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79-683: The STA Plaza ( The Plaza or Spokane Transit Authority Plaza ), is a transit center located in Downtown Spokane , Washington . It is the main hub of customer service and transit operations for the Spokane Transit Authority (STA), with 31 out of its 52 bus routes connecting with The Plaza. Transit operations through the Plaza resemble that of an airline hub , with bays of buses arriving and departing in waves, providing timed transfer opportunities for passengers. It

158-813: A "through plane" flight operated by two or more airlines where a single aircraft was used with the individual airlines operating it with their own flight crews on their respective portions of a direct, no-change-of-plane multi-stop flight. In the U.S., a number of air carriers including Alaska Airlines , American Airlines , Braniff International Airways , Continental Airlines , Delta Air Lines , Eastern Airlines , Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) , Hughes Airwest , National Airlines (1934-1980) , Pan Am , Trans World Airlines ( TWA ), United Airlines and Western Airlines previously operated such cooperative "through plane" interchange flights on both domestic and/or international services with these schedules appearing in their respective system timetables. Delta Air Lines pioneered

237-600: 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

316-511: 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

395-702: 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

474-506: 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

553-481: 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

632-470: A major renovation in 2017. Open space within the plaza atrium was expanded and improvements such as electronic arrival monitoring boards were added. The renovation was designed by ALSC architects. In preparation of the City Line , Plaza Bays 9 and 10 were upgraded with raised platforms, shelters, digital real-time arrivals board, off-board fare collection, and a City Line branded station marker. Plaza Bay 6

711-498: A major transport hub, often multimodal (bus and rail), may be referred to as a transport centre or, in American English , as a transit center . Sections of city streets that are devoted to functioning as transit hubs are referred to as transit malls . In cities with a central station , that station often also functions as a transport hub in addition to being a railway station. Journey planning involving transport hubs

790-605: 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

869-578: 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

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948-638: 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

1027-481: 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

1106-449: 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

1185-508: 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

1264-652: 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

1343-436: Is also seating, public restrooms, and real-time arrival boards. As of May 2023, there are 13 STA branded bay markers with digital real-time arrival screens. Three of the bays include high performance transit amenities such as raised platforms for near level boarding, shelters, and off-board fare collection. Transit center Historically, an interchange service in the scheduled passenger air transport industry involved

1422-483: Is more complicated than direct trips, as journeys will typically require a transfer at the hub. Modern electronic journey planners for public transport have a digital representation of both the stops and transport hubs in a network, to allow them to calculate journeys that include transfers at hubs. Airports have a twofold hub function. First, they concentrate passenger traffic into one place for onward transportation. This makes it important for airports to be connected to

1501-645: Is one of Spokane Transit's four primary transit centers, along with the Spokane Community College , Pence-Cole Valley , and West Plains transit centers. Prior to the construction of the STA Plaza, Spokane Transit's downtown bus operations were dispersed outdoors along downtown streets obstructing storefronts and congesting sidewalks. As early as the 1970s, discussions were in place to centralize operations and create an indoor facility for passengers to wait and make transfers. The initial proposal

1580-524: 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

1659-650: 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

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1738-638: 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)

1817-803: 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

1896-551: 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

1975-821: 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

2054-589: 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,

2133-606: 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

2212-590: 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

2291-684: The hub and spoke system for aviation in 1955 from its hub in Atlanta, Georgia , United States , in an effort to compete with Eastern Air Lines . FedEx adopted the hub and spoke model for overnight package delivery during the 1970s. When the United States airline industry was deregulated in 1978, Delta's hub and spoke paradigm was adopted by several airlines. Many airlines around the world operate hub-and-spoke systems facilitating passenger connections between their respective flights. Intermodal passenger transport hubs in public transport include bus stations, railway stations and metro stations , while

2370-735: 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

2449-465: 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

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2528-627: 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)

2607-778: 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

2686-483: 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

2765-662: 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

2844-765: 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

2923-735: 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,

3002-605: 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

3081-555: 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

3160-439: 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

3239-597: 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;

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3318-501: 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

3397-411: The airline does not fly directly between. Airlines have extended the hub-and-spoke model in various ways. One method is to create additional hubs on a regional basis, and to create major routes between the hubs. This reduces the need to travel long distances between nodes that are close together. Another method is to use focus cities to implement point-to-point service for high traffic routes, bypassing

3476-451: 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

3555-689: 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

3634-569: 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

3713-521: 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

3792-521: The buildings to the immediate North and East of it via the skywalk system. This system allows indoor walkability to River Park Square mall, Spokane City Hall , Spokane Public Library 's Central library, and the Parkade Plaza parking garage , among others. A Spokane Police precinct was also opened across the street in 2020. Inside the Plaza, there is a Subway location, Joe's Mini Market, and STA's customer service and security offices. There

3871-455: 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

3950-459: 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

4029-615: 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

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4108-419: 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

4187-481: 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

4266-496: 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

4345-482: 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

4424-524: 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

4503-695: 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

4582-488: 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

4661-457: The hub entirely. There are usually three kinds of freight hubs: sea-road, sea-rail, and road-rail, though they can also be sea-road-rail. With the growth of containerization , intermodal freight transport has become more efficient, often making multiple legs cheaper than through services—increasing the use of hubs. Pan Am Pan American World Airways , originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am ,

4740-534: 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

4819-448: 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

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4898-495: 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

4977-499: 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

5056-423: 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

5135-410: The surrounding transport infrastructure, including roads, bus services, and railway and rapid transit systems. Secondly some airports function as intra-modular hubs for the airlines, or airline hubs . This is a common strategy among network airlines who fly only from limited number of airports and usually will make their customers change planes at one of their hubs if they want to get between two cities

5214-535: 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

5293-496: 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,

5372-578: 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

5451-403: Was a public-private partnership that would have built the transit center on the ground floor of a new high rise office and retail building. However, after the deal collapsed, the plan evolved into a two-story building to be developed by Spokane Transit Authority. The facility opened in the summer of 1995 and was designed by Tan Boyle Heyamoto Architects. The interior of the STA Plaza underwent

5530-405: 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

5609-405: Was also later upgraded with similar amenities during a Riverside Avenue reconstruction project in anticipation of future high performance transit lines. In May 2023, Bays 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, and 12 also received STA branded station markers with digital real-time arrival times. The Plaza is located in Downtown Spokane with access to the adjacent streets on three sides. The Plaza is also connected to

5688-465: 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

5767-663: 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

5846-590: 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

5925-615: 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

6004-459: 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

6083-544: 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

6162-831: 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,

6241-629: 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

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