PANAMAN From United States, joined Sep 1999, 439 posts, RR: 3 Posted (8 years 7 months 2 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 277 times:
Ok folks, I wrote this today. I hope you all enjoy it. Pardon any spelling errors.
THE PAN AM STORY
Pan Am is a name symbolic with the past.
Its aviation legacy will forever last.
Pan Am was the finest airline the world had ever seen,
and it's one that I am fond of, very, very keen.
The Clipper heritage was started by Juan Trippe, nearly 8 decades ago,
and I think it is a story that everyone should know.
First to fly the Atlantic, first to pioneer the Pacific - all Pan Am feats you can bet.
And don't forget the first to fly the 707 jet.
But Pan Am and the governament didn't see eye-to-eye.
Pan Am wasn't allowed to fly under U.S sky.
707 Clippers flew to Hong Kong and Bombay, but they couldn't fly between New York and L.A.
Wide-bodied 747's raced through the air, carrying hundreds of people here and there.
In the 1970's Pan Am started its slow, painful death - but they refused to quit, not giving up its last breath.
The purchase of National gave Pan Am domestic routes, but the amount of money paid for them caused some doubts.
The bombing of 103 was the final turn in the screw, Pan Am's skies were no longer sky blue.
Pan Am sold off its assets - it was the only thing left to do. Then Delta Airlines came and said " Pan Am......we'll help you!!!!"
Delta said they would keep the Imperial Airline flying, but as everyone soon found out, Delta was lying.
Delta turned its back on Pan Am when they were needed the most, and soon thereafter, Pan Am turned into a ghost.
The Clippers were grounded, the offices shut down.......all the employees stood there with a frown.
The World's Most Experienced Airline was no more - its legacy passing into aviation lore.
5 years later, what's that we see? A new Pan Am? No, it can't be!
Marty Shugrue brought back the Pan Am name, hoping to restore it to well-deserved fame.
Flying A300's and Three Holers out of NY JFK, everything looked like it would turn out ok.
But buying nearly-bankrupt Carnival Airlines was a grave mistake, and Pan Am absorbed losses it could not take.
Out of business again, no hope of being saved - Juan Trippe must be rolling over in his grave!
A couple of months later, a new buyer was found, everyone hoping they won't run Pan Am into the ground.
Pan Am's home base moved to PSM - I truly, honestly, wished luck upon them.
But a remarkable thing has happened over the past few weeks, Pan Am's booking has steadily increased.
And all of my doubts about the company are beginning to pass, it looks like the Clippers may forever last.
This was a poem about history, tradition, and glory. This, my friends, was the
PAN AM STORY.
the end
Sorry I moved from SXM, looking for a new house on Anguilla now!
VirginA340 From United States, joined Jul 2005, 15 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (8 years 7 months 2 weeks 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 145 times:
This is the greatest thing on airliners.net. This is why I've hated Delta Airlines management from the 1980s to this date. Pan Am was a great airline but the poor management in the 1980s screwed everything up. Such as management obtaining waivers from FAA to skip hand searches in luggages, buying regular German Shepards instead of bomb sniffing dogs and their bomb detecting device was broken in the color mode so that the plastic explosive which can be picked up in this mode and not in black and white slipped past. Pan Am also ordered too many 747-100s and 747-200 in the 1970s which was a poor decision with a gas crises going on. After flight 103 went down victims families in the US, UK, Scottland Gemany and from other countries sued Pan Am. Pan Am was found neglagent in a Federal Court in NYC. Some of you will probably hate me for this but; I'm kind of relieved that the airline died. Don't get me wrong, I liked the airline for what me and my family knew it was an industry leader and a true pioneer but we couldn't bear to see the airline suffer anymore. After Pan Am lost one of their prized 747s you might as well give it to Carl Ichan and Frank Lorenzo to screw it all up because on the day the airliner was lost along with 270 people (along with my best friend and his family) was the world's sense of security and their trust in Pan Am. Juan T Trippe would've turned in his grave that a major disaster happened because the corporate board didn't care about the people they served or their safety and that they were flying his dream that he built with his two hands into the ground. They lost their prized LHR gates to United and the India routes were sold to Delta the same airline that bought the World port at JFK. I still can't bear too look at it much. I konw now Delta is a great airline. But if I ever saw anyone from that management team back in the 80s I would tell them off and possibly attack them physically. 5 of my relatives lost their jobs because they went back on their word.
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