Editing Pan Am (section)

==History==

===Formation===
[[File:FAM4 First Flight 1927.jpg|thumb|right|Flown cover autographed by pilot Cy Caldwell and carried from [[Key West, Florida]], to [[Havana]], Cuba, on the first contract airmail flight operated by Pan American Airways, October 19, 1927]]
[[File:Pam American World Airways Office.jpg|thumb|right|"Birthplace of Pan American World Airways", Key West, Florida]]
[[File:Consolidated commodore flying boat common history.jpg|thumb|Tourists with a Consolidated Commodore flying boat, used to fly routes in the Caribbean in the 1930s.]]

Pan American Airways, Incorporated (PAA) was founded as a [[Shell corporation#Different meaning|shell company]] on March 14, 1927, by [[United States Army Air Corps]] officers [[Henry H. Arnold|Henry "Hap" Arnold]], [[Carl Spaatz]] and John Jouett out of concern for the growing influence of the German-owned [[Colombia]]n air carrier [[SCADTA]],{{sfn|Daley|1980|pp=27–28}} 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 a connection to the United States, which the Air Corps viewed as a precursor to a possible German aerial threat to the canal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.panam.org/take-off/676-paa-incorporation-03-1927 |title=Pan American Airways Incorporation, March 14, 1927 |publisher=PanAm.org |access-date=11 April 2021 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411194209/https://www.panam.org/take-off/676-paa-incorporation-03-1927 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the spring of 1927, the [[United States Post Office Department|United States Post Office]] requested bids on a contract to deliver mail from [[Key West, Florida]] to [[Havana]], Cuba before 19 October 1927.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.panam.org/take-off/625-inaugural-flight-1927-oct-19 |title=Very Beginning: 10/19/27 |publisher=PanAm.org |access-date=11 April 2021 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411204110/https://www.panam.org/take-off/625-inaugural-flight-1927-oct-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Arnold and Spaatz drew up the [[prospectus (finance)|prospectus]] for Pan American after they learned that SCADTA hired a company in [[Delaware]] to obtain air mail contracts from the [[Federal government of the United States|US government]].

Also competing for the contract, [[Juan Trippe]] formed the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (ACA) on June 2, 1927, with {{FXConvert|USA|250|k|index=US-GDP|year=1927|cursign=$|showdate=no}} in startup capital and the backing of powerful and politically connected financiers including [[Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney]] and [[W. Averell Harriman]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Anthony J|last1=Mayo|first2=Nitin|last2=Nohria|first3=Mark|last3=Rennella|title=Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders: What the Airline Industry Can Teach Us about Leadership|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|date=2009|isbn=9780230615670|pages=49}}</ref> Their operation had the all-important landing rights for [[Havana]], having acquired American International Airways, 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 bank]]er Richard Hoyt to bid for the contract.<ref name=cent>{{cite web |url=http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Commercial_Aviation/Pan_Am/Tran12.htm |title=Air Transportation: Pan American: The History of America's "Chosen Instrument" for Overseas Air Transport |publisher=U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission |access-date=11 April 2021 |last=Siddiqi |first=As if |year=2003}}</ref>

The Postal Service awarded Pan American Airways the [[Airmails of the United States|US mail]] delivery contract to Cuba, at the end of the bidding process, but Pan American lacked any aircraft to perform the job and did not have landing rights in Cuba.<ref name="afm67">{{cite journal| last = Newton| first = Dr. Wesley P.| year = 1967| title = The Role of the Army Air Arm in Latin America, 1922–1931| journal = Air Power Journal| issue = September–October| url = http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/sep-oct/newton.html |access-date = January 22, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100815003451/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/sep-oct/newton.html| archive-date = August 15, 2010| url-status = dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>John R. Steele, "The Very Beginning" [https://web.archive.org/web/20000303174248/http://www.panam.com/default1.asp History of Pan American World Airways: The Early Years]</ref> The three companies formally merged on June 23, 1928. Richard Hoyt was named as president of the new Aviation Corporation of the Americas, but Trippe and his partners held 40% of the [[equity (finance)|equity]] and Whitney was made president. Trippe became operational head of Pan American Airways, the new company's principal operating subsidiary.<ref name="cent"/>

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 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.{{sfn|Bilstein|2001|p=79}} The airline expanded internationally, benefiting from a virtual monopoly on foreign routes.<ref name=chasing>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/companies/panam.html|title=Chasing the Sun – Pan Am|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]|access-date= May 31, 2009|year=2001 }}</ref>

Trippe and his associates planned to extend Pan Am's network through all of [[Central America|Central]] and South America. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Pan Am purchased a number of ailing or defunct airlines in Central and South America and negotiated with postal officials to win most of the government's [[Airmails of the United States#Beginning Contract Air Mail (CAM) service|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 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.<ref name="panam.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.panam.org/images/Stories/Ralph-ONeills-Magic-Carpet-The-Once-And-Future-Commodore.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920080842/https://www.panam.org/images/Stories/Ralph-ONeills-Magic-Carpet-The-Once-And-Future-Commodore.pdf |title=Ralph O'Neills Magic Carpet-The Once-And Future Commodore |website=Pan Am|archive-date=September 20, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |title=Latin Laboratory |series=Across The Pacific |first1=Lyons |last1=Stephen |network=PBS |date=May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Neill |first1=Ralph |last2=Hood |first2=Joseph |title=A Dream Of Eagles |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |date=1973 |isbn=978-0395166109}}</ref> Its Brazilian subsidiary [[NYRBA do Brasil]] was later renamed as [[Panair do Brasil]].{{sfn|Homan|Reilly|2000|p=38}} 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.<ref name=cent/> In the same year, Pan Am acquired a controlling stake in [[Mexicana de Aviación (1921–2010)|Mexicana de Aviación]] and took over Mexicana's [[Ford Trimotor]] route between [[Brownsville, Texas]] and [[Mexico City]], extending this service to the [[Yucatan Peninsula]] to connect with Pan Am's Caribbean route network.<ref name="The Brownsville Base">{{cite web|title=The Brownsville Base|url=http://www.panam.org/explorations/539-pan-am-s-base-at-brownsville-2|website=Pan Am Historical Foundation|access-date=February 8, 2016|archive-date=February 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219210111/http://www.panam.org/explorations/539-pan-am-s-base-at-brownsville-2|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Pan Am's [[holding company]], the Aviation Corporation of the Americas, was one of the most sought after [[stock#Shares|stock]]s 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 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]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929%20-%200870.html|title=U.S. Aviation Development|work=Flight International|access-date=May 31, 2009|date=April 25, 1929}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2006/05/09/206434/50-years-ago-09-may-1956.html|title=50 years ago: 9 May 1956|work=Flight International|access-date=May 31, 2009|date=May 9, 2006}}</ref> The Aviation Corporation of the Americas changed its name to ''Pan American Airways Corporation'' in 1931.

===Clipper era===
[[File:PAA "The Americas" Route Map 1936.jpg|thumb|left|upright|PAA routes as of 1936]]
[[File:PAA Flying Clipper Cruises to South America 1941.jpg|thumb|right|upright|1941 advertising mailer for Pan Am's "Flying Clipper Cruises" to South America]]
[[File:PAA San Francisco - Manila - Hong Kong Clipper Schedule.jpg|thumb|right|PAA's ''[[China Clipper]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/sfh-cc.html |title=China Clipper |access-date=June 11, 2009 |archive-date=May 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519114745/http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/sfh-cc.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> service cut the time of a transpacific crossing from as much as six weeks by sea to just six days by air.]]

Pan Am started its South American routes with [[Consolidated Commodore]] and [[Sikorsky S-38]] [[flying boat]]s. The  [[Sikorsky S-40|S-40]],  larger than 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 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 [[Short Empire|C class flying boat]] RMA ''Cavalier''.<ref name=manager>{{cite book|title=Pan Am Pioneer: A Manager's Memoir from Seaplane Clippers to Jumbo Jets|last1=Kauffman|first1=Sanford|last2=Hopkins|first2=George|year=1995|publisher=Texas Tech University Press|isbn=978-0-89672-357-3 |page=195}}</ref><!-- This service was not put into operation in its entirety (Norfolk to Europe); Pan Am also procured an airmail contract from Boston to [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]], Nova Scotia. Bermuda Clipper, a [[Sikorsky S-42]]-->

On July 5, 1937, survey flights across the North Atlantic began.{{sfn|Kauffman|Hopkins|1995|pp=59, 195}} Pan Am ''Clipper III'', a [[Sikorsky S-42]], landed at [[Botwood]] in the [[Bay of Exploits]] in [[Dominion of Newfoundland|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 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 Atoll|Midway Island]], [[Wake Island]], [[Guam]], and  [[Manila]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wt8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA485|title=Trans Pacific Airlines To Touch At Islands|magazine=Popular Mechanics|date=April 1935}}</ref> 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 the clippers would stop at on their 4- to 5-day flight.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uN4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA862|title=Wing Over The Pacific|magazine=Popular Mechanics|date=June 1935}}</ref>  Pan Am ran its first survey flight to Honolulu in April 1935 with a Sikorsky S-42 flying boat.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=td4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4|title=Clipper Conquers Pacific on Hawaiian Hops|magazine=Popular Mechanics|date=July 1935}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gandt |first=Robert |title=China Clipper: The Age of the Great Flying Boats |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781591143031 |location=Annapolis, Maryland |language=en}}</ref> The airline won the contract for a San Francisco–[[Guangzhou|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, California|Alameda]] to Manila amid media fanfare on November 22, 1935. The five-leg, {{convert|8,000|mi|km|adj=on}} flight arrived in Manila on November 29 and returned to San Francisco on December 6, cutting the time between the two cities by the fastest scheduled steamship by over two weeks.<ref>''Wings Over The Pacific''</ref> (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.<ref name=clippers>{{cite book|title=Pan American Clippers: The Golden Age of Flying Boats|last=Trautmann|first=James|year=2008|publisher=The Boston Mills Press}}</ref> The fare from San Francisco to Manila or Hong Kong in 1937 was {{currency|950|USD}} one way ({{Inflation|US|950|1937|cursign=$|fmt=eq}}) and US$1,710 ({{Inflation|US|1710|1937|cursign=$|fmt=eq}}) round trip.<ref>Pan American Airways System U.S. Cy. Passenger Tariff – Pacific, Orient, & Alaska Services Eff. May 1, 1937</ref> This later became known as the Pan Am China Clipper route, from San Francisco, leading to Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.matthewsattler.com/p/lessons-from-pan-am-for-aerospace |title= Lessons from Pan Am for aerospace startups |author= Matthew Sattler |date= 20 August 2021 }}</ref>

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."<ref>LIFE, August 23, 1937</ref>

[[File:US and PI First Transpacific Air Mail Stamps 1935.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Stamps issued by the United States and Philippine Islands for Air Mail carried on the first flights in each direction of PAA's Transpacific ''"[[China Clipper]]"'' service between San Francisco, California, and Manila, Philippines. (November 22 – December 6, 1935)]]

[[File:FAM 18 Round the World 1939.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Flown cover carried around the world on PAA [[Boeing 314 Clipper]]s and by Imperial Airways, June 24 – July 28, 1939]]
[[File:Miami PanAm Terminal 1940.jpg|thumb|right|Pan Am's flying boat terminal at [[Dinner Key, Florida|Dinner Key]] in Miami, Florida, was a [[transport hub|hub]] of inter-American travel during the 1930s and 1940s.]] Pan Am also used [[Boeing 314]] flying boats for the Pacific route: in China, passengers could connect to domestic flights on the Pan Am-operated [[China National Aviation Corporation]] (CNAC) network, co-owned with the [[Government of the Republic of China|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.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790136,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409220917/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790136,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 9, 2008|title=Pan Am to Singapore |magazine=[[time (magazine)|TIME]] |date=June 2, 1941}}</ref>

Six large, long-range [[Boeing 314]] flying boats were delivered to Pan Am in early 1939. On March 30, 1939, the ''[[Yankee Clipper (flying boat)| Yankee Clipper]]'', piloted by [[Harold E. Gray]], made the first-ever trans-Atlantic passenger flight. The first leg of the flight, [[Baltimore]] to [[Horta, Azores|Horta]], took 17 hours and 32 minutes and covered {{convert|2,400|mi|km nmi}}. The second leg from Horta to Pan Am's newly built airport in Lisbon took 7 hours and 7 minutes and covered {{convert|1,200|mi|km}}.<ref>{{cite news|title=Clipper Completes Atlantic Crossing|work=The New York Times|date=March 31, 1939}}</ref> The Boeing 314 also enabled 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.<ref>"EUROPE MAIL HOPS WILL START TODAY: Atlantic Service Will Begin 12 Years After Lindbergh's Flight to Paris" The New York ''Times'', May 20, 1939, p.1</ref> Passenger service over the route was added on June 28, 1939, by the ''[[Dixie Clipper]]'' piloted by R.O.D. Sullivan.<ref>"CLIPPER OFF TODAY ON HISTORIC FLIGHT: Regular Passenger Service to be Started by Pan American Line" The New York ''Times'', June 28, 1939, p. 10</ref> 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]].<ref>CLIPPER OFF TODAY ON NORTHERN ROUTE: Early and Emmons Among 20 Observers to Start Air Mail Hops to Europe" The New York ''Times'' June 24, 1939, p. 34</ref><ref>[http://www.aerodacious.com/FAM018.HTM Foreign Air Mail First Flights F.A.M.18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054052/http://www.aerodacious.com/FAM018.HTM |date=March 4, 2016 }} aerodacious.com</ref> Passenger service was added on the Northern route on July 8, 1939, by the ''Yankee Clipper''.<ref>"First Passenger Flight Today On Northern Route to England: Regular 24-Hour Service to Be Opened", The New York ''Times'', July 8, 1939, p. 11</ref> 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 the winter on October 5 while transatlantic service to [[Lisbon]] via the Azores continued into 1941. During World War II, Pan Am flew over {{convert|90|e6mi|e6km|abbr=unit}} worldwide in support of military operations.<ref name=chasing/>

The "Clippers" – the name hearkened back to the 19th-century fast-sailing [[clipper]]s – were the only American passenger aircraft of the time capable of intercontinental travel. To compete with ocean liners, the airline offered [[First class travel|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.{{sfn|Gandt|1995|p=19}} In 1940 Pan Am and [[Trans World Airlines|TWA]] both received and began using the [[Boeing 307 Stratoliner]], the first [[cabin pressurization|pressurize]]d airliner to enter service. The Boeing 307's airline service was short-lived, as all were commandeered for military service when the United States entered World War II.{{sfn|Kauffman|Hopkins|1995|p=212}}

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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pirie |first1=Gordon |title=Winging it across the Atlantic: Pan Am and Africa, 1940–1990 |journal=Journal of Transatlantic Studies |date=2 February 2021 |volume=19 |pages=72–98 |doi=10.1057/s42738-020-00064-9 |s2cid=231777921 |url=https://rdcu.be/ceFSj |access-date=4 February 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In January 1942, the ''[[Pacific Clipper]]'' completed the first circumnavigation of the globe by a commercial airliner. Another first occurred in January 1943, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first [[President of the United States|US president]] to fly abroad, in the ''[[Dixie Clipper]]''.{{sfn|Bilstein|2001|p=173}} 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fasten your seat belts!|last=Lester|first=Valerie|year=1995|publisher=Paladwr Press|isbn=978-0-9626483-8-0|pages=86–89}}</ref><ref name=Check-Six>{{cite web|title=The Clipper Eclipse|url=http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/ClipperEclipse-NC88845.htm|publisher=Check-Six.com|access-date=May 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808110237/http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/ClipperEclipse-NC88845.htm|archive-date=August 8, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While waiting at Foynes, Ireland, for a Pan Am Clipper flight to New York in 1942, passengers were served a drink today known as [[Irish coffee]] by Chef Joe Sheridan.<ref>[http://flyingboatmuseum.com/coffee.php] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418063740/http://flyingboatmuseum.com/coffee.php|date=April 18, 2010}}</ref>

===Post-war expansion and modernization===
[[File:Pan Am L-049 Constellation at London.jpg|thumb|right|Pan Am [[Lockheed L-049 Constellation]] ''Clipper Great Republic'' at [[Heathrow Airport|London Airport]]]]
[[File:Boeing 377 N1033V PAA Heathrow 12.9.54.jpg|thumb|right|Pan Am [[Boeing 377|Boeing 377 Stratocruiser]] ''Clipper Seven Seas'' at [[Heathrow Airport|London Airport]] in 1954]]
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.<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_48">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2)'', p. 48, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref>

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 Overseas Airlines|American Export Airlines]] across the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] to Europe, and subsequently from others including [[Trans World Airlines|TWA]] to Europe, [[Braniff International Airways|Braniff]] to South America, [[United Airlines|United]] to Hawaii and [[Northwest Airlines|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.{{sfn|Bilstein|2001|p=169}}<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_48"/><ref name="HomeTurf">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – South American problems)'', p. 50, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref>

[[File:Pan Am DC4 Cipper.jpg|thumb|Pan American DC-4 at [[Piarco Airport]], [[Trinidad]] in the 1950s]]
[[American Overseas Airlines]] (AOA) was the first airline to begin regular landplane flights across the Atlantic on October 24, 1945. In January 1946, Pan Am scheduled seven [[Douglas DC-4|DC-4]]s a week east from [[LaGuardia Airport]], five to London ([[Bournemouth Airport|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 Airport|LaGuardia]] to Lisbon once every two weeks in 29 hours and 30 minutes; flying boat flights ended shortly thereafter.<ref group=nb>The 1/46 Air Traffic Guide shows the B314 to Lisbon, but a B314 book says PA's last transatlantic B314 was in December 1945.</ref>

TWA's transatlantic challenge—the impending introduction of its faster, pressurized [[Lockheed Constellation]]s—resulted in Pan Am ordering its own [[Lockheed Constellation|Constellation]] fleet at {{FXConvert|USA|750|k|year=1945|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}} apiece. Pan Am began transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1946, beating TWA by three weeks.<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_48"/>

In January 1946, a flight from Miami to Buenos Aires took 71 hours and 15 minutes in a Pan Am [[Douglas DC-3|DC-3]], but the following summer, DC-4s flew [[New York Kennedy Airport|Idlewild]] to Buenos Aires in 38 hours and 30 minutes. In January 1958, Pan Am's [[Douglas DC-7#Design and development|DC-7B]]s flew New York to Buenos Aires in 25 hours and 20 minutes, while the [[National Airlines (NA)|National]]–Pan Am–Panagra DC-7B via [[Panama City|Panama]] and [[Lima]] took 22 hours and 45 minutes.<ref name="Timetable58"/> [[Convair CV-240 family|Convair 240]]s replaced DC-3s and other pre-war types on Pan Am's shorter flights in the [[Caribbean]] and South America. Pan Am also acquired a few [[Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando|Curtiss C-46]]s for a freight network that eventually extended to Buenos Aires.<ref name="HomeTurf"/>

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 [[Boeing 377|Stratocruiser]] that took 31 hours 45 minutes from San Francisco or 32 hours 15 minutes from Los Angeles. (A flight to Seattle and a connection to Northwest's [[Douglas DC-7#DC-7C|DC-7C]] totaled 24 hours and 13 minutes from San Francisco, but Pan Am was not allowed to fly that route.)<ref name="Timetable58">[http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/pa/pa58/pa58.pdf Pan American Airways System Timetable] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916042320/http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/pa/pa58/pa58.pdf |date=September 16, 2012 }} (pdf) January 1, 1958</ref> 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 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 Atoll|Midway]], [[Wake Island|Wake]], Guam, Manila, [[Bangkok]], and arriving in [[Kolkata|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, County Clare|Shannon]], [[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander]], and arrived LaGuardia Thursday at 14:55. A few months later, PA 3 took over 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 707]]s 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 a year or so in 1975–76, Pan Am finally completed the round-the-world trip, New York to New York.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%202249.html ''Pan Am global 747'', Air Transport ...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112214723/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%202249.html |date=January 12, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', October 28, 1971, p. 677</ref>

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.)<ref name=miami>{{cite web|url=http://scholar.library.miami.edu/panam/history.html |title=Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records – History |publisher=University of Miami Libraries, Special Collections |access-date=June 1, 2009 |year=2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615063857/http://scholar.library.miami.edu/panam/history.html |archive-date=June 15, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="NewImage">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – New name, new aircraft)'', p. 50, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref> In September 1950 Pan Am completed the {{FXConvert|USA|17.45|m|year=1950|cursign=$|index=US-GDP|showdate=no}} purchase of [[American Overseas Airlines]] from [[American Airlines]].<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_48"/> That month Pan Am ordered 45 [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|Douglas DC-6B]]s. The first, ''Clipper Liberty Bell'' (N6518C),<ref>''Aviation News (The Douglas DC-4, DC-6 and DC-7)'', p. 64/5, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref> inaugurated Pan Am's all-[[economy class|tourist]] class ''Rainbow'' service between New York and London on May 1, 1952, to complement the all-[[first class (aviation)|first]] ''President'' Stratocruiser service.<ref name="NewImage"/> From June 1954, [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|DC-6B]]s began replacing DC-4s on Pan Am's internal German routes.<ref name="Berlin1">[http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%202017.html ''BEA in Berlin''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724005700/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%202017.html |date=July 24, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', August 10, 1972, p. 180</ref><ref name="DC6B_THF"/><ref name="Berlin2">''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 8, Temple Press, London, October 2, 1968</ref>

Pan Am introduced the [[Douglas DC-7#DC-7C|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 [[Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation|Super Constellation]]s and [[Lockheed L-1649 Starliner|Starliner]]s. In 1957, Pan Am started DC-7C flights direct from 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history-1950-1959/public/en_gb|title=British Airways – History and heritage (Home > History & heritage > Explore our past >> 1950–1959 (1957: 19 December)|publisher=British Airways plc, London|access-date=October 30, 2011|year=2011}}</ref><ref name="NewImage"/>

In January 1958 Pan Am scheduled 47 flights a week east from Idlewild to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond; the following August there were 65.<ref name="Timetable58"/>

===Jet age===
[[File:Boeing 707-321B, Pan American World Airways - Pan Am AN0944886.jpg|thumb|Boeing 707-321B of Pan American at [[Paris Orly Airport]], 1979 ]]
[[File:Douglas DC-8-32 N804PA PAA AMS 12.03.67 edited-2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Douglas DC-8#DC-8 Series 30|Douglas DC-8-32]] of Pan American at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol]] in 1967]]
Pan Am considered purchasing the world's first [[jet airliner|jetliner]], the British [[De Havilland Comet]], but instead waited to become [[Boeing 707]] launch customer in 1955 with an order for 20. The 707 was originally to be 144 inches (3.66 m) wide with five-abreast seating but [[Boeing]] widened their design to match the DC-8. 

Pan Am's first scheduled jet flight was from [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York Idlewild]] to [[Paris – Le Bourget Airport|Paris Le Bourget]], stopping at [[Gander International Airport|Gander]] to refuel, on October 26, 1958. The [[Boeing 707-120|Boeing 707-121]] ''Clipper America'' N711PA carried 111 passengers.{{sfn|Burns|2000}}<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_50">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – Leading the way)'', p. 50, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref>

It also purchased 25 [[Douglas DC-8]], which could also seat six across; the combined order value for these first 707s and DC-8s was $269&nbsp;million.{{cn|date=February 2025}} 

Meanwhile Boeing improved their aircraft with the introduction of the [[Boeing 707-320|Boeing 707-320 "Intercontinental"]] offering greater payload and range. Pan Am started taking deliveries of the Intercontinental in 1959–60, which together with the Douglas DC-8s arriving in March 1960, enabled non-stop transatlantic crossings with a viable [[payload (air and space craft)|payload]] in both directions.<ref name=panamair707>{{cite web |title=Boeing 707-321 |url=http://www.panamair.org/aircraft/boeing707-321.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501121829/http://www.panamair.org/aircraft/boeing707-321.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-05-01 |website=panamair.org @ the WayBack Machine |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Douglas DC-8-32 |url=http://www.panamair.org/aircraft/Douglasdc8.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725010251/http://www.panamair.org/aircraft/Douglasdc8.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-07-25 |website=panamair.org @ the WayBack Machine |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref>

Pan Am eventually operated 19 Douglas DC-8s, disposing of them in 1970 after just ten years of service. Meanwhile Pan Am went on to operate a much larger total of 120 Boeing 707-320 "Intercontinental" aircraft, for just over 20 years, with this type becoming the mainstay of Pan Am operations until the arrival of the Boeing 747.<ref name=panamair707 /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Swanborough |first1=Gordon |title=World's Airliner Registrations |date=1967 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=London |pages=8-18}}</ref>

====Widebody era====
[[File:Pan Am Boeing 747 at Zurich Airport in May 1985.jpg|thumb|right|[[747-100|Boeing 747-100]] ''Clipper Neptune's Car'' (N742PA) at [[Zurich Airport]]]]

Pan Am was a [[Boeing 747]] launch customer, placing a {{FXConvert|USA|525|m|year=1966|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}} order for 25 in April 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/pf/pf_milestones.html |title=Boeing 747-400 Program Milestones |publisher=Boeing.com |access-date=August 27, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524131419/http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/pf/pf_milestones.html |archive-date=May 24, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="PostWar_PanAm_51">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – A falling star)'', p. 51, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref>

On January 15, 1970 [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Pat Nixon]] christened Pan Am Boeing 747 ''Clipper Young America'' at [[Washington Dulles International Airport|Washington Dulles]].<ref>{{cite news |title=First Lady Christens, the First 747 Jet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/16/archives/first-lady-christens-the-first-747-jet.html |access-date=18 January 2025 |work=[[The Associated Press]] |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 January 1970}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. Nixon Christens New 747 Jumbo Jet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pensacola-news-journal-mrs-nixon-christ/163317165/ |work=[[The Associated Press]] |publisher=[[Pensacola News Journal]] |date=16 January 1970 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |location=Pensacola, Florida}}</ref>

Pan Am's inaugural 747 service on 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 [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York John F. Kennedy]] to [[Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow]] (''Clipper Victor'' was destroyed seven years later in the [[Tenerife airport disaster|Tenerife air disaster]], in a collision with a KLM 747-200). While on the tarmac at Heathrow, two students from [[Aston University]] boarded the aircraft undetected and distributed [[Rag (student society)#Rag mag|rag mags]] in the passenger accommodation as a publicity stunt.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878184,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127015913/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878184,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 27, 2008 |title=Jumbo and the Gremlins |magazine=[[time (magazine)|TIME]] |access-date=June 1, 2009|date=February 1, 1970}}</ref>

Pan Am carried 11 million passengers over {{convert|20|e9mi|km nmi}} in 1970, the year it introduced [[Airliner#Wide-body airliners|widebodied airline]] travel.<ref>''Jets Monthly (Next Month: Come fly with me ...)'', p. 74, Kelsey Publishing, Cudham, January 2012</ref>

====Supersonic plans====
Pan Am was one of the first three airlines to sign options for the [[Concorde|Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde]], but like other airlines that took out options – with the exception of BOAC and [[Air France]] – it did not purchase the [[supersonic aircraft|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;<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pan Am building and the shattering of the modernist dream|last=Clausen|first=Meredith|year=2004|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-03324-4|page=357}}</ref> these aircraft never saw service after [[United States Congress|Congress]] voted against additional funding in 1971.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.keesings.com/search?kssp_selected_tab=article&kssp_a_id=24716n01usa|title=Aerospace Industry. Refusal of Congress to approve Federal Funds for Development of Boeing Supersonic Airliner.|work=Keesing's World News Archives|access-date=June 1, 2009|date=July 21, 1971}}</ref>

===Computerized reservations, Pan Am Building and Worldport===
[[File:Pan Am Building, NYC, 1980s.jpg|thumb|upright|The Pan Am Building in [[Midtown Manhattan]], now the [[MetLife Building]], was Pan Am headquarters]]
[[File:Pan Am Boeing 707-100 at JFK 1961 Proctor.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Boeing 707#707-120|Boeing 707-120]] at the [[Worldport (Pan Am)|Pan Am Worldport]] in 1961. The terminal was once the center of the airline's New York operations.]]

Pan Am commissioned [[IBM]] to build PANAMAC, a large computer that booked airline and hotel reservations, which was installed in 1964. It also held large amounts of information about cities, countries, airports, aircraft, hotels, and restaurants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=33|title=Terminal Interchange from PANAMAC Airlines Reservation System.|publisher=National Museum of American History|access-date=September 12, 2010}}</ref>

The computer occupied the fourth floor of the [[MetLife Building|Pan Am Building]], which was the largest commercial office building in the world for some time.<ref>{{cite web|author=Horsley, Carter C.|url=http://www.thecityreview.com/panam.html|title=The MetLife Building|publisher=The Midtown Book|year=2007|access-date=April 7, 2008}} When it was completed, the {{convert|2400000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} building became "the world's largest office building in bulk, a title it would lose a few years later to 55 Water Street downtown."</ref>

The airline also built [[Worldport (Pan Am)|Worldport]], a terminal building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>) roof, suspended far from the outside columns of the terminal below by 32 sets of steel posts and cables. The terminal was designed to allow passengers to board and disembark via stairs without getting wet by parking the nose of the aircraft under the overhang. The introduction of the [[jetway|jetbridge]] made this feature obsolete.  The Worldport building was transferred to [[Delta Air Lines]] in 1991, and demolished by Delta and the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey|Port Authority]] in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |title=Delta to Move at Kennedy as End Nears for Old Home |first=Michael M. |last=Grynbaum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/nyregion/05jfk.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 4, 2010 |access-date=2011-07-20}}</ref>

Pan Am built a gilded training building in the style of [[Edward Durell Stone]] designed by Steward-Skinner Architects in Miami.{{cn|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Pan_Am_Holiday_phamplet_(11090320936).jpg|alt=|thumb|Pan Am Holiday pamphlet for destination New Zealand (1966)]]

===Peak===
At its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pan Am advertised under the slogan, the "World's Most Experienced Airline".{{sfn|Conrad|1999|p=164}} 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&nbsp;km). During that period, the airline was profitable, and its cash reserves totaled {{FXConvert|USA|1|b|year=1968|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}.<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_50"/> Most routes were between New York, Europe, and South America, and between Miami and the Caribbean. In 1964, Pan Am began a [[helicopter]] shuttle between New York's [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy]], LaGuardia, and [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark]] airports and [[Lower Manhattan]], operated by [[New York Airways]].{{sfn|Burns|2000}} Aside from the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and 747, the Pan Am jet fleet included [[Boeing 720#Further developments|Boeing 720B]]s and [[Boeing 727|727]]s (the first aircraft to sport ''Pan Am'' rather than ''Pan American'' – titles<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_50" />). The airline later had [[Boeing 737]]s and [[Boeing 747SP|747SP]]s (which could fly nonstop from New York to Tokyo), [[Lockheed L-1011 Tristar]]s, [[McDonnell-Douglas DC-10]]s, and [[Airbus A300]]s and [[Airbus A310|A310]]s. Pan Am owned the [[InterContinental|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]].{{sfn|Ray|1999|p=184}} In addition, Pan Am participated in several notable humanitarian flights.{{sfn|Burns|2000}}

At its height Pan Am was well regarded for its modern fleet,{{sfn|Conrad|1999|pp=28, 177}} innovative cabin design<ref>{{cite web |url=https://zenodo.org/records/1081955/files/text_2017_05_18_PanAm.pdf |last1=Scholz |first1=Dieter |title=Pan Am's Historic Contributions to Aircraft Cabin Design |date=2017 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.1081954 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Hühne
 |first=Mathias C.
 |date=2016
 |title=Pan Am: History, Design & Identity
 |location=Berlin
 |publisher=Callisto Publishers
 |isbn=978-3-9816550-6-3
 |url=https://www.callisto-publishers.com/project/pan-am-history-design-identity-standard-edition/
}}
</ref> and experienced crews: cabin staff were multilingual and usually college graduates, hired from around the world, frequently with nursing training.{{sfn|Conrad|1999|p=180}} Pan Am's onboard service and cuisine, inspired by [[Maxim's Paris|Maxim's de Paris]], were delivered "with a personal flair that has rarely been equaled."{{sfn|Conrad|1999|p=179}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/19/travel/when-flying-was-caviar.html|title=When Flying Was Caviar|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 1, 2009|last=Kilgannon|first=Corey|date=October 19, 2003}}</ref>

===Internal German Services (IGS) and other operations===
[[File:Douglas DC-6B N5024K Pan Am OO-SDG at HAJ 02.05.64.jpg|thumb|right|Pan American [[Douglas DC-6|Douglas DC-6B]] operating an Internal German Service at [[Hannover-Langenhagen Airport|Hanover Airport]] in May 1964.]]

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-4]]s, then with DC-6Bs (from 1954) and [[Boeing 727]]s (from 1966).<ref name="Berlin1"/><ref name="DC6B_THF">[http://www.coldwar.org/text_files/ColdwartimesFeb2009.pdf ''Cold War Times''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916042319/http://www.coldwar.org/text_files/ColdwartimesFeb2009.pdf |date=September 16, 2012 }}, Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 7, February 2009</ref><ref name="Berlin2"/><ref>''Aeroplane – Tempelhof trials prelude to Pan Am 727 order'', Vol. 108, No. 2773, p. 11, Temple Press, London, December 10, 1964</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%203067.html ''A Jet into Berlin Tempelhof''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114154951/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%203067.html |date=January 14, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', December 17, 1964, p. 1034</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – The Battle of Berlin'', Vol. 111, No. 2842, p. 15, Temple Press, London, April 7, 1966</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – Commercial continued, Pan Am 727s take over in Berlin'', Vol. 111, No. 2853, p. 11, Temple Press, London, June 23, 1966</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 5, 6, 8, Temple Press, London, October 2, 1968</ref><ref>''Aircraft Illustrated (Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof)'', Vol 42, No 1, p. 34, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009</ref> This had come about as 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 [[Allied Control Council#Incapacitation of the council|unilateral Soviet withdrawal]] from the [[Four Power Agreement on Berlin|quadripartite]] [[British Control Commission|Allied Control Commission]] in 1948, culminating in the [[History of Germany (1945–1990)|division of Germany]] the following year. These events, together with [[Soviet Union|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 Germany|East German]] territory through three {{convert|20|mi|km|abbr=on}} wide [[West Berlin Air Corridor|air corridors]] at a maximum altitude of {{convert|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref group=nb>the cruising altitude of [[propliner]]s employed on the [[Berlin Blockade#Aircraft used in the Berlin airlift|Berlin Airlift]]</ref><ref name="PostWar_PanAm_50"/><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%202018.html |title=BEA in Berlin |journal=Flight International |date=August 10, 1972 |page=181|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120302173125/http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%202018.html|archive-date=2 March 2012}}</ref> The airline's West Berlin operation consistently accounted for more than half of the city's entire commercial air traffic during that period.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873948,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402014839/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873948,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 2, 2008 |title=Hot route in the Cold War |date=July 3, 1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Aeroplane |title=Pan Am and the IGS |volume=116 |number=2972 |page=6 |publisher= Temple Press |location=London |date=October 2, 1968}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Aeroplane |title=Pan Am and the IGS |volume=116 |number=2972 |page=4 |publisher=Temple Press |location=London |date=October 2, 1968}}</ref>

For years, more passengers boarded Pan Am flights at Berlin Tempelhof than at any other airport.<ref>''Airport Activity Statistics''{{full citation needed|date=October 2022}}</ref> 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 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 [[R&R (Military)|Rest and Recreation]] (R&R) flights during the [[Vietnam War]]. These flights carried American service personnel for R&R leaves in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other Asian cities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/05/15/archives/for-1-a-month-pan-am-flies-vietnam-gis-on-furloughs.html |title=For $1 a Month, Pan Am Flies Vietnam G.I.'s on Furloughs|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 1, 2009|last=Long|first=Tania|date=May 1971}}</ref>

===Passenger traffic (1951–1989)===
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"
|+ '''Revenue passenger-miles (millions)<br /><small>(scheduled flights only)</small>'''<ref>''Handbook of Airline Statistics'' (biannual CAB publication) and ''Air Carrier Traffic Statistics'' through 1979; IATA ''World Air Transport Statistics'' 1981–89</ref>
|- style="background:lightblue;"
!Year

!Pan American
![[National Airlines (NA)]]
|-
|1951
|1,551
|432
|-
|1955
|2,676
|905
|-
|1960
|4,833
|1,041
|-
|1965
|8,869
|2,663
|-
|1970
|16,389
|2,643
|-
|1975
|14,863
|3,865
|-
|1979
|22,872
|8,294
|-
|1981
|28,924
|rowspan=3|(merged 1980)
|-
|1985
|27,144
|-
|1989
|29,359
|}

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).

===Downturn===
[[File:AT THE JOHN F. KENNEDY AIRPORT - NARA - 547951 - color adjusted.jpg|thumb|Pan Am [[747-100|Boeing 747-100]] ("Clipper Star of the Union") at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy Airport]] in May 1973]]

====Fallout from 1973 oil crisis====
Pan Am had invested in 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 [[overhead (business)|overhead]]s as a result of a large decentralized infrastructure. High fuel prices and its many older, less fuel-efficient [[narrow-body aircraft|narrow-bodied]] airplanes increased 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.<ref name=chasing/><ref name="PostWar_PanAm_51"/>

[[File:Pan Am 1970s flight attendant.jpg|thumb|A Pan Am flight attendant in 1970s uniform]]

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.{{sfn|Conrad|1999|p=1846}} The ad cited discrepancies in airport landing fees, such as Pan Am paying $4,200 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|4200|1974|fmt=eq|cursign=$}}) to land a plane in [[Sydney Airport|Sydney]], while the Australian carrier, [[Qantas]], paid only $178 to land a jet in Los Angeles. The ad also contended that the [[United States Postal Service]] was paying foreign airlines five times as much to carry US mail in comparison to Pan Am. Finally, the ad questioned why the [[Export-Import Bank of the United States]] loaned money to Japan, France, and Saudi Arabia at 6% interest while Pan Am paid 12%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panamair.org/History/aware.htm |title=Pan Am AWARE |publisher=Pan Am Air |access-date=June 1, 2009 |date=September 23, 1974 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611065721/http://www.panamair.org/History/aware.htm |archive-date=June 11, 2009 }}</ref>

By 1976, Pan Am had racked up {{FXConvert|USA|364|m|year=1976|cursign=$|index=US-GDP|showdate=no}} of accumulated losses over a 10-year period, and its debts approached {{FXConvert|USA|1|b|year=1976|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}. This threatened the airline with bankruptcy. Former [[American Airlines]] vice president of operations, William T. Seawell, who had replaced Najeeb Halaby as Pan Am president in 1972, began implementing a [[turnaround management|turnaround strategy]]: trimming the network by 25%, slashing the 40,000-strong workforce by 30%, cutting wages, introducing stringent economies and rescheduling debt, and reducing the size of the fleet. These measures, aided by the use of [[deferred tax|tax-loss credits]], enabled Pan Am to avert financial collapse and return to profitability in 1977.<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_51"/>

====Attempts to build a US domestic network====
Since the 1930s, Juan Trippe had coveted domestic routes for Pan Am. Through the late 1950s and early 1960s, and in the mid-1970s, there were talks of merging the airline with a domestic operator such as [[American Airlines]], [[Eastern Air Lines]], [[Trans World Airlines]] or [[United Airlines]].<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_48"/> As rival airlines convinced Congress that Pan Am would use its political clout to monopolize US air routes, the CAB repeatedly denied the airline permission to operate in the US, by growth or by a merger with another airline. Pan Am remained an American carrier operating international routes only (aside from [[Hawaii]] and [[Alaska]]). The last time Pan Am was permitted to merge with another airline prior to the [[Airline Deregulation Act|deregulation]] of the US airline industry was in 1950, when it took over American Overseas Airlines from American Airlines.<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_48"/> After deregulation in 1978, more US domestic airlines began competing with Pan Am internationally.{{sfn|Robinson|1994|pp=154–180}}{{sfn|Ray|1999|p=185}}

====National Airlines takeover====
To acquire domestic routes, Pan Am, under president Seawell, set its eyes on [[National Airlines (1934–1980)|National Airlines]]. Pan Am wound up in a bidding war with [[Frank Lorenzo]]'s [[Texas International Airlines]] which boosted National's stock price, but Pan Am was granted permission to buy National in 1979 in what was described as the "Coup of the Decade". The acquisition of National Airlines for {{FXConvert|USA|437|m|year=1979|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}, completed on January 7, 1980, further burdened Pan Am's balance sheet, already under strain after financing the [[Boeing 747]]s ordered in the mid-1960s. This acquisition did little to improve Pan Am's competitive position in relation to nimbler, lower-cost competitors in a deregulated industry, as National's north–south route structure provided insufficient feed at Pan Am's transatlantic and transpacific gateways in New York and Los Angeles. Apart from the [[Boeing 727]], the airlines had incompatible fleets and [[organizational culture|corporate cultures]]. Pan Am management handled the integration poorly and presided over an increase in labor costs as a result of harmonizing National's pay scales with Pan Am's.<ref>''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – National acquisition)'', pp. 51/2, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref> Although revenues increased by 62% from 1979 to 1980, fuel costs from the merger increased by 157% during a weak economic climate. Further "miscellaneous expenses" increased by 74%.{{sfn|Robinson|1994|pp=172–190}}<ref>Interview with Russell Ray. "Death of An American Dream" (film)</ref>

[[File:Pan Am Boeing 737-200 at Zurich Airport in May 1985.jpg|thumb|left|''Clipper [[Berlin|Spreeathen]]'' at [[Zurich Airport|Zurich]] in 1985]]

====Disposal of non-core assets and operational cutbacks====
As 1980 progressed and the airline's financial situation worsened, Seawell began selling Pan Am's non-core assets. The first asset to be sold off was the airline's 50% interest in Falcon Jet Corporation in August. Later in November, Pan Am sold the Pan Am Building to the [[Metropolitan Life Insurance Company]] for {{FXConvert|USA|400|m|year=1980|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}. In September 1981, Pan Am sold off its [[InterContinental]] hotel chain. Before this transaction closed, Seawell was replaced by [[C. Edward Acker]], [[Air Florida]]'s founder and ex-president, as well as a former [[Braniff International Airways|Braniff International]] [[senior management|executive]]. The combined sale value of the InterContinental chain and the Falcon Jet Corp. stake was {{FXConvert|USA|500|m|year=1981|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924822,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620193442/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924822,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 20, 2007|title=Mid-Air Transfer|work=TIME Magazine|access-date=June 1, 2009|date=September 7, 1981}}</ref><ref name="National_disaster">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – National acquisition)'', p. 52, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref>

Acker followed up the asset disposal program he had inherited from his predecessor with operational cutbacks. Most prominent among these was the discontinuation of the round-the world service from October 31, 1982, when Pan Am ceased flying between [[Delhi]], Bangkok and Hong Kong due to the sector's unprofitability.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202274.html |title=More cutbacks at Pan Am |department = Air Transport|magazine =Flight International|date = October 2, 1982|page = 970 |access-date= |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120112203445/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202274.html }}</ref> To provide additional seating capacity for its 1983 spring/summer season, the airline also acquired three passenger [[747-200|Boeing 747-200B]]s from [[Flying Tiger Line|Flying Tigers]], who took four of Pan Am's [[747-100]] freighters in return.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202769.html |title=Pan Am and Tigers swap aircraft|department = Air Transport|magazine =Flight International|date = December 25, 1982|page = 1795 |access-date= |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112214719/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202769.html }}</ref>

====Fleet restructuring====
Despite Pan Am's precarious financial situation, in the summer of 1984, Acker went ahead with an order for new Airbus models in wide-body and narrow-bodied aircraft, becoming the second American company to order Airbus aircraft, after Eastern Air Lines.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pan Am to spend $1 billion for new planes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19840915&id=6DROAAAAIBAJ&pg=4641,6053209|access-date=October 12, 2012|newspaper=[[Lakeland Ledger]]|date=September 15, 1984|agency=[[The New York Times Company]]}}</ref> These advanced aircraft, economically and operationally superior to the 747s and 727s Pan Am operated at the time, were intended to make the airline more competitive. In 1985, new A310-221s began replacing 727s on the Internal German Services (IGS) and A300s flew in the Caribbean networks later that year. From early 1986, additional new longer range A310-222s replaced some of the 747s on the slimmed-down transatlantic network following [[ETOPS]] certification (approval by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) of transoceanic flying with twin-engined aircraft). The first A310 ETOPS transatlantic route was [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York-JFK]] to [[Hamburg Airport|Hamburg]], [[Detroit Metropolitan Airport|Detroit]] to [[Heathrow Airport|London]] followed shortly after that. Pan Am's decision not to take delivery of the A320s and to sell its delivery positions to Braniff meant that the majority of its short-haul US domestic and European feeder routes, and most of its IGS services, continued to be flown with obsolete 727s until the airline's demise. This put Pan Am at a disadvantage against rivals operating state-of-the-art aircraft with greater passenger appeal.<ref name="National_disaster"/> In September 1984, Pan American World Airways created a holding company called ''Pan Am Corporation'' to assume ownership and control of the airline and the services division.

{{Multiple images
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 250
| image1            = Boeing 747SP-21, Pan Am JP5893131.jpg
| caption1          = The [[Boeing 747SP-21]] "Clipper Constitution" on July 1, 1976 at Los Angeles International Airport.
| image2            = United Boeing 747SP Maiwald.jpg
| caption2          = A Boeing 747SP-21 Landing at Los Angeles International Airport in 1990.
}}
{{Multiple image
| align             = left
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 250
| image1            = Lockheed L-1011-385-3 TriStar 500, Pan American World Airways - Pan Am AN1139713.jpg
| caption1          = The [[L-1011-500]] "Clipper [[Golden Eagle]]" in 1984.
| image2            = United Airlines Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 500 (??) (10265800834).jpg
| caption2          = A Lockheed L-1011-500 of [[United Airlines]] after the sale of the Pan Am Pacific Division in 1985.
}}

==== Sale of Pacific division ====
Given the airline's dire state, in April 1985, Acker sold Pan Am's entire Pacific Division, which consisted of 25% of its entire route system and their major [[Airline hub|hub]] at [[Narita International Airport|Tokyo-Narita]] to [[United Airlines]] for {{FXConvert|USA|750|m|year=1985|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}. This sale also enabled Pan Am to address fleet incompatibility issues related to the earlier acquisition of National Airlines as it included Pan Am's [[Pratt & Whitney JT9D]]-powered 747SPs, its [[Rolls-Royce RB211]]-powered [[Lockheed L-1011 Tristar|L-1011-500]]s and the [[General Electric CF6]]-powered [[McDonnell-Douglas DC-10|DC-10]]s inherited from National, which were transferred to United along with the Pacific routes.<ref name="PostWar_PanAm_51" /><ref name="NewWorld" /> The sale came the same year as [[1985 Pan Am strike|a month-long strike]] held by the [[Transport Workers Union of America]].

====Establishment of local feeder networks====
In the early 1980s, Pan Am contracted several regional airlines ([[Air Atlanta]], [[Colgan Air]], [[Emerald Air (United States)|Emerald Air]], [[Empire Airlines (1976–1985)|Empire Airlines]], [[Presidential Airways (scheduled)|Presidential Airways]] and [[Republic Airlines (1979–1986)|Republic Airlines]]) to operate feeder flights under the ''[[Pan Am Express]]'' branding.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.departedflights.com/PA090584domestic.html |title=Pan American World Airways 1984 domestic route map, at departedflights.com |access-date=February 25, 2013 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184527/http://www.departedflights.com/PA090584domestic.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.departedflights.com/PA021186domestic.html |title=Pan American World Airways 1986 domestic route map, at departedflights.com |access-date=February 25, 2013 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184528/http://www.departedflights.com/PA021186domestic.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The acquisition of [[Pennsylvania]]-based [[regional airline|commuter]] airline [[Ransome Airlines]] for {{FXConvert|USA|65|m|year=1986|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}} (which was finalized in 1987) was meant to address the issue of providing additional feed for Pan Am's mainline services at its hubs in New York, Los Angeles and Miami in the United States, and Berlin in Germany.<ref name="National_disaster"/><ref name="NewWorld">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%202017.html |title=''The new world of Pan American'', ''Flight International'', August 23, 1986, p. 23 |access-date=September 26, 2011 |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112212826/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%202017.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%200885.html ''Ransome abandons Delta''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114213051/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%200885.html |date=January 14, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', April 19, 1986, p. 5</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%202015.html ''The new world of Pan American''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811230009/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%202015.html |date=August 11, 2011 }}, ''Flight International'', August 23, 1986, p. 21</ref> The renamed '''Pan Am Express''' operated routes mostly from New York, as well as Berlin, Germany. Miami services were added in 1990.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDC113BF930A25752C1A96F948260|title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; Planner for Pan Am Heads Commuter Unit|work=The New York Times|author=Cuff, Daniel F.|date=November 13, 1989|access-date=April 7, 2008}}</ref> However, the regional Pan Am Express operation provided only an incremental feed to Pan Am's international route system, which was now focused on the Atlantic Division.

====US East coast shuttle====
In an attempt to gain a presence on the busy [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]–New York–Boston commuter air corridor, the [[Ransome Airlines|Ransome]] acquisition was accompanied by the $100&nbsp;million purchase of [[New York Air]]'s shuttle service between Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. This parallel move was intended to enable Pan Am to provide a high-frequency service for high-[[Yield management#Airlines|yield]] business travelers in direct competition with the long-established, successful [[Eastern Air Lines Shuttle]] operation. The renamed [[Delta Shuttle|Pan Am Shuttle]] began operating out of LaGuardia Airport's refurbished historic [[Marine Air Terminal]] in October 1986. However, it did not address the pressing issue of Pan Am's continuing lack of a strong domestic feeder network.<ref name="National_disaster"/>

====Financial, operational and reputational setbacks====
In 1987, [[Towers Financial Corporation]], led by its CEO [[Steven Hoffenberg]] and his consultant [[Jeffrey Epstein]], unsuccessfully tried to take over Pan Am in a [[corporate raid]] with Towers Financial as their raiding vessel. Their bid failed.<ref name="vanityfair2003">{{cite magazine|last=Ward |first=Vicky |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303 |title=The Talented Mr. Epstein |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=2011-06-27 |access-date=2020-06-10}}</ref>

[[Thomas G. Plaskett]], a former American Airlines and [[Continental Airlines|Continental]] executive, replaced Acker as president in January 1988 (joining Pan Am from the latter).<ref name="National_disaster"/> While a program to refurbish Pan Am aircraft and improve the company's on-time performance began showing positive results (in fact, Pan Am's most profitable quarter ever was the third quarter of 1988), on December 21, 1988, the bombing of [[Pan Am Flight 103|Pan Am flight 103]] above [[Lockerbie]], Scotland, resulted in 270 fatalities.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6236538.stm |title="Timeline: Lockerbie Bombing", BBC News, September 2, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2009 |access-date=September 10, 2009 |archive-date=August 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823102111/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6236538.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Faced with a $300&nbsp;million lawsuit filed by more than 100 families of the victims, the airline [[subpoena]]ed records of six US government agencies, including the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]], and the [[United States Department of State|State Department]]. Though the records suggested that the US government was aware of warnings of a bombing and failed to pass the information to the airline, the families claimed Pan Am was attempting to shift the blame.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Ludtke, Melissa |author2=Curry, Tom |author3=Schoenthal, Rhea |date=November 20, 1989|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959126,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307061423/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959126,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 7, 2008|title=Keeping Lockerbie Alive|journal=Time Europe|access-date=June 29, 2009}}</ref>

Also, in December 1988 the FAA fined Pan Am for 19 security failures, out of the 236 that were detected amongst 29 airlines.{{sfn|Ray|1999|p=187}}

====Failed bid for Northwest Airlines====
In June 1989, Plaskett presented [[Northwest Airlines]] with a $2.7&nbsp;billion takeover bid that was backed by [[Bankers Trust]], [[JP Morgan Chase#J.P. Morgan & Company|Morgan Guaranty Trust]], [[Citigroup|Citicorp]] and [[Bache & Co.#Acquisition by Prudential|Prudential-Bache]]. The proposed merger was Pan Am's final attempt to create a strong domestic network to provide sufficient feed for the two remaining mainline hubs at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|New York JFK]] and Miami. It was also intended to help the airline regain its status as a global airline by re-establishing a sizable transpacific presence. The merger was expected to result in annual savings of $240&nbsp;million.{{sfn|Gandt|1995}}<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1989/1989%20-%201400.html ''Unprofitable Pan Am makes Northwest bid''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112203617/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1989/1989%20-%201400.html |date=January 12, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', May 20, 1989, p. 2</ref> However,  billionaire financier [[Al Checchi]] outbid Pan Am by presenting Northwest's directors with a superior proposal.

====Fallout from 1990–91 Persian Gulf War====
The [[Gulf War|first Gulf War]] triggered by the Iraqi [[invasion of Kuwait]] on August 2, 1990, caused fuel prices to rise, which severely depressed global economic activity. This in turn caused a sharp contraction of worldwide air travel demand, plunging once profitable operations, including Pan Am's prime transatlantic routes, into steep losses. These unforeseen events constituted a further major blow to Pan Am, which was still reeling from the 1988 [[Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie disaster]]. To shore up its finances, Pan Am sold most of its routes serving London Heathrow – arguably Pan Am's most important international destination – to United Airlines with two Boeing 747s.<ref>Delta questions United / Pan Am deal ''[[Flight International]]'' January 2, 1991 page 5</ref> This left Pan Am with only two daily London flights, serving Detroit and Miami, which both used [[Gatwick Airport|Gatwick]] as their London terminal from the start of the 1990/91 winter timetable. Further asset disposals included Pan Am's sale of its IGS routes to Berlin to [[Lufthansa]] for {{FXConvert|USA|150|m|year=1990|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}, which became effective at the same time and brought the total value of asset disposals to {{FXConvert|USA|1.2|b|year=1990|index=US-GDP|cursign=$|showdate=no}}.<ref name="National_disaster"/><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1990/1990%20-%203338.html ''Berlin Return boosts Lufthansa’s bid for Interflug''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112125715/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%203338.html |date=January 12, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', November 7–13, 1990, p. 10</ref> These measures were accompanied by the elimination of 2,500 jobs (8.6% of its workforce). These cutbacks were announced by the airline in September 1990.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/20/business/pan-am-to-eliminate-2500-jobs.html|title=Pan Am to Eliminate 2,500 Jobs|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 1, 2009|date=September 20, 1990|last=Weiner|first=Eric}}</ref>

===Bankruptcy===
[[File:N805PA-A310-PanAm-PIK-July89.jpg|thumb|''Clipper Miles Standish'' (N805PA), an Airbus A310]]

Pan Am was forced to file for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|bankruptcy]] protection on January&nbsp;8,&nbsp;1991.<ref name=ergelvn>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i_IzAAAAIBAJ&pg=5370%2C1755407 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Pan Am seeks Chapter 11 protection |date=January 9, 1991 |page=5B}}</ref> [[Delta Air Lines]] purchased the remaining profitable assets of Pan Am, including its remaining European routes (except one from Miami to Paris), and [[Frankfurt International Airport|Frankfurt]] mini hub, the [[Delta Shuttle|Shuttle]] operation, 45 jets, and the [[Worldport (Pan Am)|Pan Am Worldport]] at John F. Kennedy Airport, for $416&nbsp;million.  Delta also injected $100&nbsp;million becoming a 45 percent owner of a reorganized but smaller Pan Am serving the Caribbean, Central and South America from a main [[airline hub|hub]] in Miami. The airline's creditors would hold the other 55 percent.{{sfn|Robinson|1994}}<ref name="Collapse">''Aviation News (Pan American Airways: Part 2 – Down ... but not quite out)'', p. 52, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%202158.html ''Delta makes a difference''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112163723/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%202158.html |date=January 12, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', August 21–27, 1991, p. 20</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%202711.html ''Farewell Pan American''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114172146/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%202711.html |date=January 14, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', October 16–22, 1991, p. 45</ref><ref name="DL_PA">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%203287.html ''Comment''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112214548/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%203287.html |date=January 12, 2012 }}, ''Flight International'', December 18–24, 1991, p. 3</ref>

The Boston–New York LaGuardia–[[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport|Washington National]] ''Pan Am Shuttle'' service was taken over by [[Delta Air Lines|Delta]] in September 1991.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DE1539F930A3575AC0A967958260|title=Delta Shuttle's First Week|date=September 3, 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref> Two months later Delta assumed all of Pan Am's remaining transatlantic traffic rights, except Miami to Paris and London.<ref name="Collapse"/> In November 1991, all members of Pan Am's frequent flyer program, WorldPass, were transferred, with their accumulated miles, to Delta's frequent flyer program, [[SkyMiles]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=By |date=1991-09-05 |title=AIRLINES TO COMBINE BONUS PLAN PAN AM FREQUENT FLIERS CAN EARN DELTA AWARDS |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1991/09/05/airlines-to-combine-bonus-plan-pan-am-frequent-fliers-can-earn-delta-awards/ |access-date=2024-01-23 |website=Sun Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref>

In October 1991, former [[Douglas Aircraft Company|Douglas Aircraft]] executive Russell Ray Jr., was hired as Pan Am's new president and CEO.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-26-fi-1172-story.html|title=The Man Who Tried to Rescue Pan Am|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=May 31, 2009|last=Sanchez|first=Jesus|date=January 26, 1992}}</ref> As part of this restructuring, Pan Am relocated its headquarters from the Pan Am Building in New York City to new offices in the Miami area in preparation for the airline's relaunch from both Miami and New York on November&nbsp;1<!--, 1991-->.<ref>Dunlap, David W. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/04/nyregion/final-pan-am-departure.html Final Pan Am Departure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211045910/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/04/nyregion/final-pan-am-departure.html |date=December 11, 2020 }}." ''[[The New York Times]]''. Friday September 4, 1992. Retrieved August 25, 2009.</ref> The new airline would have operated approximately 60 aircraft and generated about $1.2&nbsp;billion in annual revenues with 7,500 employees.{{sfn|Robinson|1994}} Following the relaunch, Pan Am continued to sustain heavy losses. Revenue throughout October and November 1991 fell short of what had been anticipated in the reorganization plan, with Delta claiming that Pan Am was losing $3&nbsp;million a day. This undermined Delta's, [[Financial District, Manhattan|Wall Street]]'s and the traveling public's confidence in the viability of the reorganized Pan Am.<ref name="Collapse"/><ref name="DL_PA"/>

[[File:Pan Am Boeing 747-100 Manteufel.jpg|thumb|left|''Clipper Sparking Wave'' (N741PA), a [[747-100|Boeing 747-100]] on short final into Berlin Tempelhof Airport, wearing Pan Am's final "billboard" style livery]]

Pan Am's senior executives outlined a projected shortfall of between $100 million and possibly $200&nbsp;million, with the airline requiring a $25&nbsp;million installment just to fly through the following week. On the evening of December 3, Pan Am's Creditors Committee advised [[United States bankruptcy court|US Bankruptcy Judge]] Cornelius Blackshear that it was close to convincing an airline (TWA) to invest $15&nbsp;million to keep Pan Am operating. A deal with TWA owner [[Carl Icahn]] could not be struck. Pan Am opened for business at 9:00&nbsp;am and within the hour, Ray was forced to withdraw Pan Am's plan of reorganization and execute an immediate shutdown plan for Pan Am.

Pan Am ceased operations on December&nbsp;4,&nbsp;1991,<ref name=tdapfnfl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kgohAAAAIBAJ&pg=1408%2C839158 |work=The Day |location=(New London, Connecticut) |agency=Associated Press |last=Beveridge |first=Dirk |title=Pan Am takes its final flight into history|date=December 5, 1991 |page=D6}}</ref><ref name=ergwgclp>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o_tQAAAAIBAJ&pg=6790%2C839030 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Pan Am's wings finally clipped |date=December 5, 1991 |page=2B}}</ref> following a decision by Delta CEO Ron Allen and other senior executives not to go ahead with the final $25&nbsp;million payment Pan Am was scheduled to receive the weekend after [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]].<ref name="Collapse"/><ref name="PanAmdead">Salpukas, Agis. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/05/business/its-cash-depleted-pan-am-shuts.html Its Cash Depleted, Pan Am Shuts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309015636/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/05/business/its-cash-depleted-pan-am-shuts.html |date=March 9, 2021 }}." ''[[The New York Times]]''. Thursday December 5, 1991. Retrieved August 28, 2009.</ref> As a result, some 7,500 Pan Am employees lost their jobs, thousands of whom had worked in the New York City area and were preparing to move to the Miami area to work at Pan Am's new headquarters near [[Miami International Airport]]. Economists predicted that 9,000 jobs in the Miami area, including jobs at companies not connected to Pan Am that were dependent on the airline's presence, would be lost after it folded.<ref name="PanAmdead"/> The carrier's last flown scheduled operation was Pan Am flight 436 which departed that day from [[Bridgetown, Barbados]], at 2&nbsp;pm ([[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]) for Miami under the command of Captain Mark Pyle flying ''Clipper Goodwill'', a Boeing 727-200 (N368PA).<ref name="Collapse"/><ref name="DL_PA"/><ref>[http://www.pbase.com/airlinerphotos/image/46757348 ''AIR LINE PILOT''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319033259/http://www.pbase.com/airlinerphotos/image/46757348 |date=March 19, 2008 }} June 1992, p.18 Air Line Pilots Association (publisher)</ref>

Delta was sued for more than $2.5&nbsp;billion on December 9, 1991, by the Pan Am Creditors Committee.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pan Am, Creditors Sue Delta|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 9, 1991|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1099194.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026135857/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1099194.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 26, 2012|access-date=February 9, 2008}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, a large group of former Pan Am employees sued Delta.<ref name="DL_PA"/> In December 1994, a federal judge ruled in favor of Delta, concluding that it was not liable for Pan Am's demise.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/16/business/market-place-in-the-volatile-airline-industry-it-s-delta-s-time-to-shine.html|title=Market Place; In the volatile airline industry, it's Delta's time to shine.|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 31, 2009|last=Bryant|first=Adam|date=January 16, 1995}}</ref>

Pan Am was the third American major airline to shut down in 1991, after [[Eastern Air Lines]] and [[Midway Airlines (1976–1991)|Midway Airlines]].<ref name="PanAmdead"/>

[[File:Pan Am Express.jpg|thumb|[[ATR 42]] (N4209G) of [[Ransome Airlines|Pan Am Express]] at [[Sylt Airport]], 1991]]

After serving only two months as Pan Am's CEO, Ray was replaced by Peter McHugh to supervise the sale of Pan Am's remaining assets by Pan Am's Creditor's Committee.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110115072939/http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/its-free-look-west-village-carriage-house-turned-panam-execs-hangar "It's Free to Look: The West Village Carriage House Turned Pan Am Exec's Hangar"], ''The New York Observer'', January 14, 2011</ref> Pan Am's last remaining hub (at Miami International Airport) was split during the following years between United Airlines and American Airlines. TWA's Carl Icahn purchased Pan Am Express at a court ordered bankruptcy auction for $13&nbsp;million, renaming it Trans World Express.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TWA+CONCLUDES+DEAL+FOR+PAN+AM+EXPRESS-a011566756 ''TWA concludes deal for Pan Am Express''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111032533/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TWA+CONCLUDES+DEAL+FOR+PAN+AM+EXPRESS-a011566756 |date=November 11, 2012 }}, PR Newswire, Trans World Airlines, Mt Kisco, NY, December 4, 1991</ref> The Pan Am brand was sold to Charles Cobb, CEO of Cobb Partners and former [[Ambassadors of the United States|United States Ambassador]] to the [[Iceland#Republic of Iceland (1944–present)|Republic of Iceland]] under [[George H.W. Bush|President George H.W. Bush]] and Under Secretary of the [[United States Department of Commerce|US Department of Commerce]] under [[Ronald Reagan|President Reagan]]. Cobb, along with Hanna-Frost partners invested in a [[Pan Am (1996-1998)|new Pan American World Airways]] headed by veteran airline executive Martin R. Shugrue Jr, a former Pan Am executive with 20 years of experience at the original carrier.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/31/business/shugrue-s-plan-for-pan-am-low-costs-and-lower-fares.html|title=Shugrue's Plan for Pan Am: Low Costs and Lower Fares|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 31, 2009|last=Bryant|first=Adam|date=January 31, 1996}}</ref>

In his book, ''Pan Am: An Aviation Legend'', [[Barnaby Conrad III]] contends that the collapse of the original Pan Am was a combination of corporate mismanagement, government indifference to protecting its prime international carrier, and flawed regulatory policy.{{sfn|Conrad|1999|p=28}} He cites an observation made by former Pan Am Vice President for External Affairs, Stanley Gewirtz:{{sfn|Conrad|1999|p=200}}

{{blockquote|What could go wrong did. No one who followed Juan Trippe had the foresight to do something strongly positive … it was the most astonishing example of [[Murphy's law]] in extremis. The sale of Pan Am's profitable parts was inevitable to the company's destruction. There were not enough pieces to build on.|Stanley Gewirtz}}

Under the terms of bankruptcy, the airline's International Flight Academy in Miami was permitted to remain open. It was established as an independent training organization beginning in 1992 under its current name, [[Pan Am International Flight Academy]]. The company began operating by using the [[flight simulation]] and [[type rating]] training center of the defunct Pan Am. In 2006, American Capital Strategies invested $58 million into the academy.<ref>[http://www.americancapital.com/news/newsreleases/2006/pr20060727.html American Capital invests in PAIFA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021212001/http://www.americancapital.com/news/newsreleases/2006/pr20060727.html |date=October 21, 2006 }}</ref> Owned by the parent of Japanese airline [[All Nippon Airways]] as of October 2014, Pan Am International Flight Academy is the only surviving division of Pan American World Airways.