


Pan Am's modern fleet allowed it to fly larger numbers of passengers, at a longer range, and with fewer stops than rivals. It led the aircraft industry into the Jet Age by acquiring new jetliners such as the Boeing 707 and Boeing 747. By the mid-20th century, Pan Am enjoyed a near monopoly on international routes. In the 1930s, under the leadership of American entrepreneur Juan Trippe, the airline purchased a fleet of flying boats and focused its route network on Central and South America, gradually adding transatlantic and transpacific destinations. Army Air Corps majors, Pan Am began as a scheduled airmail and passenger service flying between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba.

Until its dissolution in 1991, Pan Am "epitomized the luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo ("The Blue Meatball"), the use of the word " Clipper" in its aircraft names and call signs, and the white uniform caps of its pilots.įounded in 1927 by two former U.S. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and pioneered numerous innovations of the modern airline industry, such as jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems. Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century.
