The Pan Am Story

skyw82 said:
Found this video on the death of Pan Am, it's pretty interesting to those of use who didn't live through it.

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That's an awesome documentary. I had it on VHS years ago. I think it was filmed within months of the shutdown.
 
ajdwings said:
Pick up the book Sky Gods. Great read on the rise and fall of Pan Am. Warning it will make you angry when you realize how this industry has changed.
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+1...one of the best books I've read in the past year or so...so good, read it 3 more times. Also goes to show how some people have good timing and some don't.
 
ajdwings said:
Pick up the book Sky Gods. Great read on the rise and fall of Pan Am. Warning it will make you angry when you realize how this industry has changed.
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It made me more angry reading it because nothing has changed.

I found the integrating of seniority lists to be the best part.
 
I didn't realize that the government had such a hand in describing destroying the airline.
 
v1valarob said:
It made me more angry reading it because nothing has changed.

I found the integrating of seniority lists to be the best part.
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Actually I was more referring to the rise rather than the fall of Pan Am. You know the part when they actually were "Sky Gods". Like the Berlin Base :)
 
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I found the integrating of seniority lists to be the best part.[/QUOTE]
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I still say the ultimate irony would be if TC from 9L ends up at Delta through the SSP. This poor guy got sent packing from Pan Am after the shutdown. Did like 17 years Hard Time at Colgan, now merged into Pinnacle or whatever it's called these days, then finally the possibility of going to to Delta like 20 something years later. Talk about around the horn!

If I was him I'd do it just on principle. Great guy.
 
There's a guy I know who started out at ASA, went to Eastern, after the strike got on with Pan Am, left airline flying after the shutdown for a few years, and then went back to ASA as a street captain. Said the biggest mistake of his career was leaving ASA in the first place.
 
WestIndian425 said:
I wonder if there are similar documentaries on TWA and Eastern. I haven't been able to find one.
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The PBS Frontline documentary, "The Battle for Eastern Airlines" is on YouTube. It talks briefly about this history, the labor strife through the Borman years and then ends with Lorenzo taking over and the end of the good will that was achieved in the early 80s, prior to the sale. I think it was filmed in the late 80s, so it doesn't get to the strike and the shutdown.

The Sky Gods book is awesome! It truly shows how people thought that Pan Am was too perfect to fail. I also recommend, Splash of Color, in regards to Braniff. The whole part where Putnam is secret organizing the shutdown is a page turner and will have your heart racing as if you actually were working for Braniff in early 1982.
 
I have the luxury of working with people that were part of the Pan Am acquisition on both sides of the cockpit door.

Some of the stories, hoooo boy.
 
ERfly said:
The PBS Frontline documentary, "The Battle for Eastern Airlines" is on YouTube. It talks briefly about this history, the labor strife through the Borman years and then ends with Lorenzo taking over and the end of the good will that was achieved in the early 80s, prior to the sale. I think it was filmed in the late 80s, so it doesn't get to the strike and the shutdown.
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Oh cool! Now if I can find one on TWA...
 
Derg said:
I have the luxury of working with people that were part of the Pan Am acquisition on both sides of the cockpit door.

Some of the stories, hoooo boy.
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I like the story about them having to jump out ground floor windows and into the bushes at HQ on the day they shutdown because they chained the doors.
 
Very unfortunate about Pan Am. I had an opportunity to meet A retired Pan Am Captain a while back that started on 707's and retired off the 747 a few years before the company folded. He had some great stories. Very nice man.
 
Cptnchia said:
There's a guy I know who started out at ASA, went to Eastern, after the strike got on with Pan Am, left airline flying after the shutdown for a few years, and then went back to ASA as a street captain. Said the biggest mistake of his career was leaving ASA in the first place.
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Where is he now?
 
Cptnchia said:
Cliffs Notes: ASA may be the high point of your career
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...I don't want to play anymore

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