 26, 1958. The Boeing 707-121 Clipper America N711PA carried 111 passengers. 320 "Intercontinental" series Boeing 707s delivered in 1959–60, and the Douglas DC-8 in March 1960, enabled non-stop transatlantic crossings with

5593-435: The FAA suspended Aeroamerica's AOC. On August 19, 1980, the FAA agreed to restore Aeroamerica's AOC following a joint representation by the airline and its official creditors' committee. However, Aeroamerica's operations continued to be plagued by financial and maintenance issues. In July 1982, Aeroamerica commenced scheduled services between Seattle and Reno with Boeing 707s . The airline finally ceased operations during

5712-662: The Manila route, while PA 1 shifted to Tokyo and Shanghai. All Pan Am round-the-world flights included at least one change of plane until Boeing 707s took over in 1960. PA 1 became daily in 1962–63, making different en-route stops on different days of the week; in January 1963, it left San Francisco at 09:00 daily and was scheduled into New York 56 hours and 10 minutes later. Los Angeles replaced San Francisco in 1968; when Boeing 747s finished replacing 707s in 1971, all stops except Tehran and Karachi were served daily in each direction. For

5831-765: The North Atlantic began. Pan Am Clipper III , a Sikorsky S-42 , landed at Botwood in the Bay of Exploits in Newfoundland from Port Washington, via Shediac, New Brunswick . The next day Pan Am Clipper III left Botwood for Foynes in County Limerick , 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. Trippe decided to start

5950-735: 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 that reduced San Francisco–Singapore travel times from 25 days to six days. Six large, long-range Boeing 314 flying boats were delivered to Pan Am in early 1939. On March 30, 1939,

6069-605: The Pan Am China Clipper route, from San Francisco, leading to Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai. On August 6, 1937, Juan Trippe accepted United States 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." Pan Am also used Boeing 314 flying boats for

SECTION 50

#1732798679418

6188-526: The Turkish carrier's scheduled route to Istanbul . Aeroamerica acquired additional second-hand Boeing 720s and 707s during 1978 to enable it to exploit new business opportunities created by U.S. airline deregulation . In August of that year, Aeroamerica commenced its first-ever fully fledged scheduled air service between Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) and Spokane (GEG). Aeroamerica also operated nonstop jet service between Seattle Boeing Field (BFI) and Spokane in

6307-657: The US automakers on a private basis (before it acquired a supplemental certificate in 1962). "Part 45" was a reference to the then Civil Aviation Regulations under which the then Federal Aviation Agency regulated the operations/safety of such non-common carrier operators. Over time, the Civil Aviation Regulations (subsequently the Federal Aviation Regulations ) changed. Instead of Part 45, such uncertificated carriers were moved to being regulated under Part 42. They then became known as Part 42 carriers . Finally,

6426-555: 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-42s. A joint service from Port Washington, New York , to Bermuda began in June 1937, with Pan Am using Sikorskys and Imperial Airways using the C class flying boat RMA Cavalier . On July 5, 1937, survey flights across

6545-439: 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-based international 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

6664-597: The West Coast of the United States to London and Paris, with a fuel stop in Canada or Greenland. The introduction of the faster Bristol Britannia turboprop by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) between New York and London on December 19, 1957, ended Pan Am's competitive leadership there. In January 1958 Pan Am scheduled 47 flights a week east from Idlewild to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond;

6783-501: The aircraft undetected and distributed rag mags in the passenger accommodation as a publicity stunt. Pan Am carried 11 million passengers over 20 billion miles (3.2 × 10  km; 1.7 × 10  nmi) in 1970, the year it introduced widebodied airline travel. Pan Am was one of the first three airlines to sign options for the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde , but like other airlines that took out options – with

6902-451: 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. In 1940 Pan Am and TWA both received and began using the Boeing 307 Stratoliner , the first pressurized airliner to enter service. The Boeing 307's airline service

7021-466: The airline to take advantage of the fact that all airlines other than those headquartered in the US, the UK and France – the airlines of the three Western victorious powers of World War II — were banned from West Berlin. By 1975, all commercial operations were branded Aeroamerica . By 1976, the size of the airline's Berlin -based fleet had doubled to six aircraft. These included four Boeing 720s as well as

7140-668: The airline's new Berlin Tegel base to fulfill a five-year charter contract the company had concluded with Berliner Flugring , at the time West Berlin's leading package tour operator, to undertake a series of short- and medium-haul inclusive tour (IT) charter flights to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands from the start of the 1975 summer season. Aeroamerica had taken over this contract from Modern Air . The decision to supply whole-plane charter airline seats to West Berlin's foremost package tour operator enabled

7259-547: The airline's operating costs. Federal route awards to other airlines, such as the Transpacific Route Case , further reduced the number of passengers Pan Am carried and its profit margins. 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 that 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 (equivalent to $ 20,194 in 2023) to land

SECTION 60

#1732798679418

7378-455: The all- first President Stratocruiser service. From June 1954, DC-6Bs began replacing DC-4s on Pan Am's internal German routes. Pan Am introduced the Douglas DC-7C "Seven Seas" on transatlantic routes in summer 1956. In January 1958 the DC-7C nonstop took 10 hours and 45 minutes from Idlewild to London, enabling Pan Am to hold its own against TWA's Super Constellations and Starliners . In 1957, Pan Am started DC-7C flights direct from

7497-470: The bidding process, but Pan American lacked any aircraft to perform the job and did not have landing rights in Cuba. Just days before the 19 October deadline, the three companies decided to form a partnership. ACA chartered a Fairchild FC-2 floatplane from a small Dominican Republic carrier, West Indian Aerial Express, allowing Pan Am to operate the first flight to Havana on 19 October 1927. The three companies formally merged on June 23, 1928. Richard Hoyt

7616-399: The case of Hawaii, flying overwater between the islands, which was upheld in court as being intrinsically interstate commerce because the Federal government had domain over the seas. Note that the Federal government, while not providing economic regulation over intrastate carriers, did regulate them from an operational/safety standpoint. For those purposes intrastate airlines were regulated by

7735-448: The case of air taxis, the CAB chose not to regulate. In the case of intrastate airlines, it was legally unable to. Restriction of flying to a single state was not sufficient to avoid CAB regulation; the additional measures to avoid interstate commerce were critical. Furthermore, flying within a single state was generally interpreted strictly. An aircraft flying outside the boundaries of that one state could trigger CAB authority, including, in

7854-472: The chairmanship of John Robson, the Civil Aeronautics Board "in April 1976 did the unthinkable, becoming the first regulatory body to support deregulation," which President Gerald Ford first spurred in February 1975 with a proposal to abolish the CAB altogether. In the late 1970s, during the administration of President Jimmy Carter , and under the guidance of his economic advisor Alfred E. Kahn (who had specialized in regulatory economics, having written one of

7973-455: 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. Construction crews, including Bill Mullahey who would later oversee Pan Am's Pacific operations, cleared coral from lagoons, constructed hotels, and installed the radio navigation equipment necessary for the clippers to island hop from Pearl City Seaplane Base , Hawaii , to Asia. The airline won

8092-407: The contract for a San Francisco– Canton mail route later that year and operated its first commercial flight carrying mail and express (no passengers) in a Martin M-130 from Alameda to Manila amid media fanfare on November 22, 1935. The five-leg, 8,000-mile (13,000 km) flight arrived in Manila on November 29 and returned to San Francisco on December 6, cutting the time between the two cities by

8211-405: The day of the new terminal pre-inauguration at West Berlin's Tegel Airport, Aeroamerica stationed its first Boeing 720 at Tegel for crew familiarisation flights. This aircraft was painted in a basic Braniff colour scheme modified with a white Air Club International style cheatline and a black Berliner Flug Ring inscription by the main door. By March 1975, a further two Boeing 720s arrived at

8330-474: The eight-passenger S-38, began flying for Pan Am in 1931. Carrying the nicknames American Clipper , Southern Clipper , and Caribbean Clipper , they were the first of the series of 28 Clipper s that symbolized Pan Am between 1931 and 1946. During this time, Pan Am operated Clipper services to Latin America from the International Pan American Airport at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida . In 1937 Pan Am turned to Britain and France to begin seaplane service between

8449-419: The end of the year, Pan Am offered flights along the west coast of South America to Peru. Following government favors for the denial of mail contracts to their competition, a forced merger was created with New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line , giving 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

8568-481: The evening of January 21, 1970, was delayed for several hours by engine failure affecting the scheduled Clipper Young America . Clipper Victor was substituted for the flight from New York John F. Kennedy to London Heathrow ( Clipper Victor was destroyed seven years later in the Tenerife air disaster , in a collision with a KLM 747-200). While on the tarmac at Heathrow, two students from Aston University boarded

8687-496: 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

8806-496: The existing airlines, avoided gluts and shortages of passengers on certain routes, and (partly by allowing airlines to carry air mail ) secured airline service for communities that would have otherwise been served less, or not have been served at all (due to low passenger traffic or other reasons). CAB authority included: Airlines had no ability to make competitive decisions, absent CAB approval, on choice of route or fare charged on any particular route. The Act also prevented

8925-487: The fall of 1978 with two roundtrip nonstop flights every weekday. The company's new scheduled passenger flights were an immediate success. The following year, the firm prepared to launch additional scheduled services linking Seattle-Tacoma and Portland, Oregon , with Honolulu . According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), in late 1979 Aeroamerica was operating nonstop Boeing 707 jet service four days

9044-482: The fastest scheduled steamship by over two weeks. (Both the United States and the Philippine Islands issued special stamps for the two flights.) The first passenger flight left Alameda on October 21, 1936. The fare from San Francisco to Manila or Hong Kong in 1937 was US$ 950 one way (equivalent to $ 20,135 in 2023) and US$ 1,710 (equivalent to $ 36,242 in 2023) round trip. This later became known as

9163-524: The first circumnavigation of the globe by a commercial airliner. Another first occurred in January 1943, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first US president to fly abroad, in the Dixie Clipper . During this period Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a Clipper pilot; he was aboard the Clipper Eclipse when it crashed in Syria on June 19, 1947. While waiting at Foynes, Ireland, for

9282-475: The first federal regulatory regime, since the 1930s, to be totally dismantled — and this happened on January 1, 1985. The remaining tasks were transferred to the Secretary of Transportation except for a few going to the U.S. Postal Service . The CAB regulated almost all air transportation in the US, but there were some exceptions. The CAB chose not to regulate airlines flying "small aircraft". This

9401-695: The first scheduled round-the-world airline flight. In September, the weekly DC-4 was scheduled to leave San Francisco at 22:00 Thursday as Flight 1, stopping at Honolulu, Midway , Wake , Guam, Manila, Bangkok , and arriving in Calcutta on Monday at 12:45, where it met Flight 2, a Constellation that had left New York at 23:30 Friday. The DC-4 returned to San Francisco as Flight 2; the Constellation left Calcutta at 13:30 Tuesday, stopped at Karachi , Istanbul , London, Shannon , Gander , and arrived LaGuardia Thursday at 14:55. A few months later, PA 3 took over

9520-441: The first year of deregulation) there were still 11 air travel clubs operationally regulated under Part 123, though by May 1980 it had dropped to seven. The CAB divided the airlines it regulated into categories according to the roles they were meant to play. The following draws from the CAB's FY 1977 Report to Congress dated May 1978, and so reflects the state of CAB airline certification just prior to deregulation. The first split

9639-420: The five-year contract it had signed with the airline in late 1974, citing reliability issues as the main reason for its decision. Aeroamerica closed its Berlin base in November 1979, at the end of the summer season. Following its decision to exit the West Berlin charter market, Aeroamerica adopted a new strategy that sought to refocus the airline as a low-fare transatlantic scheduled operator, beginning with

9758-488: The following August there were 65. Pan Am considered purchasing the world's first jetliner , the British De Havilland Comet , but instead waited to become Boeing 707 launch customer in 1955 with an order for 20. It also purchased 25 Douglas DC-8 , which could seat six across. The 707 was originally to be 144 inches (3.66 m) wide with five-abreast seating but Boeing widened their design to match

9877-425: The former Berlin operation, as well as the seizure of one of the company's aircraft at Tegel Airport. The CAB's subsequent decision to revoke the firm's exempt permit effectively grounded Aeroamerica, resulting in a filing under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code on November 19, 1979 seeking protection from creditors while reorganising the business under the bankruptcy court 's supervision. On June 30, 1980,

9996-534: 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 a scheduled route network of 81,410 unduplicated miles (131,000 km). During that period, the airline was profitable, and its cash reserves totaled $ 1 billion (equivalent to $ 6.69 billion in 2023) . Most routes were between New York, Europe, and South America, and between Miami and

10115-428: The latter half of 1982, when the FAA grounded it for a maintenance violation regarding the operation of a non- airworthy aircraft. Aeroamerica operated the following aircraft types: Aeroamerica and its sister company Air Club International , which was formed in 1970 as Club International and had operated its first commercial flight across the Atlantic to Amsterdam with an ex- TWA Boeing 707 in 1971, claimed to be

10234-623: The limits. For instance, in 1971, it exempted Executive Airlines and Air New England (at that time a commuter carrier) to fly propeller aircraft up to 44 seats to expand service in New England. On five occasions, the CAB certificated former air taxi/commuter airlines to fly larger aircraft. These airlines were then regulated by the CAB like any other CAB carrier: An airline that restricted flying to within one state and took other steps to minimize participation in interstate commerce could avoid CAB regulation and fly as an intrastate airline . In

10353-593: The local service carriers as flying distinctly less capacity, smaller aircraft and shorter routes than the trunks. Local service carriers were also the biggest recipients of CAB subsidies, as shown below. In 1978, the CAB paid a total of $ 66.3 million in subsidies to airlines (over $ 275 million in 2024 dollars) of which $ 58.5 million was paid to local service carriers, equivalent to over 40% of local service carrier operating profits that year. Other CAB domestic categories included intra-Alaskan , Hawaiian , helicopter , regional , air taxi , and cargo . Historically there

10472-471: The loss of business at its Berlin base. Aeroamerica's wet-/sublease customers included Egyptair , Kıbrıs Türk Hava Yolları (KTHY) — the Northern Cyprus flag carrier , Laker Airways , Libyan Arab Airlines , Pakistan International Airlines and Saudia . For instance, the 1977 Kıbrıs wet lease, which ran for several years, entailed the stationing of a fully crewed Boeing 720 at Ercan to operate

10591-448: The luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo ("The Blue Meatball"), the use of the word " Clipper " in its aircraft names and call signs , and the white uniform caps of its pilots. Founded in 1927 by two U.S. Army Air Corps majors, Pan Am began as a scheduled airmail and passenger service flying between Key West , Florida, and Havana , Cuba. In

10710-445: The nature of its business required flight attendants to be stationed anywhere, involving frequent postings to overseas stations at short notice to cover global ad hoc and lease commitments. It furthermore argued that adopting other Allied airlines' local employment conditions and pay for its own flight attendants would restrict operational flexibility and increase costs, that this would undermine its ability to compete globally and that

10829-549: The negative publicity, management refused to return to the negotiating table and the strike eventually collapsed as the peak summer season drew to a close by the end of August. Following the end of the labour unrest at the company, the FAA subjected Aeroamerica to an unannounced safety audit later the same year. The airline's management alleged that the FAA's move had been prompted by a dismissed flight attendant's act of revenge. The short-term wet - and subleases Aeroamerica had concluded with other airlines partially compensated for

10948-579: The number of flight attendants from four to three per aircraft as well as by hiring contract labour from an unnamed UK airline. As these developments further aggravated the already tense standoff between the airline and its flight attendants' union, the latter sought to increase pressure on the company to settle the dispute by airing its members' grievances in public. It alleged that Aeroamerica's policy of only complying with minimum FAA requirements resulted in overworking flight attendants, putting lives of crew and passengers at risk in case of an emergency. Despite

11067-495: 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

11186-457: The regulations were completely revamped, with most commercial operations moved to Part 121. Such operators were then known as Part 121 commercial operators or simply just commercial operators . A prominent example of such a carrier was Zantop International Airlines (ZIA), which started in 1972 as a Part 121 commercial operator, uncertificated by the CAB. The CAB regularly enforced its powers against uncertificated carriers engaged in activities

11305-421: The same kind of proceedings as huge airlines like United and American. 1975 certification proceedings for Munz Northern were memorialized in 32 pages of CAB reports, encompassing the deliberations of the (usually five but in this case four) member CAB board itself, plus the earlier deliberations of an administrative law judge in front of whom six people appeared, representing Munz and two other interested parties. At

11424-642: The scheduled carriers. Scheduled carriers were split between domestic and international. Two carriers were exclusively international: Air Micronesia (a subsidiary of Continental Airlines ) and cargo carrier Seaboard . One carrier was almost exclusively international: Pan Am and, until deregulation, was not permitted to sell tickets for transport within the continental US. While it could fly aircraft from, say, New York to Los Angeles, it could not sell tickets between New York and Los Angeles despite having significant international operations in both cities. All other international carriers were also domestic carriers. There

11543-499: The 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. Pan Am started its South American routes with Consolidated Commodore and Sikorsky S-38 flying boats . The S-40 , larger than

11662-597: The standard texts and previously been chairman of the New York Public Service Commission , the body regulating utilities in New York State , and was appointed CAB Chairman), the CAB continued to be the focus of the early deregulation movement, and its dissolution was one of the most conspicuous pioneering events of the movement. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 specified that the CAB would eventually be disestablished —

11781-423: The start of scheduled weekly contract Foreign Air Mail (F.A.M. 18) service and later passenger flights from New York (Port Washington, L.I.) to both France and Britain. The Southern route to France was inaugurated for airmail on May 20, 1939, by the Yankee Clipper piloted by Arthur E. LaPorte flying via Horta, Azores, and Lisbon, Portugal to Marseilles. Passenger service over the route was added on June 28, 1939, by

11900-493: The time, Munz had six aircraft, each carrying 10 people or fewer. Further, Munz then had the same reporting requirement as carriers like United, all the usual reams of data that had to be sent to the CAB, for a carrier a tiny fraction of the size. The agency had its headquarters in the Universal Building in Dupont Circle , Washington, D.C. The agency had moved there by May 1959. Previously it had been headquartered in

12019-535: The unofficial national carrier of the United States. It was a founding member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global airline industry association. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Pan Am began facing a series of challenges both internal and external, along with rising competition from the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978. After several attempts at financial restructuring and rebranding throughout

12138-496: The winter on October 5 while transatlantic service to Lisbon via the Azores continued into 1941. During World War II, Pan Am flew over 90 million mi (140 million km) worldwide in support of military operations. The "Clippers" – the name hearkened back to the 19th-century fast-sailing clippers – were the only American passenger aircraft of the time capable of intercontinental travel. To compete with ocean liners,

12257-731: The world's largest operators of Boeing "executive aircraft" . Uncertificated carrier The authority of the Civil Aeronautics Board to regulate airlines was established by the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938. The 1938 Act was amended by the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, but the main effect of that was to establish the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), which among other things regulated (as it still does) airline operations and safety. The 1966 Department of Transportation Act, which established

12376-449: The worldwide nature of its operations made all flight attendants' employment conditions subject to American labour law as well as CAB and FAA regulations to comply with US legal requirements. Initially, the airline was able to maintain its full flying programme at the beginning of the busy summer holiday period despite staff not showing up for work, following the first week of unsuccessful negotiations between Aeroamerica's local management and

12495-530: The years other local flight attendant bases outside the US included London for intra-Europe and transatlantic flying, Warsaw, Istanbul and Belgrade for intra-Europe flights, a Tel Aviv base solely staffing the daily Tel Aviv-Paris-Tel Aviv service, a Nairobi base solely staffing the Nairobi-Frankfurt-Nairobi service as well as Delhi and Bombay bases for India-Frankfurt flights. Pan Am also operated Rest and Recreation (R&R) flights during

12614-522: Was a territorial category, superseded by Hawaiian and Intra-Alaskan after Hawaii and Alaska became states. Some carriers had more than one domestic status. For instance, Alaska Airlines was listed as both an Alaska carrier and a trunk, however, for the purposes of 1978 CAB statistics it was counted as an Alaska carrier. The wide variety of carriers in the table below hints at problems with just one facet of CAB regulation. Tiny Alaskan back-country carriers like Munz Northern and Kodiak-Western were subject to

12733-410: Was a split within international between passenger airlines (which were always free to carry cargo and sometimes flew pure cargo aircraft) and cargo airlines. Domestic had many subcategories. The original CAB scheduled carriers were known as trunkline carriers , trunklines , trunk airlines or simply just trunks, with most (but not all) such carriers having certificates dating back to 1938, the date of

12852-514: Was added on the Northern route on July 8, 1939, by the Yankee Clipper . Eastbound flights left on Saturday at 7:30 am and arrived at Southampton on Sunday at 1 pm GCT. Westbound service departed Southampton on Wednesday at Noon and arrived at Port Washington on Thursday at 3 pm. After the outbreak of World War II in Europe on September 1, 1939, the terminus became Foynes until the service ceased for

12971-465: Was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and pioneered numerous innovations of the modern airline industry, such as jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems . Until its dissolution on December 4, 1991, Pan Am "epitomized

13090-475: Was between scheduled and non-scheduled (charter carriers). The CAB referred to non-scheduled carriers, in 1978, as supplemental air carriers . Prior to 1955, the CAB called them irregular air carriers . Scheduled carriers were also free to offer charters. Throughout the history of the CAB, the supplementals constantly attempted to become scheduled carriers and the CAB constantly rejected them. There were also tight restrictions on supplementals, designed to protect

13209-570: Was formalized in Part 298 of the Board's economic regulations, which in 1952 gave a blanket authorization for any airline operating an aircraft with a maximum gross takeoff weight of 12,500 lbs or less. Such airlines were originally known as "air taxis", later as commuter airlines or Part 298 carriers . Confusingly, "air taxi" was also the term by which the CAB referred to Aspen Airways and Wright Air Lines (after they became certificated carriers) within

13328-663: Was founded as a shell company on March 14, 1927, by United States Army Air Corps officers Henry "Hap" Arnold , Carl Spaatz and John Jouett out of concern for the growing influence of the German-owned Colombian air carrier SCADTA , in Central America . Operating in Colombia since 1920, SCADTA lobbied hard for landing rights in the Panama Canal Zone , ostensibly to survey air routes for

13447-590: 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 Airport in New York. It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000 m ) roof, suspended far from

13566-615: Was later renamed as Panair do Brasil . Pan Am also partnered with the Grace Shipping Company in 1929 to form Pan American-Grace Airways , better known as Panagra, to gain a foothold to destinations in South America. In the same year, Pan Am acquired a controlling stake in Mexicana de Aviación and took over Mexicana's Ford Trimotor route between Brownsville, Texas and Mexico City , extending this service to

13685-459: 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

13804-544: Was short-lived, as all were commandeered for military service when the United States entered World War II. During World War II most Clippers were pressed into military service. A new Pan Am subsidiary pioneered an air military-supply route across the Atlantic from Brazil to West Africa. The onward flight to Sudan and Egypt tracked an existing British civil air route. In January 1942, the Pacific Clipper completed

13923-831: Was the first airline to begin regular landplane flights across the Atlantic on October 24, 1945. In January 1946, Pan Am scheduled seven DC-4s a week east from LaGuardia Airport , five to London ( Hurn Airport ) and two to Lisbon. The time to Hurn was 17 hours and 40 minutes, including stops, or 20 hours and 45 minutes to Lisbon. A Boeing 314 flying boat flew LaGuardia to Lisbon once every two weeks in 29 hours and 30 minutes; flying boat flights ended shortly thereafter. TWA's transatlantic challenge—the impending introduction of its faster, pressurized Lockheed Constellations —resulted in Pan Am ordering its own Constellation fleet at $ 750,000 (equivalent to $ 10.07 million in 2023) apiece. Pan Am began transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1946, beating TWA by three weeks. In January 1946,

14042-523: Was the founder and owner of Aeroamerica, Inc. Aeroamerica was incorporated in August 1973. Aeroamerica commenced commercial operations in 1974 with six-second-hand Boeing 720 jetliners . One of these was sourced from Aer Lingus while the remaining five were all ex- Braniff examples. (Aeroamerica's first aircraft had actually been delivered the year before, the same month the company had been incorporated.) Aeroamerica's Boeing 720s were configured in

14161-629: Was well regarded for its modern fleet, innovative cabin design and experienced crews: cabin staff were multilingual and usually college graduates, hired from around the world, frequently with nursing training. Pan Am's onboard service and cuisine, inspired by Maxim's de Paris , were delivered "with a personal flair that has rarely been equaled." 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-4s , then with DC-6Bs (from 1954) and Boeing 727s (from 1966). This had come about as

#417582