News digest, Vol. 1, No. 14, April 5, 1945

              PAN AMERICAN IvORLD aIRLaYS
PaCIFIC-ALaSKA DIVISION NEDS DIGEST
News of the Company and aircraft industry compiled for our employees.
Vol. 1, No. 14	San Francisco	April 5, 1945
TRIPPE PRESENTS PM AMERICAN1S VIEVvS TO SENATE COMMITTEE
Juan T. Trippe, president of Pan American Airways, Inc., told the Senate Commerce Aviation subcommittee today, that it would require a united American effort in support of one U.S. American flag line in postwar international com-petion to keep this country in the forefront in the field of aviation.
Trippe said he endorsed the objective and basic philosophy of the McCarran Ail American Flag Line bill which had been "so well expressed" by Sen. Pat lwcCarran (D., Nev.) in his statement at the opening of the Committee hearings two weeks ago.
after reviewing the history of his Company’s operations for the past 17 years during which time it had developed its system to embrace 90,000 route miles, touching 60 foreign nations, colonies and possessions, Trippe displayed a large world map on which the routes of four principal foreign competitors were superimposed over Pan American's system.
"Routes across the Atlantic, in the South Pacific and to Alaska were assigned to Pan American by the President, with the advice of the Civil aeronautics Administration, after there had been opportunity for public hearings on applications of all interested parties," Trippe said. He said that at the time of Pearl Harbor, Pan American held the only permanent certificate in the U. S. international field.
'Historical Aviation Policy'
Pan American's net worth in 1945 was in excess of $40 million, its gross revenue in excess of $120 million, Trippe stated. He then explained that Pan American's net earnings this year would be less than the pre-war year although its gross revenue was up 550%. This was due, he stated, to the fact that Pan American had taken military contracts for a nominal consideration as its contribution to the war effort and in appreciation of the Government funds that had previously gone into its development.
Trippe made much of the fact that this country's historical aviation policy had been to keep the foreign and domestic operations in separate fields and argued strongly against CM approval of a plan whereby American airlines, through purchase of American mxport airlines, would get into the foreign field.
On tiie basis of the distribution of all passenger traffic between American companies, both surface and air, the domestic lines carried 82/b while international traffic of all forms totaled but 18)o, ne said. To put a domestic oper-
\>V$034t Ncc\, Bex S4,foBsr*D