LUXURY ON WINGS

As Clipper Cruises of the flying boat era with overnight stops ended with the onset of World War Two, passenger comfort became a lower priority. But Post War Pan Am changed all that. In 1958, Pan Am's  Jet Age 707s focused on luxury fights. By 1970 Pan Am's 747 widebody set new  passenger comfort and entertainment standards for today's air travel.

The Early Years

Traveling onboard Pan Am's big Clippers involved long hours taken up with reading, games and dining. Onboard heating of food came in 1935 for inflight meal preparation, with elaborate multi-course meals served on china and formal table settings.

Post War Pan Am

The Clipper Cruises of the flying boat era with overnight stops ended after World War Two, when passenger comfort was a lower priority. But post-war, with a booming economy that enabled many more travelers to fly to more exotic destinations, Pan Am renewed its focus on passenger inflight experience.

Travel time on Pan Am got a whole lot shorter with use of land planes. Stratocruisers retained a luxury cruise ship quality, a double-decker with a lounge and a bar, and Presidential class sleeping berths. A series of Douglas-built transports offered Rainbow Class service with simpler service options, but with the same rapid travel capabilities. Pan Am also began tourist fares as early as 1948, increasing flight accessibility to a wider range of travelers.

In January 1950, the name Pan American Airways was changed to Pan American World Airways, with a transformed winged globe logo, now showing the whole world to match the new name.

Into The Jet Age

In 1957, in anticipation of the Jet Age, the company logo changed again to a blue globe with two simple words, "Pan Am," symbolizing the airline's leading presence around the world.

In 1958, with the advent of 707s and jet travel, Pan Am marketed stylish experience, cuisine and inflight entertainment, as passengers stayed seated during much of their shorter flights. Pan Am stewardesses, sophisticated and well-educated, became an integral part of the magic of the Pan Am experience.

By 1965 Pan Am had inaugurated "Theatre in the Air" movie features with overhead screens plus 10 audio channels of programmed listening.

The World's Airline

In January 1970, the inauguration of the first widebody Pan Am 747, "The Queen of the Skies," took everyone into a new global era of travel where the emphasis was on passenger comfort and, for first-class passengers, the return of the cruise ship experience, this time with a "flying restaurant," bar. and lounge.

More about the design and comfort of the 747 

at Clipper Hall's "Birth of the Superjet" exhibit