19 December 2015

Pan-Am Documentary

Folks,

Some months ago, I found this documentary you're about to watch.  It's about the once iconic airline, Pan-Am.  For many years, Pan-Am was the FACE of America.  I never flew them.  The closest I got was trying to make a reservation to fly from Hawaii (stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time) to New Jersey.  When they quoted a $1,000 round trip fare with an overnight layover, I passed.  I ended up flying United for that leave, since they offered a much quicker flight and an almost $400 less expensive ticket.  Keep in mind that this was when $1,000 was WORTH something!  Now, you're lucky if it'll get you a month's rent...

After seeing this documentary, I wish that I had flown Pan-Am.  I didn't realize how big a player they were back in the day; they made much of aviation history on the commercial side.  I didn't know just how much better they were, either; the BBC documentary says that, in commercial aviation, that they led the way and set the standard.  Since they stopped flying in December of 1991 (24 years ago now), I'll never get to experience Pan-Am.  For me, this documentary is the closest I'll ever get...

MarkyMark


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5 comments:

maxsnafu said...

...and after you've watched the video, read this: http://www.amazon.com/Sporty-Game-High-Risk-Competitive-Commercial/dp/0394514475/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450555389&sr=1-1&keywords=the+sporty+game

19 December, 2015 15:04
MarkyMark said...

Thank you! That looks like a book I'll have to add to my collection...

19 December, 2015 23:55
spocksdisciple said...

Pan Am was unfortunately a victim of it's own success, people wanted and demanded cheaper air travel and not glamorous and comfortable air travel which PanAm pioneered.

Unfortunately the customers got what they wanted, and today they have Greyhound passenger service with wings, small or non existent meal service, tiny seats and zero leg room.
But they get to fly cheap(unless you pay through the nose for Business Class and First Class) and count their pennies.

08 March, 2016 21:27
Roxanne said...

I loved the TV series, bought the video when they came out with it. Miss the glamour.

31 May, 2016 18:05
MarkyMark said...

SD,

Pan-Am also screwed up with their buyout/merger of National Airlines. The rationale was understandable; in the wake of airline deregulation, Pan-Am needed to build an domestic network, and they thought National was their ticket to do this quickly. Pan-Am had all international routes but no domestic network, because they weren't ALLOWED to build one during the days of airline regulation.

However, they paid too much for National. Also, the corporate cultures were 100% different. National Airlines was the one that ran the commercials with the cute, perky stewardesses saying, "I'm _______, fly me!" Pan-Am was much more serious, much more 'buttoned down', as it were. Just on the basis if differing corporate cultures alone, it was a merger destined for failure.

When I heard the news that Pan-Am sold their Pacific routes (in the ocean that THEY opened up and pioneered!), I knew that that was the beginning of the end for them. The Pacific was Pan-Am's bread and butter. When they sold the Pacific routes, they signed their death warrant.

MarkyMark

17 June, 2016 07:21

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