Pan Am clipper, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 1976

              Volume 2 Number 1
Pan Am outlook: cautiously optimistic...
With Capt. A. A. Frink at the controls, the new route-shrinking 747SP Clipper Freedom makes its first take-off as an official member of the Pan Am fleet of superjets. Frink flew the plane from the Boeing assembly plant at Everett, Wash., following delivery on March 5.
New Aviation era opens with 747SP delivery
Wiser joins Pan Am as president
When Forwood C. Wiser, Jr. became president of Pan Am on Jan. 1, 1976, he brought to the company nearly 20 years experience in commercial aviation.
Wiser, inevitably known as “Bud,” has served as president of two airlines and operations vice .president of a third. At one time or another, and frequently simultaneously, he has overseen engineering, maintenance and flight operations functions, marketing, services, personnel, finance and scheduling.
In his current position as Pan Am’s chief operating officer, Wiser has reporting to him the airline planning and scheduling department, flight operations, technical operations, marketing and services and cargo. These departments account for 25,500 of the company’s 27,500 employees.
Wiser’s most recent airline position was as president and chief operating officer of Trans World Airlines, a post from which he resigned last June. At that time,
President Wiser
press reports suggested that Wiser was resigning not only from TWA, but from the airline business as well.
However, as he told a Wall Street Journal reporter six months later when the Pan Am affiliation was announced, the airline business “just gets in your blood. After looking at a wide range of other things, I just found there wasn’t anything else that could stimulate me as much as the airline business. The quick pace is unique.”
Wiser has set a fast pace for himself all his life. Born in Chester, Pa., on June 24, 1921, he attended public schools, graduating from high school at age 16. His goal was to attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He recalls that he had repeatedly written to his congressman about an appointment, “but the letters were never even answered. I was interested in the Continued on page 6
EVERETT, Wash.—The ad reads: “If you want to go to Tokyo, from now on nothing will be stopping you.”
How true that is.
The 747SP—the marathon-range jumbo jet that gives commercial aviation the first New York-to-Tokyo non-stop—is now officially part of the Pan Am fleet.
The Clipper Freedom, the first of five SP (Special Performance) jets that will sport the blue and white colors of Pan Am, was delivered to the airline March 5 by The Boeing Co., at its sprawling 747 assembly plant here.
The aircraft was immediately pressed into revenue-bearing ser-
vices as a cargo extra section flight between Seattle and New York. After a week of pre-operational modification work at Hangar 19, JFK, Clipper Freedom was put to work on an “aircraft switch” basis on such routes as the New York-San Francisco transcon and between New York and London in order to give cockpit, cabin and ground crews some on-the-job training.
Pan Am will give the SP its grand debut April 25 and 26 on the Los Angeles-Tokyo and New York-Tokyo routes, the latter a 6,754-mile non-stop flight of 13 hours, 40 minutes which shaves 3 hours and 45 minutes off Pan Am’s current time and slices 2 hours off the time of Northwest’s and JAL’s New York-Tokyo run.
Within an hour after Boeing turned over the keys of Clipper Freedom, N533PA, to B. W. (Larry) Lawrence, Pan Am’s resident rep at Boeing, the new aircraft—the 2,800th commercial airliner delivered by Boeing—was enroute to nearby Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to pick up cargo for the flight to New York.
Capt. A. A. Frink, staff vice president-flight standards, occupied the left seat on the Everett-Sea-Tac ferry flight while Capt. Jake Marcum, director flight operations and chief pilot in Los Angeles, was in the captain’s chair for the cross country trip to New York. Stanley J. Sabalis, manager flight engineering-technical, New York, and Lawrence F. Beeby, a Continued on page 8
Operating plan reflects hope for modest profit
For Pan Am, the outlook in 1976 is cautiously optimistic.
This could be the year that Pan Am turns the corner after seven straight deficit years that have piled up a staggering $306 million cumulative loss.
Key elements are in place. The airline has been reshaped, reorganized, restructured, whittled back to highly efficient sinewy toughness, poised to capitalize on an expected economic upturn that will help the drive toward a hoped-for marginal profit.
But there are a lot of ifs. IF the game plan holds. IF international economic factors continue to improve. And, more importantly, IF there are no surprises.
Already the tough decisions of the past few frustrating years, the outstanding management-employee teamwork, are showing optimistic signs.
Pan Am dramatically cut its losses in 1975. It was a job that outperformed the industry. And it was so recognized.
On Wall Street, investors which had virtually ignored Pan Am in recent years took another look and showed speculative interest sufficient to more than double the price of Pan Am common stock in a relatively few trading days.
Air Transport World Magazine named Pari Am “Airline of the Year.”
And even Congressional subcommittees looking into the economic viability of the airline industry wanted to know about Pan Am’s recent economic record in general, and its 1975 performance in particular.
In testifying, Chairman Seawell told of the severe fuel price increases that caused Pan Am’s fuel bill to climb from $135 million in 1972 to $341 million in 1974, even though it was 11 percent less fuel burned than in 1972.
“There was no way for Pan Am and other international airlines to swallow increases of such magnitude without incurring big deficits,” he said. “Major foreign airlines, as well as Pan Am, had catastrophic losses.
Continued on page 6
It's Back
Clipper 76, the monthly Pan Am employee’s newspaper, returns with this issue after an absence of 14 months.
It was suspended following the January 1975 issue as part of the company’s drive to cut costs.
Although cost control measures are as vital as ever, the decision to resume publication was made because of the need to keep employees fully informed about the Pan Am family.
Project Pan AWARE kickoff set
A group of corporate officers, headed by President F.C. Wiser, will launch Pan AWARE 76 on April 21, 22 and 23 in informal meetings with employees in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Pan AWARE 76, a project intended to allow employees and top management to “get acquainted” and to exchange ideas and problems will continue throughout the rest of the year, as executives visit other stations in the system, according to Art Best, vice president-passenger services and coordinator of the project.
Meetings in New York are planned for May.
In addition to Wiser, other officers taking part in the sessions include, among others, Dan Colussy, senior vice president-marketing and services; James Waugh, senior vice president-flight operations; William Waltrip, senior vice president-airline planning and scheduling; and John Wolgast, senior vice president-technical operations.
“The officers will be prepared to answer employees’ questions and, in turn, to respond to any employee sug-
gestions,” Best says.
Wiser, noting that this will be his first opportunity since becoming president to meet with many employees, says, “I feel this gives me a chance to get to know the Pan Am team on a more personal basis. I’m looking forward to talking with the people of Pan Am.”
Best points out that besides visiting stations as a group, the executives will from time to time be traveling to system cities individually on both a scheduled and impromptu basis.
“I urge all employees to make every effort to meet with the officers when they are at their local stations,” says Felicia Fairchild, New York-based stewardess and member of the Employees Awareness Executive Committee. “It is the ideal way to talk first-hand with management about our problems,” she says. Miss Fairchild has been working with Best in planning the sessions.
Times and locations of meetings will be announced locally.