Pan Am clipper, Vol. 3, No. 4, April 1977

              Volume 3 Number 4
Awareness delegate Robert Knight, San Francisco, raises a point at a seminar session of the recent two-day Aware conference held in New York. More than 150 delegates from 60 stations attended the meeting with top executives, the first such gathering of Awareness since it began three years ago.
Seawell urges change in law at Senate’s ‘reform’ hearings
“The Federal Aviation Act must be modified to strengthen U.S.-flag carriers who face increasing competition from foreign flag airlines,” Chairman Seawell told the Senate Aviation Subcommittee’s “regulatory reform” hearings in Washington last month.
“The fact is that U.S.-flag carriers face increasing competition from foreign carriers, old ones better managed and more strongly financed than they have been in the past, new ones sprung up for reasons of national interest—and all supported with a new nationalistic agressiveness by their parent governments,” Seawell said.
Noting that the legislative bills being considered by the committee deal primarily with domestic aviation, Seawell said they “also directly impact international air transportation.”
“For Pan Am to fulfill its function as ah international carrier effectively and efficiently, we do "need some changes in the law,” he said.
Seawell appeared before the committee on the fourth day of its
hearings. In introducing Seawell, Committee Chairman, Senator Howard Cannon, paid tribute to Pan Am employees. “Employees of Pan Am have had significant influence on the company’s turnaround and should take great pride in the part they played in solving many of the company’s problems,” Cannon said.
Specifically, Seawell urged legislation which would provide U.S.-flag carriers with fill-up traffic rights on domestic segments of their international flights. “A major concern of regulatory reform proposals is relaxation of entry in domestic markets. Pan Am believes that it is entitled to be first in line for at least limited entry where it would help our efficiency and productivity.” Seawell said.
Noting that “such relief is long overdue,” Seawell pointed out that “the U.S. domestic market has been closed to Pan Am while virtually all the domestic trunklines have expanded on top of us in almost all international areas— our best routes.”
Pan Am is not demanding major
“Who says a leopard can’t be tired?” New York-based cabin attendant Sabina Majowski caught this leopard with her camera while on safari in Kenya. Her photo won the “Best of Show” award at a recent flight attendant photography exhibit in New York. (See story, page 8)
domestic route authority, Seawell said, but is seeking access to domestic traffic support for its international services.
Chairman Seawell also urged that carriers be permitted to fill otherwise empty seats on scheduled flights with charter traffic.
“It makes no sense to operate both a scheduled service flight with a B-747 with over 180 empty seats, despite a 50 percent load factor, alongside a B-707 charter flight carrying 180 charter passengers,” Seawell said.
Citing present restrictions by the Civil Aeronautics Board which limit the number of charter flights Pan Am can operate, Seawell told the panel that such limitations are “bad from the public’s standpoint because they force us to concentrate charters at a few major gateway cities which are on-route.” He called the present restrictions “particularly unfair to Pan Am because it does not have a domestic route system, unlike all of our U.S. competitors.”
PA narrows February loss
Pan Am reported a net loss of $17.1 million, or 40 cents per share for February 1977. This compares with a net loss of $24.6 million, or 58 cents per share for February 1976.
Total operating revenues increased 13.7 percent in February 1977, compared with February 1976, while total operating expenses in February 1977 increased only 7.1 percent over those of February 1976.
The February 1977 results include $1.6 million in pre-tax capital gains from the sale of surplus equipment, compared with no capital gains in February 1976.
The net loss for the first two months of 1977 was $23.8 million, or 56 cents per share compared with $40.5 million, or 96 cents per share for the corresponding period last year.
Operating revenues for the first two months of 1977 increased 13.3 percent from 1976 while operating expenses increased only 5.5 percent.
Aware confab:
‘Time for a shift of gears’
By Bruce Haxthausen
Pan Am’s Employee Awareness Committee moved into high gear last month as representatives from around the system converged on New York for a two-day conference aimed at implementing Awareness activities on a worldwide basis.
More than 150 delegates from nearly 60 stations joined top management from all departments for a series of informal seminars and workshop sessions, the first such gathering of the Awareness family since its inception nearly three years ago.
Seated literally elbow to elbow - were Pan Am people like Dolf Maulijn, Amsterdam Cargo, and Executive Vice President William Waltrip—Oscar Custodio, Guam Passenger Services, and Executive Vice President Dan Colussy—
Enrique Cobb, San Jose Accounting, and Senior Vice President James Montgomery.
“We’ve operated as a crisis organization before. Now we feel it’s time to shift gears and become an integral part of the company,” said Chairman Felicia Fairchild,
New York-based cabin attendant.
“We’ve created a totally unique concept in the airline industry and have proven that we are a valuable asset to Pan Am.”
The New York summit meeting March 18-19 followed an intensive three-month recruiting tour, during which Awareness members held meetings in 41 cities to encourage the startup of local programs.
IMore representatives
Result: There are now Awareness representatives in virtually all Pan Am stations, compared with 13 locations just four months ago, according to Miss Fairchild.
Participants drawn to New York thus included not only representatives who have served the program since it began, but also new volunteers seeking guidance and direction for their local efforts. And the plan is to hold four such summit meetings every year, each to be hosted by a different station, Miss Fairchild says.
A new organizational structure of the Awareness Program,
At Clipper presstime, Chairman Seawell issued the following message to employees concerning the Pan Am-KLM 747 accident at Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.
“ We have all been deeply grieved by the tragic accident at Tenerife. On your behalf, I extend to the families of the deceased our heartfelt condolences and our continued concern for the injured survivors.
“Of course we feel a more intimate sadness at the loss of many of our cabin crew. We are relieved that those who survived are now safely on their way home.
“We can now report that there was agreement by all parties at Tenerife—Spanish, Dutch, United States—that according to the control tower tapes the KLM 747 had not been cleared for takeoff. The Pan Am cockpit voice recorder and the fight data recorder, which were impounded by the Spanish authorities, will be flown to the United States for analysis by the National Transportation Safely Board. We are, of course, most interested in the results of that assessment."
Those Pan Am crew members who perished included Purser Francoise Colbert de Beaulieu, and Cabin Attendants Luisa Flood, Miguel Torrech, Carol E. Thomas, Aysel Sarp, Marilyn Luker, Mari Asai, Sachiko Hirano and Christine Ekelund, all New York-based. Seven crew members and two operations personnel on board the aircraft survived.
consisting of five functions that had previously been loosely defined, was unveiled during seminars on the second day. Each seminar dealt with a different func-
Felicia Fairchild, Awareness Chairman, is presented a corsage by Executive Committee member Ted Horikawa of Tokyo, on behalf of all Aware delegates.
tion and was led by an Aware representative assisted by panel members.
Felicia Fairchild, with panel members Charles Beauchamp, I.os Angeles, and Pat Dzierson, New York, discussed EPIC Internal Problem Solving. EPIC has proven its value as a vehicle for improved communications both upward and downward through the company. Miss Fairchild said. She urged all employees to work with their EPIC coordinators and local management on ways to solve non-union related problems.
Nancy Hafner, New York City, led the discussion of the Political Action arm of Awareness, assisted by Marv Osburn, Washington, and Patrick Murphy, Chicago. Political Action has had tremen-(Continued on page 5)