Clipper, Vol. 11, No. 3, March 1952

              Pan American W Airways
ATLANTIC DIVISION
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He a d on f o u r : c o n t i n e n i s and f o u r i s I a rii d s ' i h b e t W e e n
Volume 11
March, 1952
Number 3
Pan Am Club Soon To Hold Blood Drive
On January 18, the Red Cross conducted a blood drive among the Pan American System employes at Long Island City, at which time 154 pints of blood were donated.
Since there are, at present, a number of Atlantic Division em-poyes at this location, arrangements were made for them to participate in the drive and to have their donations credited to the Division blood bank.
“It certainly was gratifying," said Fred Breitschwerdt, chairman of the Pan Am Club Welfare Committee, “to receive 17 donors from this drive to add to our stock which was beginning to run low.”
Plans are being made, according to the committee chairman, to conduct a blood drive at Idlewild in the near future, to replenish the Pan Am Club’s blood bank for another year.
Every employe is eligible to draw blood from this bank, as every employe is automatically a member of the Pan Am Club.
200 Pints Issued
Since the inception of the blood bank on October 28, 1949, there has been nearly 200 pints of blood issued, through the American Red Cross, for 80 cases where employes or their families and dependants have required blood.
“At $35 a pint, this has meant a considerable saving in money at a time when money goes all too quickly for medical care,” said Mr. Breitschwerdt.
“Even of greater value,” he added, “is the convenience of just calling up any member of the Pan Am Club Welfare Committee, giving the patient’s name, address and hospital; Through the Red Cross, a five-pint credit will then be established at that hospital, and the blood used will be replaced at the convenience of the Red Cross. If, in an emergency, blood from the hospital’s bank is used before credit can be established, it is still possible to have it re-(Continued on Page 2)
Snow Ball	Q
Pretty and popular Pat Kelly of ground training became the most envied girl in the Atlantic Division on February 15, night of the annual Snow Ball. When all the votes were tailed she was named Snow Ball Queen for 1952 and is shown above being crowned by Dorothy Burke, last year’s winner. Others in the group made up part of the Queen’s retinue.
Cairo Burns; Office Does, Too .... But No One Fiddles
By William M. Alston
So you think you’ve got troubles! Not unlike that well-known arsonist Nero, Pasha Alston and his fellow fallaheen (Egyptian peasants), literally ate and drank while their own office burned on that eventful Saturday, January 26, 1952. This is not supposed to be a joke, but a fact—and not without
good reason.
By 2 p.m. the rioters were already completely out of hand. The sales office was closed at 1 p.m., after approximately 500 demonstrators had attempted to storm Shepheard’s Hotel. Our office was located in the corner of the Shepheard’s Hotel Building, along with TWA, and the BOAC and Air France sub-offices. Such well-
AI1 that remained of Cairo office.
known agents as Wagons-Lits apd Thos. Cook were also lucky participants in this London tea-party (Cairo style).
By 3:30 p.m. the mob succeeded in putting that famous old landmark (Shepheard’s) to the torch. The personification of Cairo for thousands of tourists the world over since 1840 was a hopeless ruin by midnight.
The only office in the entire block standing at noon the following day (Sunday) was that of Middle East Airlines. This fact accounted for the drink (a la Nero) mentioned previously. Until 'Tne very last moment we kept our fingers crossed, knocked on wood, threw salt over our left shoulders—-and prayed for the fire department to come (it NEVER did).
At 4 p.m., the tired old walls of Shepheard’s had had enough. With a resounding rumble this proud old building gave up—and with it went the last chance to save our new office, which had been completed in January, 1951.
On Monday morning the combined MEA and PAA staff had not even one pencil left—but they had the spirit to start work again.
I would particularly like to com-( Continued on Page 2)
PAA Asks GAB To Reaffirm European Competitive Pattern
President Truman’s pattern for air competition across the Atlantic, established in 1950, which for the first time produced direct U. S. flag competition to all the major air terminals in Europe, should be reaffirmed and renewed by the Civil Aeronautics Board, Henry J. Friendly, general counsel for Pan American, stated in a brief filed recently with Chief Examiner Francis W. Brown.
----------------—-----He pointed out that the President’s plan had already saved mil-
Personnel Policy
During the recent meeting of Regional directors and Division staff heads, held by Vice President Harold R. Harris in Bermuda, with Vice President Franklin Gledhill, Vice President Erwin Balluder and Vice President Harold E. Gray also in attendance, Personnel and Industrial Relations matters were discussed, at which time Vice President Balluder crystalized the company’s personnel policies in the following statement:
“The owners of our business invested their capital and employed us to conduct a service which would be in the public interest, useful to others and produce a profit for the owners. As a reward for accomplishing these objectives, we are promised—(a) continuity of employment, (b) opportunity for advancement, (c) decent working conditions, and (d) adequate compensation consistent with the relative quality and quantity of individual production and comparable with the best opportunities in our industry. This reward is entirely dependent on our ability to produce the commodity for which our enterprise was formed, and to sell our product at a fair profit.”
Charters Limited By CAB Rule To Authorized Lines
The door to transatlantic air service by independent or non-scheduled airline operators, of the type which were chartered by a number of student and teacher groups during the last two summers, was virtually closed last month by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).
In view of the fact that the authorized transatlantic carriers (such as Pan American), will offer greatly reduced tourist fares starting May 1, the board said in a policy statement that it was limiting charter operations to those airlines.
The only exception to the policy, the board said, would be “where the regularly-authorized transatlantic carriers are unable or unwilling to provide reasonably adequate charter service at established charter rates.”
The board’s statement emphasized that the policy “does not in
lions of dollars in subsidy, strengthened both U. S. flag carriers? and provided better service to the traveling public.
The case concerns the renewal of certain transatlantic certificates which expire on July, 1952. Pan American is urging that the present competitive pattern be retained, while TWA seeks to exclude PAA from half of Europe.
Should Remain Effective
Mr. Friendly pointed out that when the President established the present competitive route structure in 1950, he clearly intended that it remain effective far into the future. As a result of his decision far-reaching changes were made, involving the disappearance of American Overseas Airlines, heavy investment by Pan American’s stockholders in what was assumed to be a long-range plan, and difficult personnel changes ^Continued on Page 2)
Steady Increase Is Reported In All-Cargo Loads
In a report covering the first month’s operation of DC-6A cargo flights, it was indicated that the southbound San Juan loads showed very close to an average revenue load factor of 100 per cent.
The northbound loads, San Juan to New York, “although still disappointingly low,” according to the report, continue to show a steady improvement.
The round-trip transatlantic load factors are “excellent,” the report continues, “and the percentage of revenue load carried i§ almost more than we hoped for at this time of year and in the early stage of development of this freighter service.”
“It is has been particularly gratifying,” said Paul T. Rennell, Division sales manager, “to note that since the beginning of this service we have shown a steady increase not only in the loads .being carried as compared to past performance, but PAA’s percentage of the total load carried by all carriers, in. both directions, has also increased steadily.”
This follows the pattern, according to Mr. Rennell, of the more service offered the greater the loads carried. “In this particular case it is not merely another PAA schedule that has done the trick, but it is clearly the fact
tions by the regularly-authorized strictly an all-cargo flight^—exact-transatlantic carriers, nor does ly what was needed,” Mr. Rennell (Continued on Page 2)	I concluded.
At Clipper press-time, Pan American World Airways had completed 37,928 transatlantic crossings.