Clipper, Vol. 12, No. 10, April 24, 1956

              Read From California To Calcutta, From Alaska To Australasia
Vol. 12 No. 10	PUBLISHED BY THE EMPLOYEES OF PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS	May 24, 1956
THURM ERICKSON RESIGNS FROM PAA
Wyatt Fisher Will Succeed Industrial Relations Manager Who Joins Los Angeles Electronics Firm
LAST CALL
Industrial Relations Manager Thurm Erickson said good-bye to many friends at PAD headquarters this week. On June 1st he becomes Director of Industrial Relations for Servomechanisms in Los Angeles.
PAD B-377 Utilization Hits All-Time High Mark
Maintenance And Scheduling Share Credit For Performance
The current high utilization of PAD B-377’s has caused some fancy scurrying about in maintenance scheduling, but thanks to some high-speed help from maintenance at San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu they have been able to keep the planes moving on time.
All these stations have performed various maintenance checks on the aircraft in far less than the time normally allocated for a given service.
A recent trip landed in Honolulu from Los Angeles, and after 2 hours and 24 minutes was on its way to San Francisco. There it was serviced right at the International Terminal, and 1 hour and 55 minutes later (a SFO record) it departed for Honolulu. Just 2 hours and 28 minutes after landing it was again on its way to Los Angeles.
This particular airplane averaged a daily utilization of 18.7 hours.
During the week ending May 7th a utilization of 11.4 air hours per day was achieved for the entire Boeing fleet. This is the best record ever compiled in the division.
Since the first of the year one out of every four suggestions submitted has earned a cash award.
Industrial Relations Manager Thurm Erickson has announced his resignation from Pan American.
A veteran of 21 years with PAA, he is leaving to accept a position as Director of Industrial Relations for Servomechanisms, an electronics firm with two plants in the Los Angeles area, two on Long Island, New York, and one in Canada. Thurm will be located at the firm’s general offices in Los Angeles.
He joined Pan American in March of 1935 at Brownsville as a junior engineer. The previous June he had departed from the campus of the University of Minnesota with an aeronautical engineer’s degree in his pocket.
After a year at Brownsville he was sent to Belem, where he served as assistant to the head of maintenance for Panair do Brazil. He held that post until June of 1937.
At that time he transferred to the Pacific Division at Alameda. There he worked for Vice President John Leslie, who was at that time Division Engineer. He served as project engineer for the M-130 and later was named engineering
superintendent.
In August of 1941 Thurm was appointed assistant Division Engineer. Two months later he flew to Manila to set up the maintenance program for PAA’s S-42 operation. He figured it would require only a short stay in the Philippines.
He was wrong. It was just short of four years before he returned. Taken prisoner at the outbreak of World War II, he was confined at Santo Tomas until April of 1945.
When he returned to work in August he resumed his position of assistant Division Engineer. A year later he was offered and accepted the position of Industrial Relations Manager. He held this post continuously until his resignation this month.
During the past few years he has served on several advisory committees in connection with Bay Area industrial relations activities. He was also honored by being elected vice president and later president of the California Personnel Management Association.
Moving to the Los Angeles area (Continued on Page 5)
CALLED UP
Wyatt Fisher, who was Personnel superintendent for the PAD until temporarily assigned to the system offices last summer, has been named to succeed Thurm Erickson as Industrial Relations Manager.
Polar Route Hearings Are Now In Progress
CAB Examiner Listening To Arguments Of PAA And TWA
The CAB opened the hearings on the applications of Pan American and TWA to fly the Polar Route between the West Coast and Europe last Tuesday at the San Francisco City Hall.
Both airlines seek to add Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, Portland and Seattle as co-terminals on their trans-Atlantic certificates. Examiner William J. Madden, who is hearing the case, said the entire hearings will be held in San Francisco. This is in contrast with usual practice when civic witnesses only have appeared at hearings outside Washington.
Assistant legal officer Bill Locke is representing the Pacific-Alaska Division at the hearing.
Boeing Engineers Develop New Radio Antenna For 707
A new type of radio antenna, developed by Boeing engineers, has been fitted to the vertical fin of the 707 jet transport for testing. This probe antenna will be for long-range high-frequency radio communications, which follow the curvature of the earth. Radio waves in the VHF and UHF bands travel in a straight line, and their range is thus limited.
FIRST DC-7C DELIVERY MADE
After PAA’s DC-7C had passed its maximum gross weight test flight a group of Los Angeles employees joined with the acceptance flight crews in claiming the “Seven Seas” for Pan American. This was the first of the new planes to be delivered to PAA.