Pan American clipper, Vol. 8, No. 2, February 1950

              PAN AMERICAN
ATLANTIC DIVISION
LIPPPR
Read on four continents and four islands in between
Volume 8
February, 1950
Number 2
Ralph Rhea Heads Ground Operations
Ralph D. Rhea, Atlantic Division communications superintendent since June 1, 1948, has been named to the new post of manager-ground operations, it is announced by Captain Harry B. Fleming, operations manager.
In his new job, which he took over January 16, Mr. Rhea is responsible for all ground operations functions in the Division, with the following six department heads reporting to him: F. C. Ruegg, superintendent of stations; Robert P. Dutton, Division communications superintendent; Frank J. Hegarty, chief dispatcher; Allan C. Clark, chief meteorologist; Harry R. Canaday, superintendent of ground training, and Joseph Rubin, ground equipment supervisor. In addition, Mr. Rhea will represent the operations manager during his absence from La Guardia Field.
Uniform in System
The new ground operations team joins maintenance and the chief pilot’s office as a major department under the operations manager. An organizational pattern already successfully established in the Latin American and Pacific-Alaska divisions has been followed in setting up the new department.
“We believe that creation of this position will help coordinate and channel the collective efforts of these various departments to achieve a safe, efficient, economical and on-time schedule performance that gives maximum service to the passenger,” Captain Fleming says.
Mr. Rhea’s 10 years of experience in commercial aviation have included positions as radio operator, flight radio officer, operations representative, dispatcher, chief dispatcher, and superintendent of schedules, all with the Latin American Division.
CLARK, BORGER
NAMED BY NACA
Allan C. Clark, chief meteorologist for the Atlantic Division, and John Borger, chief project engineer for the PAA System, have been appointed members of technical subcommittees of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
Mr. Clark, a meteorologist with Pan American since 1935, has been reappointed to the Subcommittee on
Allan C. Clark
Meteorological Problems, while Mr. Borger has been named to the Committee on Operating Problems.
Members of the NACA’s 27 technical committees and subcommittees are selected because of their technical ability, experience, and recognized leadership in their special field of competence. They serve in a personal and professional capacity without compensation in contributing their knowledge toward formulation of the research programs required for the country’s air leadership.
Responsibilities of subcommittee members include: Advising on problems related to the assigned technological field of the technical committee or subcommittee; reviewing research in progress both at NACA laboratories and at other organizations throughout the country; recommending research projects; and assisting in coordination of research programs.
Through meetings of such leaders in the aeronautical sciences, effective coordination and the gearing of research activity to the needs of the military, the industry, and air transport operators are achieved.
GROUND OPERATIONS
Conferring with RALPH D. RHEA, newly appointed manager, ground operations, are the six department heads who make up this unit. Left to right are: JOSEPH RUBIN, ground equipment supervisor; ROBERT P. DUTTON, communications supervisor; HARRY R. CANADAY, superintendent of training; FRANK J. HEGARTY, chief flight dispatcher; ALLAN C. CLARK, chief meteorologist; MR. RHEA, and F. C. RUEGG, superintendent of stations.
PAA-ers Benefit By Liberal Pass Policy
See Captain Brock’s discussion of employe travel on page 3 of The Clipper.
A liberalized pass policy, allowing Atlantic Division employes fare discounts of 85 per cent for 2,000 miles of vacation travel annually over the Division’s routes, is now in effect.
All employes with 12 months of service are entitled to pass travel over routes of the Atlantic Division, provided travel is performed during annual vacations and is approved by the department heads. Travel is subject to pay-load at the start of the journey, with confirmed space thereafter.
Tickets are issued at a discount of 85 per cent from the published tariff, and employes are solely responsible for obtaining their own passports, visas and inoculations and for all incidental travel costs.
2,000 Miles Per Year
Each employe is credited with a basic allowance of 2,000 miles for each year of service, cumulative to four years. Employes who have completed more than two and less than five years service may be accompanied by one dependent according to these conditions, and an employe with more than five years of service may be accompanied by two dependents under the same terms.
Certain routes are restricted for pass travel. Transatlantic travel may only be accomplished from October 15 to April 1 eastbound, and November 1 to June I, westbound. Bermuda travel may not be accomplished during the Easter season.
Employes may continue to secure vacation travel beyond the limits set forth here at 50 per cent of published tariffs in accordance with the already established policy. Pass travel on ferry flights continues to be free, but is limited to employes and dependents who are traveling on annual vacation or company business.
Now It’s Official
Pan American Airways Corporation was absorbed by Pan American Airways, Inc., and the name of the latter was changed to Pan American World Airways, Inc. Pan American, which now serves 64 countries on all continents, had outgrown the name it used when its operations were entirely in South and Central America and the Caribbean.
The Company retains its famous initials — the three letters which appeared on the first commercial airplanes to carry the American flag across the Atlantic, the Pacific, and around the world. The abbreviation carried on the tails and wings of the Clippers remains PAA.