Pan Americana, Vol. 1, No. 6, February 1944

              Veterans Head New Division
H. C. Dobbs, Traffic Manager of Latin American Div.,
Has Staff of Experts
Key posts in the new Latin American Division, formation of which was announced January 1, will be filled by traffic-wise PAA veteran executives.
Head of the new division, combining in a single operating unit the former Eastern and Western Divisions, is Wilbur Morrison. Formerly Western Division Manager, now Vice President -Latin Amer. Div., Morrison as early as 1928 was Traffic Manager with CMA in Mexico. In 1935 he became General Manager of that company. He brings to his new post a wealth of traffic experience, particularly in express services, in which field he is considered an expert.
W.O. Snyder, who becomes Division Mgr., has been in almost every branch of aviation, Including sky-writing advertising. PAA was a year-old infant when Snyder joined the company.
As Division Traffic Mgr., H.C.Dobbs (veteran Pan-Arnerlcaner) heads up all the extensive Traffic operations in the new organization.
Charged with «selling" Pan American in the score of countries served in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean is Division Sales Manager J. A. Zalduondo. With PAA since 1929 when he started in Mexico City, Zalduondo has worked with AVIANCA in Colombia, is credited with establishing PAA*s express department, and was special representative in Rio.
For five years he was assistant traffic manager in Miami.
C. E. Shoemaker, Passenger Service Manager of the new Division, is a veteran of 10 years with various airlines and came to PAA in 1937. Since then he has seen service in many parts of the world. In 1941-42 he served as Traffic Manager of the African operations of the company. A pilot in his own right, Shoemaker holds six licenses and has flown close to 1,000 hours in 15 types of landplanes.
Advertising Manager is Ernest L. Foss, formerly in the same capacity with the Western Division.
A vast air transportation system is involved in the new organization. Last year PAA's Latin American services carried 445,000 passengers, 32,270,000 pounds of express and mail over 48,000 miles of routes. Over 100,000 passengers fly in and out of the great international air gateway of Miami alone.
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Miamians, seeing this colorful window display in the IALT0 ticket office, were instantly reminded of the role of PAA in aiding the war effort 'round the world and of the ease with which the Clippers are making Good Neighbors close neighbors. For example, in IQ28 it took two days to reach Puerto Rico from the U.S., today seven hours— certainly something worth talking about (see editorial, page two.)
First Trips an Adventure
It's a far cry from Pan American's' one-man traffic department of 1927 to today, with 800 persons in dozens of traffic offices in thv. U.S. and abroad.
Their Job- arranging for the speeding of passengers, mail, and express over nearly 100,000 miles of PAA routes - is a thousand-fold expansion of the Traffic responsibilities of 1927.
In that year, when PAA's first Fok-ker was starting to span the 90 miles of water between Key West and Havana, air travel even in the U.S. was looked on with raised eyebrows. Over-ocean passenger flights were considered by the majority of the Public as little short of true adventure.
Thanks to President Juan T. Trippe's insistence on utmost safety in all flight operations, passengers soon were to be persuaded of the advantages of mlle-and-a-half-a-mlnute travel through the clouds.
In those days someone posed a picture of a reluctant passenger being pushed aboard an early plane. It was a "gag", but the picture told a story not far from the truth.
Even in those days, Traffic had Its full share of responsibilities toward keeping the airline running and expanding, helping meet payrolls, buy-
ing gas, filling the little fleet of planes with payloads.
V. E. Chenea, (at first Division Traffic Manager, later General Traffic Manager, now Vice President and General Traffic Manager) and his assistants wisely decided to build from the ground up.
Performance records of the growing Clipper fleet were to meet performance promises■’ in the first full year of service 20,728 passengers were persuaded to try the new overwater mode of travel. The average annual increase in passenger figures between 1929 and 1942 was 150% and passenger traffic by the end of 1941 was 1800 times as great as in 1929! Express and mall jumped correspondingly.
Just as PAA's growing volume of experience in long-distance flying was to add new and valuable lessons to the library of flying knowledge, so Traffic Department innovations were to contribute to the entire system of air transportation.
(Continued on page U)