Pan Am

Delta’s Rationale For Denying Media Access On ‘Worldport’s’ Last Day … Fear

For months I had planned on documenting the last day of New York JFK International Airport’s Terminal 3 operations, the former Pan Am Worldport, on the 23rd of May 2013.   After back and forth emails Delta Air Lines declined my access to the historic terminal last week, as well as other media outlets interested in…

A Historic Chapter In Aviation Closes & It Won’t Be Documented

In less than one week the former Pan American Airways Unit Terminal Building, more commonly known as the Pan Am WorldPort, at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, taken over by Delta Air Lines in 1991, and now simply known as Terminal 3, will cease operations after 53 years. .   JFK’s iconic Terminal…

The Love Of Planes … Visiting Where It All Began

Earlier this week NYCAviation.com’s newly appointed co-editor Jason Rabinowitz (by the way, Mazel Tov Jason!) wrote about New York JFK International Airport’s T3, the former PanAm Worldport, facing the wrecking ball.  Reading his piece on the efforts to save JFK’s T3 reminded me of where it all began for me.   Every AvGeek, Plane Spotter,…

Pan Am’s Lesser Known Innovations … Business Jets

The birth of business jets dovetailed the birth of commercial jets. As airlines grew in popularity and size, Pan Am’s founder, Juan Trippe, an innovator in many aspects of commercial aviation, had his sights set on the travelers not on his planes … those flying private planes.   In the early 1960s Juan Trippe became…

Boeing Makes History On October 26th Again …

Fifty-three years ago today, on the evening of October 26th 1958, crowds gathered to witness history, the first Boeing 707-121 commercial passenger flight. Pan Am’s “Clipper America” (N709PA) flew from Pan Am’s Wordport, at New York’s Idlewild Airport to Paris’ Le Bourget Airport with 11 crewmembers and 111 passengers for eight-and-a-half hours. The Boeing 707’s…

Pan Am : The World’s Most Experienced Airline

As I read a stream of press releases, marketing content and view promotional material created by the remaining legacy airlines in the United States I often find myself viewing their materials and realizing that I can mix-n-match airline names and the content because the airlines have forgotten how to spark traveller imagination. Airline travel is…