Editing Pan Am (section)

===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>