Pam Am Pt. 2: The Rise

Note: If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

Competition Begins

After WWII had concluded, the world of aviation was buzzing. People had seen what aircraft were truly capable of, with fighter jets and bombers, and though they weren’t available for the public, they wanted the next best thing: a plane. People wanted, more than ever, to ride the skies, and it extended beyond the rich and powerful: it was everyone. The boom in air transport meant there were companies beyond Pan Am interested in accommodating flyers: TWA, Delta, Northwest and United were just a few companies interested. No longer could Pan Am be the sole air carrier of the United States: it had company.

But Pan Am could adapt: it always had, after all. American Export Airlines had begun landplane services in 1946: not to be outdone, Pan Am bought DC-4’s, which could fly from New York to Lisbon in just 17 hours, outpacing other planes significantly at the time. When that couldn’t get rid of American Export Airlines, though, Trippe simply acquired them. This was the subject of controversy, and the Civil Aeronautics Board and President Harry Truman ended up having a row over it. In the end, though, American Export Airlines was no more.

TWA, a competing airliner and one of the largest in the U.S.  tried their hand by buying the latest, high-pressured Lockheed Constellations. The Constellation was the first wide-spread civil aircraft, and was solid in the regards it could travel 350 mph (unprecedented for that time), could fly through a multitude of poor weather conditions, and was twice as fuel efficient as other planes of its area. It was a gem in a world of substandard aircrafts, and if Pan Am wanted to keep up they had to buy it. And so they ordered a fleet of Constellations and one-upped TWA by three weeks when they offered transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1996. 

Soon, Pan Am also purchased Stratocruisers to compete with Northwest and United. The Stratocruiser had two passenger decks (essentially like floors) and had a pressurized cabin, allowing it to fly at higher altitudes than other unpressurized planes. It could travel up to 406 mph (although that was not recommended) and had air conditioning, reclining seats and a series of luxuries propelling it above competing planes. However, it had a fatal flaw of being more expensive and unwieldy than rival planes that ultimately made it less popular than the Constellation or DC-4’s. But for a time, it would be popular enough for competing transoceanic flights against the lot.

However, with the arrival of this new era marked the end of flying boats. B314 Clippers were slow and archaic compared to the exciting, multi-purpose airliners that could fly at hundreds of miles an hour, making them irrelevant. With the end of flying boats also came the end of extreme luxury and a monopolization on the rich, and an end to amphibious aircraft, but a new, revitalizing arrival of fast and sleek aircraft. The removal was really a double-edged sword.

’Round The World (Kind Of)

In 1947, Pan Am decided to further innovate. At this time they were already extremely profitable, but they decided to take the next step with Pan Am Flight 1. Flight 1, a DC-4, began the first around-the-world services originating in San Francisco, making its way into Honolulu, Hong Kong, Bangkok, New Delhi, Beirut, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London and finally New York. The service cost about $2,300 or $22,000 today, but it was more than a few flights. It was a journey in and of itself: you could get off the plane whenever it reached a destination, live and explore the destination as long as you wanted as long as the trip itself was 180 days or less, and then resume your adventures. You could experience the glory of the Middle East through the beaches of Beirut, then enjoy the fair shores of the Mediterranean, leisure about a tavern in Frankfurt, and then scamper about the Big Ben, and all this was provided by Pan Am. This customizable level of leisure and luxury soon became extremely popular and widespread, and only heightened the reputation of Pan Am. The entire journey without any stops was 48 hours. In perspective, a B314 Clipper took 70 hours to get from NY to Lisbon, so this innovation was simply dazzling at the time.

Pan Am, known for the opulence of the Clippers and being the foundation of the industry, had managed to innovate yet again. However, it is important to note the flights were not actually around-the-world in a literal sense because there were many flights and pauses in multiple destinations. After all, the Constellation simply did not have enough fuel to actually travel over 20000 miles. It would take added innovations and the introduction of the Boeing 747 to make a fully continuous, true around-the-world flight possible.

Travel For All

In 1950, Pan Am acquired American Overseas Corporation after a rift between Harry Truman and the Civil Aeronautics Board. With this purchase came a sum of premier aircraft: the Douglas DC-6, which was a far more powerful and upgraded version of its predecessor the DC-4. It was pressurized, highly durable and was once again on the cutting-edge of aviation technology. But the DC-6 arriving itself didn't revolutionize much: after all, innovations were happening on a near-yearly basis, this was just one of many. What really gave it the cherry on top was the addition to the economy class, nicknamed Rainbow. Juan Trippe had tired of air service being of the rich and powerful and soon incorporated Rainbow into flights from New York to London. 

For decades, airline prices were regulated by the International Air Transport Association, implicating what prices could be at the very minimum. In 1945, however, Trippe decided to ignore the IATA and create a “tourist price” at a reasonable discount. The IATA naturally shot this down, but Trippe tried again not too long after by reducing prices from 711 to 486$, making it accessible to the general public. Eventually, Trippe’s cheaper air service expanded beyond London and went transatlantic. It was certainly not cheap to maintain quality service while carrying people longer distances, but Trippe got it done. He was good at doing that. And it certainly worked. When the Rainbow debuted, tickets sold out for the first three months. 

Trippe always looked for ways to refine his economy-class services: in a controversial move, he reduced seat sizes, which allowed more people to be seated. This was derided by some but applauded by others as it meant the exclusivity of air travel had been removed. Still, the experience was luxurious, especially by today’s standards. The food served for all classes was superb, cooked in a small oven inside the plane, rather than pre-packaged. It was served in plates of china and hand-delivered. Meals included steaks and soups and fine wines, and were delivered by hand, not cart, allowing a highly personalized experience. There were also tiny features like air conditioning and reclining, soft chairs that made a flight so much more comfortable. Whether you were first class or economy class, Pan Am was heaven—and it was about to get even better.

The Jet Era

Pan Am considered purchasing the first jetliner, the De Havilland Comet, but delays in manufacturing and a few crashes lead to them retracting the decision. Perhaps this was for the best, as a Comet crashed because turbulence was too high. It was ambitious, but not well-built for mass aviation travel, and De Havilland going bankrupt shortly after reflected that. Pan Am instead waited for the far sleeker, far safer Boeing 707 to be in service, which turned out to be the right decision as the Comet soon fell out of service faster than it could crash. The 707 did cost $329 million, but it turned out to be an extremely worthwhile investment.

The 707 was the most widespread in the 60’s Jet Age. It was extremely useful for both domestic and transatlantic applications, as it had a higher fuel capacity, faster speed and stronger durability than nearly all competition, allowing it to take over the market. The larger and wider size also helped it seat more passengers, furthermore making it an ideal choice in the world of passenger travel. 

The 707 also benefited Boeing as it did Pan Am: Boeing’s profits were spiraling due to the B377 Stratocruiser being a failure. If the 707, which had cost Boeing a tremendous amount of money in production and research, had failed, Boeing itself would have gone bankrupt like De Haviliand. The 707 eventually was a wild success due to the factors mentioned above and a few unique features that gave it icing on the cake: the plane was successful in mitigating Dutch roll, stalls and turbulence which the Comet struggled mightily with, and a larger cargo fuselage door allowed it to store more material. All of the little benefits of the 707, along with a distinct appearance and competitive advantage, shaped it into the legendary airliner it became.

And Pan Am took full advantage of this. The first flight was from NY Idlewild (now JFK airport) to Paris’s Le Bourget, carrying 111 passengers. Soon, it was used all around the world, and was recognized as a premier symbol of aviation. Not that it didn’t have its faults: its durability was limited. For instance, Pan Am 214, a 707, was struck by a mere bolt of lightning, fell into a spiral dive and killed everyone on board. And a lack of GPWS also made the plane difficult to fly. Pan Am 292 in stormy weather failed to discern height and position, causing it to hit an Antiguan stratovolcano, killing all onboard. But it was the 1960s, not the 2000s, and you couldn’t expect a 707 to be equipped with a Dreamliner’s technology. That would have to wait. But Pan Am and aviation would soon get the next best thing with the arrival of the 747…

The Widebody Era

After the 707’s sold successfully, with 865 sales, Pan Am and Boeing were booming. The two companies worked in tandem to rapidly innovate the world of aviation, creating the Boeing 727 and eventually 737 at breakneck pace. But Boeing’s real breakthrough, the Boeing 747, would last for two decades and define what people think of aviation today.

Prior airplanes could only accommodate around a hundred passengers: The 747 could accommodate 366. It had maximum fuel storage of 833,000 pounds, and was 2 ½ times the size of the 707 in order to democratize air travel for good. It is important to note that the features of the plane were built specifically on Juan Trippe’s request: Trippe laid out the foundation for what he thought was a more accessible and durable passenger plane. Thus, Pan Am was the first launch customer of the 747 and had exclusive say in the design process. Boeing initially wished to add a set of innovations to the 747, such as a double-decked cabin deck (not entirely unique unless you take into account the size) and a larger cargo deck that was designed primarily to hold hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo. However, Pan Am was slightly impatient on the deal: because they had an extreme amount of control on the production, they were also stingy about release: Pan Am wanted the plane before the end of 1969, giving Boeing just 28 months to complete a working model, two-thirds faster than the usual process. Factory line workers were then called the “Incredibles”, as were engineers for their speedy processes. The first tests were somewhat flawed, as pilots had to evacuate due to an issue in the landing gear. There were also issues in uncontrollable oscillations that would sometimes occur due to a few flaws in design, but that was fixed through many repairs as well. Eventually, after trials and tribulations, the 747 was delivered to Pan Am: and history began.

Pan Am’s first flight was delayed by engine failure, giving it an inauspicious beginning. Clipper Young America had a defect it had to fix, so it deferred to Clipper Victor (more on that plane later) which went from JFK to London Heathrow Airport. When landed at Heathrow, two students snuck in from Aston University and handed rags as a publicity stunt. With the takeoff of Clipper Victor, the 747 era was officially alive. And it thrived, with Pan Am carrying over 11 million passengers in over 20 billion miles of mileage. The 747 was beautiful, elegant in the skies, and its magnificence and access to the common man would contribute to Pan Am reaching its peak.

The Peak

Pan Am initially wanted to buy the Concorde after the 747, because Trippe initially believed that the power of supersonic flights would lead to better travel than a freighter jet. But the Concorde was extremely expensive to produce and extremely expensive in general, costing millions of dollars, meaning Pan Am would take a gigantic loss it could possibly not reciprocate, since supersonic travel was a niche market. Pan Am decided to decline and stick with the 747—and this worked.

At its peak, Pan Am’s “globe” logo became one of the most recognized brands in the entire world, similar to the likes of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. Whether you were in India, China, Spain, or wherever, a Pan Am flight meant the same thing: luxury and prestige. It also adopted an iconic slogan, “Most Experienced Airline In The World”, which soon became recognizable by millions. The name “Clipper” resonated throughout the entire world, with beautiful names like “Washington”, “Tradewind” and “Neptune’s Car” taking passengers all around. Pan Am carried 6.7 million passengers in 1966 alone, the majority of passengers in the air service. They flew 81000 miles a year, owned a branch of hotels (InterContinental, which is still a giant multinational corporation today) and owned a minority stake in the Dassault 20 Falcon, a premium, streamlined jet. Pan Am dominated not only in aviation, but also travel and hospitality, making it a well-rounded, indomitable force for the years to come.

During its peak, Pan Am was known for its high standards of service and luxury, especially for stewardesses. Pan Am flight attendants wore suits designed by luxury designers, made about $70K a year (quite above the pale at the time), were college-educated and had to speak a foreign language. Getting in was a chore in and of itself, with a 3-5% acceptance rate, strictly below nearly every competing airline. It required character traits like conscientiousness, femininity and sophistication as well as strong physical traits of attractiveness, height and youth. In other words, getting in Pan Am was a laborious process that required a solid education and a bit of luck. 

If you got in, work requirements were also laborious: you had a rigorous six-week training course at Miami that taught everything, from how to handle a water landing to cooking a rack of lamb to making a dry martini, and were policed on every aspect of their job, from how to apply lipstick to the right hairstyle and especially the weight: strict monthly weight checks were required from stewardesses, and missing a single one could mean removal. And past a certain age—35–you would be scrutinized heavier than before, leading to a taxing change in diet and lifestyle. Most people wouldn’t have handled the amount of scrutiny that Pan Am stewardesses were subject to on a near daily business, but they were women of no common rate. They were special.

Pan Am offered services no other competitor could dream of. Menus were based on luxurious European cuisine, with fine champagnes, meats and banquets enough to make anyone’s mouth water. It was arguably improved from the B314 Clipper and 707 periods, and a step up in quality—from near-flawless to flawless. Seat sizes were reduced far from the days of the Clipper, but even by today’s standards it was still extremely comfortable: with a lounge, a piano and a cozy environment, travelers felt right at home. Tea kettles, china plates, and napkins were well-designed and professional, allowing you to eat a delicious meal with style. And to round it all off, people waiting for this glamorous, reasonably-priced experience could wait at Worldport, an exclusive Pan Am terminal whose elliptical design allowed passengers to get on and off without getting wet. Even inside the Worldport, things were exciting: there were cafes, lounges, music being played–it was a little experience in and of itself. Making a wait for a ride exciting seemed impossible, but that was what Pan Am did- excelling at the impossible.

Finally, if that wasn’t enough, Pan Am went a step further–-they thought they would innovate in the world of technology. They commissioned IBM to build a highly sophisticated computer: PANAMAC, a computer in charge of keeping track of flight and hotel reservations, millions at a time, as well as holding a wide database of information for hundreds of cities, airports, restaurants, countries, airplanes… you name it. The PANAMAC was incredibly functional, ahead of its time and only strengthened Pan Am through keeping a clean and accurate user database. Because of the sheer amount of tasks it could handle at a given time, and the early launch date of 1964, the PANAMAC can be reasonably classified as one of the world’s first supercomputers.

Pan Am’s final success was the PAN AM Building, a 85-floor, 59-story building, one of the tallest in the United States even today. It was octagonal, international-style and rather unconventional, but unconventional was what got Pan Am billions of dollars in annual revenue. It was the largest commercial office in the building for some time, stood proudly at the gazes of NYC at the serene 200 Park Avenue, and even had a heliport as the cherry on top. It employed thousands of people and it represented the ideals, the vision, and the sturdiness of the people and the company working there. It represented Trippe’s hard work and successes. It represented how Pan Am was invincible, a figure of glory and strength… all until it came crashing down.

Stay tuned, part 3 is coming soon…