“Pan Am’s World” : A Film That Takes You Around The World In 24-Minutes

Web: www.stevenfrischling.com — E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

13/07/2009 – “Pan Am’s World” : A Film That Takes You Around The World In 24-Minutes

Two weeks ago, on the 1st of July Delta Air Lines became the first airline in the United States to fly to all six permanently inhabited continents.  As Delta Air Lines launched its service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Sydney (SYD) it moved closer to its potential for becoming ‘The New Pan Am’ as I wrote about here: 1/07/2009 – Today Delta Air Lines Becomes ‘The New Pan Am’

Over the past few weeks I have begun carefully looking at Pan Am’s once expansive worldwide route system and comparing it to the global route systems of the limited number of airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents.  In looking at ‘what was’ and ‘what is’ I am left wondering if we’ll ever see such a massive global airline again.

One interesting aspect of Pan Am’s global network was putting two flights in the air each day that completely flew around the world. One flew east and one flew west.  Currently only one-airline flies completely around the world, Air New Zealand (Singapore Airlines falls 21 miles short of flying completely around the world).

So what made Pan Am the legendary global airline that conjures up the memory of The Golden Age Of Flying?

The following 1970 film (yes it was shot on film) might shed some light for those unfamiliar with this airline that was once a familiar sight in nearly every corner of the world.  The cinematography is captivating, the visuals are fantastic, the story telling is something few corporations would ever invest in again, the brief glimpses into “Pan Am’s World” is just wonderful.

I’d like to thank the folks at the Fly Pan Am blog for bringing this film to my attention…so now kick back for the next 24 minutes and enjoy. It’s really worth watching!

Happy Flying!
–Click Image Below To Launch Video–