Pan American clipper, Vol. 27, No. 15, August 1, 1967

              Pope Blesses PAA Crew
Volume 27 August 1, 1967 No. 15

Congress Must O kay SST Development $
WASHINGTON—The House Appropriations Committee has recommended th at the $1.53 billion Department of Trans­ portation bill to construct two prototype Boeing supersonic transports be passed by the House.
Completion of the first proto­ type is scheduled fo r 1970. U.S. airlin es so fa r are contributing $52 m illion fo r SST develop­ ment. In a prep ared statem ent, the com m ittee urged th a t th e SST p rogram be strongly supported. “If th e aviation in d u stry of th e U nited S tates does not pro­ ceed to th is next step, not only will th ere be a loss in prestige but sales to foreign airlines and th e fo reign exchange they would b rin g would be lost,” the com­ m ittee w arned. Even should overland flights by the 1,800-mph SST be banned because of sonic boom, the statem en t continued, “it is es­ tim ated th a t enough a irc ra ft will be sold to re tu rn th e costs of the plan e’s development. “U ntil prototype SST a irc ra ft are constructed and flown, we will not know precisely the sonic boom ch a rac te ristic s of th is p a rtic u la r a irc ra ft. The m arket fo r th e a irc ra ft cannot be actually determ ined today. Studies and debates cannot an ­ sw er these questions,” th e com­ m ittee said. “If all developm ent program s w ere delayed u ntil such ques­ tions were answ ered, progress in technology would be sty­ m ied,” th e com m ittee added. “The com m ittee believes th a t developm ent of th e SST is of sufficient im portance to the country th a t the funds recom ­ m ended be appropriated.” The com m ittee noted th a t, al­ though the cost of developm ent is beyond th e m eans of private in d u stry to pay, “if th e proto­ type a irc ra ft are successful, private capital can and will fi­ nance the production program .” The House bill includes $142.3 m illion to be spent d u rin g fiscal 1967 fo r the SST prototypes. This is in addition to the $100 (C ontinued on P age 12)

Two-Way Traffic Goal of Salesmen
A major sales effort aimed at further promoting tourism and increasing the two-way flow of traffic between the United States and Brazil and Argentina has been opened by a topranking team of Pan Am traffic and sales officials.
Form ed u n d er th e direction of M ario J. M artinez, Vice P re si­ dent-Sales—L atin Am erica, and P au l T. Rennell, Vice P resid en tSales—N orth Am erica, in con­ ju n ctio n w ith th e office of Jam es M ontgomery, Vice P re si­ dent-P assen g er Sales, th e pro­ gram is a tw o-stage affair. Step one, involving N orth Am erica, was kicked off on July 25-26 in Chicago and Ju ly 27-28 in D etroit. New York and W ash­ ington cam paigns are scheduled fo r Ju ly 31-August 2 and A ug­ u st 3-4, respectively. Step two will cover Buenos A ires on A ugust 6, Rio de Jan e iro on A ugust 10 and Sao Paulo on A u gust 11. The blue ribbon panel of traffic and sales officials from South A m erica includes Stanley Burke and Pepe Proenza from P an Am’s Buenos A ires office, P au l D ault from Rio de Janeiro and H enry Smallwood from Sao Paulo. They are team ing w ith sales officials from the N orth A m erican offices visited in call­ ing on top accounts in th e v ari­ ous areas. Broken down into groups of two, m atching each of the South A m erican officials w ith a local representative, the team s have been calling on up to 20 top accounts daily. A lthough p rim a ry ' em phasis is being placed on commercial accounts, m ajor to u r producers and in terlin e accounts are also being briefed on th e business and to u rist facilities available south of the border. In addition to the m eetings and discussions w ith cu rren t and prospective clients, the South A m erican sales group is also holding sessions w ith offi­ cials from th e local P an Am offices aim ed a t establishing a b etter north-south flow of in fo r­ m ation p erta in in g to to u rist and (C ontinued on P age 10) ROME—A shining P an Am Boeing 707, renam ed th e J e t Clipper S aint P au l and em­ bossed w ith the P apal seal, took off from Leonardo Da Vinci A irport on Tuesday, July 25, on a historic flight, bearing Pope P aul VI and his retinue to Istanbul to confer w ith T urkish au th o rities on peace in the Middle E ast. C ruising above th e Aegean Sea, Pope P au l visited the cockpit and shook hands w ith C aptain Clive Shilson, F ir s t Officer C harles Bonini (whose fa th e r came from Brescia, n ea r the Pope’s birthplace), and F lig h t E n g i­ neer F rederick Thompson. He also gave the crew his blessing. Pope P aul greeted the en tire flight service team —P u rsers Joseph P asquini and Mario Dem incis; and Stew ardesses Joan Disse, Rosa M agrutsch, Lavonne Nemmers, Carol Osche, and Ja n in a Zyla—on boarding the a irc ra ft in Rome and during the re tu rn flight from Izmir, Turkey, to Rome. The Pope m et w ith T urkish P resid en t Cevdet Sunay on his arriv al in Istan b u l on T ues­ day afternoon, toured the city fo r two hours, and then conferred w ith the Ecum enical P atriarc h , A thenagoras I of the E astern Or­ thodox Church. In the late evening he a t­ tended a session of peace p ray ers a t the Roman Catholic C athedral in Istanbul. On W ednesday, T urk H ava Y ollari A irlines carried th e Pope to Cigli T urkish A ir Force Base n e a r Izmir, 200 miles south of Istanbul. He was en route to E phesus, w here th e V irgin M ary lived h er last years. In th e late a fte r­ noon he drove back to Izm ir w here he boarded the Clipper S ain t P aul fo r his re tu rn flight to Rome. The Pope paid a re tu rn v isit to the cockpit and again spoke to the crew. He blessed a m issal which F lig h t E n g in eer Thompson had purchased as a g ift fo r his son. “The Pope didn’t w ant to auto g rap h the cover of the m issal,” Thompson said. “He signed on the last page.” Leaving the cockpit, he stopped a t the galley to talk to P u rs e r P asquini, and told him th a t “the food was delicious and I w ant to th an k you very m uch.” Stew ardess Osche served the Pope his din­ ner on the re tu rn flight from Izm ir on Pan Am. “We spoke in F ren ch ,” she said, “and he told me how nice it was to be back on board w ith us. He was a charm ing passenger.” W illiam J. Naylor, Vice P resid en t Sales, A tlantic, also was on board the J e t Clipper S aint P aul (form erly the M ount V ernon). (Continued on P age 12)