ERA | INTO THE JET AGE
Pan Am service to Vietnam began May 1953. By 1970, 5 scheduled flights a week flew to Vietnam from the US (also serving stops across the Pacific).
Mary Lou Bigelow's first-person account: When she was a Pan American World Airways stewardess she documented Pan Am's history in films.
Flying to Berlin during the Cold War: The dust had hardly settled after the Third Reich had been crushed by Allied armies when the Cold War began.
Pan Am colleagues knew Cap. Bill Seeman as a "can’t-wait-to-see-what’s-coming-next" cartoonist: The story and images of his unique talents.
From Routine to Daunting: A Glance into Pan Am’s Charter Business by Eric Hobson. From its earliest days, Pan Am made its aircraft available for charter.
Basic Choices by Jack Meade on his engineering work at Pan Am: "My experience with the world's best airline was a hallmark in my aviation career."
Pan Am's Lockeheed L-1011 TriStar by R.E.G. Davies, illustrated by Mike Machat (John T. McCoy painting Courtesy of SFO Museum collection, gift of PAHF).
A Day of "Firsts": First hijacking of a wide-body jet to Cuba, August 2, 1970 (Image by John T. McCoy, Courtesy SFO Museum, Gift of PAHF).
Thanksgiving 1965: After 30 years, Pan Am's famous Pacific propeller flights ended with the flight of Pan Am DC-7C "Ocean Rover" from Pago Pago.
PAA Capt. John Mattis: His uncommon variety of interests, experience, talents, and his portrait by Norman Rockwell (PAHF's 2026 Calendar cover).
UFO Mystery on a 707 Proving Flight by Jack Meade, with a surprise explanation after a flight by Pilot Dick Vinal from Puerto Rico to JFK.
Pan Am North Stars Steel Band: Tony Williams, master of steel pan music, top Steel Band in the Caribbean, combined forces with Pan Am.
The Junius Kellogg story: " The Man Who Saved Basketball." Junius A. Kellogg and the Pan Am Jets wheelchair basketball team, by Bruce Wolk.
The Beatles arrive at JFK on a Pan Am 707. Stewardess Jill Kellogg's account of their first trip to the US in February 1964 and newsreel footage Read the PDF
6-1/2 Magic Hours. Film produced by Pan American World Airways, Inc. on jet age flights. American History TV, C-Span, transcript.
Stewardess Hope Ryden & Pan Am's first jet Inaugural flight, NY-Paris October 1958 on a Boeing 707 (Photo: 1983 anniversary reenactment). PDF
"I don't remember being as excited as this about a flight." Stewardess Jane Luna Euler recalls her Pan Am flight that returned the Beatles home .
“I may lose battles, but no one will ever see me lose minutes.” Pan Am's Promotion of the Dassault Falcon business jet.
