Clipper, Vol. 3, No. 4, March 1946

              PAM AMERICAN
LfPPFR
LATIN AMERICAN BIVISION
VOL. 3—NO. 4
460304
Copyright, 19JÍ6, by Pan American Airways, Inc.
MARCH, 1946
Charro Days Bring Color, Romance to Brownsville
Recreating the color, romance and picturesque customs of the old border, where the Latin American and the Anglo-American meet, is the Charro Days fiesta being held in Brownsville on Feb. 28, March 1, 2 and 3.
Male PAA’ers have been encouraging their beards for two months while the^girls have been working on their costumes for the fiesta. Everyone in Brownsville dresses in costume for Charro Days, the most popular being the Charro, or Mexican cowboy, costume for men; and the China Poblana for the women.
Furnishing thousands of visitors with one of the most colorful and spectacular entertainment festivals held in the nation the fiesta is one of song, dance and merriment. It is conducted without the conventional coronations and royalty of the usual fair. At Charro Days every man is a king, every woman a queen.
Hirsute men employees at Pan American have challenged the Court of the Grand Brush to produce fancier beards or bushier bushes. Passenger service attendants are planning to greet travelers in the festive and gaily decorated China Poblana costumes.
Charro Days this year will resume the gay show that made the celebration known all over the United States before the war put a halt to shows that attracted national crowds.
NEW SICK LEAVE PLAN LESSENS WORRY
Another step forward in its urogram to relieve employees of worry during periods of illness has been taken by Pan American with inauguration of a comprehensive sick leave plan.
Applicable to all ground employees of the Latin American Division, the plan provides that an individual’s sick leave credit shall accumulate at the rate of one day for each month of continuous active employment. This includes vacation time but excludes leave of absence time.
Then when an employee is ill, his sick leave account is debited as it is drawn upon and he continues to receive pay for scheduled working days. Maximum accumulation is limited to 60 days.
Sick leave is not granted to temporary or probationary employees, but when they are transferred to regular status, they automatically obtain sick leave credit equivalent to one day for each month of employment.
To be eligible for sick leave, an employee must notify his department head through his immediate supervisor as soon as it is known that he is unable to report to work as a result of illness or a non-industrial accident. Sick leave is not authorized unless so reported. After each absence due to illness or non-industrial accident an employee must report in person to his immediate supervisor before going back to Continued on Page 6
GLOBE GAZER
Ably fitted for his new post as manager of the Latin American Division of Pan American World Airways, Humphrey W. Toomey scans the countries to which PAA is constantly stepping up schedules with new equipment to handle the increasing commercial and holiday travel needs.
Did You Know That
Pan American was the first American airline to provide aircraft with emergency exits and has been providing these exits since PAA service was first inaugurated?
Aviation Expert Assumes Key Airline Position
Humphrey W. Toomey has been named manager of the Latin American Division of Pan American World Airways, climaxing a career Which began as a pilot and progressed to key positions involving every major phase of foreign air transport including the establishment of an aerial lifeline of supply to Allied forces.
The appointment was announced by Wilbur L. Morrison, vice president in charge of PAA’s Latin American Division. Toomey will administer the Division’s large scale operations in South and Central America, Mexico, Panama and the West Indies and will have a major role in the company’s fast-moving post-war expansion program.
Tall, dark-haired, soft-spoken, fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Toomey comes to the new post from his assignment as PAA’s Regional Director in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Highlights of his international aviation record are:
A navy-trained pilot and aeronautical engineer, he turned to the commercial aviation field in 1929 and flew the early Clippers which carried the U. S. flag to the other Americas.
While serving as Division Engineer in Miami during the years when PAA was laying the foundation for economical widespread air travel, he developed and established/ the procedures which resulted in today’s high standards of maintenance on aircraft employed in foreign service.
During a critical period of the war he organized and directed PAA’s Africa-Orient Division which the airline conducted for the military forces to maintain a steady flow of material and personnel to combat areas.
He served as management representative in Argentina and Brazil, as well as in the republics of Uruguay and Paraguay in that Continued on Page U
Charro Benito Cruhm, head of Brownsville’s mail room, imparts musical enchantment to Chinas Thelma Cofer, personnel; Mary Fitzgerald, engineering; Dorothy Hunt, personnel; Jane Jennings and Dee Schuepbach, passenger service; Elva Sosa, express and Janice McKay passenger service. All are dressed up to take part in the annual Charro Days.