Cold Open

It’s May 12th, 1992, on the tarmac at JFK International Airport.

A group of people gather beside an aircraft that has become synonymous with luxury air travel: the Boeing 747. Stamped on the side of the fuselage in huge, blue letters is “Pan Am,” the name of the company that made this airplane model famous, and this plane in particular is noteworthy. It’s the company’s first 747 - The Clipper Juan T. Trippe - so-named after the man who modernized Pan Am back in the 1920s.

Workers wander in and out of the cabin, making all the necessary checks before taking off for Southern California. On the ground, a mix of reporters, photographers, and Pan Am employees mill about, talking to each other with a mix of reverence and sadness.

But as the jet’s engines roar to life, nobody boards the plane. Today’s trip is a special one. It’s going to be the last ever Pan Am flight.

The journey the Clipper Juan T. Trippe is about to take is more of a symbolic gesture than anything else. Pan Am officially grounded all its passenger flights a few months ago. Decades of poor financial decisions had left the once-great airline struggling to get out of debt. Eventually, pulling the plug was the only option left.

But the decision to shut down Pan Am Airlines came as a huge disappointment to many Americans, including the countless employees of the airline. For decades, Pan Am was the defining international airline in the United States. But today, that era ends.

The Juan T. Trippe ambles its way down the runway, flanked by firetrucks shooting water cannons.

The 747 picks up speed, and then slowly ascends into the air, just like it’s done countless times before. And though this plane will take off again, it will be the very last time that it flies under the Pan Am brand.

Throughout the 20th century, Pan American Airways dominated the skies and international travel. They were the first airline to fly worldwide, with flights to every single continent besides Antarctica. Pan Am instilled an air of luxury and glamor into the experience of flying. But over time, mistake after mistake cost the airline everything, leaving it no choice but to halt its operations on December 4th, 1991.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is December 4th, 1991: Pan Am Shuts Down For Good.

Act One: Come Fly With Us

It’s the night of October 26th, 1958, at New York’s Idle Wild Airport.

Tonight, 111 lucky passengers are about to make history. They’re going to take the first-ever international flight in a Pan Am jet.

To mark the occasion, Pan Am has pulled out all the stops: as passengers arrive, they’re led down the tarmac on a red carpet, accompanied by the playing of an army band. They stroll down the walkway until they reach the star of the show: the Boeing 707 jet, its 130-foot wingspan stretched out over the crowd, lit dramatically with huge floodlights

As the passengers board the aircraft, they’re greeted by stewardesses dressed in neat, tailored suits in the airline’s iconic shade of blue. Travelers are offered wine in glass stemware and can look forward to hot meals delivered to them on china plates. The fliers enjoy this luxury, but more than anything else, they’re excited about the prospect of a new kind of air travel. Tonight’s flight will take its passengers from New York to Paris in just over 6 hours, an unimaginably short amount of time for everyone onboard.

Until now, airplanes just didn’t have that kind of speed. The same flight on other planes would normally take around 9 hours. Most commercial aircraft cap out at around 400 miles per hour. But the Boeing 707 can go up to 600 miles per hour, and the 111 passengers onboard tonight’s flight are about to feel the full force of its engines.

The jet begins to taxi, then it picks up speed, rushing faster and faster down the tarmac. No one onboard has experienced this kind of sensation before — they can feel the force of the engine pushing them back into their seats. Even the stewardesses reach across their jump seats to hold hands, staring at each other in wide-eyed surprise.

The jet age has finally begun – though Pan Am has already established itself as a trailblazer in air travel. Since its humble beginnings as an airmail service in 1927, Pan Am grew to become the first-ever international passenger airline in the United States, offering short trips from the Florida Keys to Havana, Cuba.

What made Pan Am so special in those early years was its unique use of seaplanes to get to hard-to-reach destinations. Since these so-called “Clippers” could land safely on the water, Pan Am could take passengers to a variety of scenic, harder-to-reach destinations in South America. And as the popularity of these flights grew, the brand expanded its destinations across the globe.

And from the very beginning, Pan Am made sure to emphasize the glamor of air travel. Flying was exciting and new, a chance to explore corners of the world that used to feel impossibly distant. Pan Am emphasized the luxury of this experience through an extreme attention to detail: pilots wore navy suits adorned with gold bands on the arms, and Pan Am stewardesses spoke multiple languages.

As the brand entered the 1950s, competitor airlines like TWA mimicked the same air of glamor, boasting about the A-list celebrities who flew with them. They were luxurious in their own right. But nobody did it like Pan Am. Whatever TWA was offering, Pan Am had been doing it for longer, as indicated by Pan Am's slogan: “the world’s most experienced airline.”

But although Pan Am is already at the top of the airline industry, jet travel is a game changer for them. Jets cut travel time almost in half, making it easier than ever to travel around the world. And that means more international flights per day and more money for Pan Am if they can sell more tickets.

But in addition to adopting quicker travel by jet, Pan Am introduces an economy class, where tickets can come at a fraction of the cost. Now, there’s even more of an incentive to fly with Pan Am.

The airline will ride this success through the 1960s and into 1970. That year alone, Pan Am will fly 11 million customers across 20 billion miles and things will only seem to be looking up. So, Pan Am will adopt a new jet model: the Boeing 747, which carries twice the number of passengers as the 707. Feeling confident, the airline will decide to make an enormous investment, spending $500 million on a fleet of Boeing 747s, confident that with these new planes, Pan Am will be writing the next chapter in their success story. But that will be a mistake.

Act Two: Nosedive

It’s October 19th, 1973, only three years after Pan Am’s large investment in Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

All across the United States, the news reports on the day’s biggest story: The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OAPEC, has just declared an oil embargo on the United States.

OAPEC is doing this as an act of retaliation against the U.S. government’s support of Israel’s military during the ongoing Arab-Israeli war. The effect is immediate and staggering. The cost of oil doubles then triples. Gas stations start running dry, leaving Americans sitting in long lines in the hope of just filling up their tank.

The embargo only lasts five months, ending in March of 1974. But in that time the cost of oil quadrupled. And it shows no signs of going down.

For Pan Am, this could not have come at a worse time. It’s that now, even after the embargo’s end, it’s hard to convince Americans to spend money on international flights. To consumers, it feels like an extra expense that could go to something more practical, and many of Pan Am’s new 747 jets start flying at half capacity.

The combination of slowing sales and expensive fuel costs is crippling. As the years go on, Pan Am can’t seem to increase the demand for international flights, and by 1976, it’s estimated that the airline has lost over $300 million, racking up a debt of over $1 billion. Something has to change, and fast. So, Pan Am starts looking domestically.

In the past, Pan Am dealt exclusively in international flights. But now, they’re hoping that merging their operations with a pre-existing domestic airline could help save them from financial ruin. But standing in their way is the United States government.

Since Pan Am has long been an international airline, the federal government interprets their intent to buy a domestic carrier as an attempt at monopolizing all air travel and refuses to allow any mergers.

It takes two more years for things to change. In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act passes, effectively declaring that the government cannot control airline routes. Pan Am is finally cleared for a merger, and they waste no time in purchasing National Airlines for $437 million. But this long sought-after acquisition comes with unexpected consequences that hurt Pan Am.

As time passes, it becomes clear that the culture of Pan Am is vastly different to that of National Airlines. Pan Am can’t reconcile its “luxury international air travel brand" with that of the more frugal National.

So, as Pan Am enters the 1980’s, it’s still hemorrhaging money. The airline starts selling properties to make some quick cash, including their iconic Manhattan headquarters. But in 1988, tragedy strikes, ruining their chances of economic recovery.

That year, terrorists plant a bomb on a Pan Am flight from London to New York. It detonates as the plane flies above Scotland, killing all 279 people onboard and 11 people on the ground.

In the investigation that follows, many fingers get pointed at Pan Am for loose security measures. But Pan Am is not unique in this. Security has not been a priority across much of the industry. But because of this tragedy, Pan Am becomes the face of the problem.

So, for the next few years, Pan Am will continue to nosedive. In January of 1991, Delta will acquire Pan Am in a last ditch effort to revitalize the company. They'll take over all of the brand’s European routes and the much-coveted Pan Am terminal at JFK International.

But even this won’t save the company. And within a few months, Delta will pull its financial support. By the end of 1991, Pan Am will be losing upwards of $3 million every day, and they’ll have no choice but to shut down for good.

Act Three: Grounded

It’s December 4th, 1991, at the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.

Travelers wait impatiently at their gate. Their Pan Am flight to New York City should be boarding any second now. But for some reason, it's not. The minutes pass by with no update. Slowly, anxious passengers walk up to the Pan Am counter, asking what the problem is. They flash their tickets as proof that they are, in fact, supposed to be on this flight.

But their tickets mean nothing to the workers at the counter. Because they have a terrible job to do today. Dejected, they explain to these frustrated customers that this flight isn’t going to be taking any passengers at all. The aircraft is going to fly from D.C. to JFK with an empty cabin because Pan Am is shutting down for good… right now.

This scene plays out simultaneously all across the United States, leaving would-be passengers scrambling to figure out other travel options during the already hectic holiday season. National news quickly picks up the story, interviewing disgruntled travelers at the airport and Pan Am employees who aren’t any better off. The shutdown comes as a huge surprise to them, too. Suddenly, the job they’ve come to count on has disappeared into thin air.

In an interview with ABC, one woman struggles to properly express her sadness about the news. Standing in front of the bag check counter, still dressed in her Pan Am uniform, employee Agnes Bowles starts to choke up as she talks about how special Pan Am is to her:

AGNES BOWLES: "Pan American Airlines is a wonderful… a wonderful airline. And this is very, very, very sad."

Soon the last ever passenger flight happens in Barbados, carrying a full cabin from the island to Miami. This route isn’t much different from the flights from Florida to Cuba that Pan Am used to run back in the 1920s. And for people who know Pan Am’s history, this is a fitting final act.

In the decades that follow, Pan Am will be remembered as an icon of the 20th century and an early adopter of many of the foundational components of air travel we know today. Its legacy will live on in countless ways, from the use of air traffic control down to the style of pilot uniforms, allowing Pan Am to be remembered as a giant of the skies, even after years of turmoil forced the airline to shut down operations on December 4th, 1991.

Outro

Next on History Daily. December 5th, 1945. Five US Navy bombers disappear sparking decades of speculation about a mysterious region known as the Bermuda Triangle. 

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Georgia Hampton.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.