Clipper, Vol. 23, No. 6, March 3, 1972

              payroll trimmed by 500
More than 500 Pan Am employees are being removed from the payroll as part of a continuing effort to control costs and restore profits.
Most of the employees are from management ranks and were notified March 6.
President William T. Seawell said that he regretted removing “highly respected, productive people from their jobs,” but added that the step was necessary “in the interests of the company, the entire body of employees and our shareholders.”
Most of the employees released were notified personally by their supervisors and, according to Seawell, are being helped where possible in relocating to other employment.
“We have been making progress in revenue production, but costs have also accelerated,” Seawell explained. “Because our yields are low, the reduction of costs is particularly vital.”
“The people of Pan Am have been through a series of layoffs since October 1969 and I know these have
been painful to all in the Pan Am organization,” Seawell said. “I wish I could give you the assurance that the reduction announced today (Mar. 6) will be the last. I cannot. I can only give you my best efforts to return our company to profitability. With your help and support we shall do so.”
Pan Am has cut its work force by 5,200 persons,'or nearly 13 percent, since September 1969. The current cutback reduces employee ranks to approximately 35,700.
clipper
Voi. 23, No. 6, March 3, 1972
SHOICHI YOKOI’S
new friends proved to be so kind that he doubtless wished he had given up years earlier. After successfully eluding civilization for 28 years and subsisting on a diet that included wild nuts, snails, rats and frogs, the former Japanese soldier was captured on his way to catch shrimp. In fact, when he arrived at the hospital he still had his shrimp traps in hand. That’s Pan Am’s Dick Matsumoto giving a hand.
engineers teaming to spruce up Jet Clipper fleet
Wingtip to wingtip. Nose to tail. Inside and out. That’s the scope of major improvements planned for Pan Am’s Jet Clipper fleet under a new organization that consolidates the airline’s aeronautical, maintenance and communications engineering staffs.
The new alignment will allow personnel from the three engineering groups to do a better job of concentrating technical programs on improving the parts of the airplane the passenger sees, as well as those he doesn’t.
John G. Borger, vice president and chief engineer, will head the joint staff.
“In addition to the engineer’s standard concern for hydraulic systems, engines, electronics and other technical items, our new department will be able to focus more attention on passenger-related features like seats, galleys, and other furnishings,” Borger said.
“Our objective is for the Pan Am fleet to have not only the best-engineered machinery, but the best-engineered cabins and service facilities as well,” he said.
Borger’s department also will coordinate operations engineering and certain ground equipment engineering—such as equipment for galley and cargo loading.
Six staff directors will report to Borger :
•	Lewis H. Allen Jr., director-project engineering, will coordinate programming engineering functions, including new aircraft.
•	Richard S. Williams, director-service engineering, will coordinate maintenance-type engineering on aircraft.
•	John H. Olds, director-electronic engineering, will coordinate engineering on communications, navigation and similar electronic equipment.
•	John W. F. Petch, director-aircraft interior design, will concentrate on aircraft interior design on Pan Am’s 174-plane fleet.
•	William F. Hibbs, director-research and evaluation, will direct engineering evaluation of new aircraft, such as the Concorde, and performance standards on existing jets.
•	A director-ground equipment engineering, yet to be named, will coordinate engineering aspects of ground equipment which directly supports aircraft.
In addition, Richard K. Hart, operations engineering manager, will coordinate engineering aspects as they apply to operation of aircraft—such as the development of landing aids and similar cockpit items.
Also reporting to Borger will be B. W. Lawrence, Pan Am’s resident engineering representative at The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash.
28-year recluse
Guam—The 56-year-old Japanese soldier who hid out for 28 years after American forces recaptured Guam chose a Pan Am passenger service manager for one of his first friends after two hunters surprised him here.
Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi was captured at 6 p.m. Jan. 25 in Talofofo Jungle while on his way to catch shrimp. The Guamanian hunters called in the police, who rushed Yokoi to the hospital. There, Pan Am Passenger Service Manager Kazu (Dick) Matsumoto and the Japanese consul joined doctors in interviewing the former tailor.
Matsumoto visited Yokoi every night at the hospital—because the soldier asked him to return. Under his arm he always carried copies of the major Japanese dailies, which he had collected from Pan Am’s Tokyo-Guam flight. Yokoi was tickled to see himself featured in long articles.
befriends Pan Am
When Matsumoto suddenly realized that Yokoi hadn’t used a watch in more than a quarter-century, he immediately took off his Omega and gave it to his soldier-friend as a gift. In return, Yokoi gave Matsumoto an autographed thankyou note.
When the Japanese press interviewed Yokoi, Matsumoto and Guam Governor Carlos Camacho were there to assist. The passenger service manager helped arrange the interviews. Also, he arranged accommodations for the press and made sure that their stories were shipped back to Japan.
Yokoi was welcomed as a hero when he returned to Japanese soil. At the time of his capture, he was dressed in a burlap suit that he claimed to have woven from tree bark. He told newsmen that he had existed on a diet of wild nuts, breadfruit, mangos, papayas, shrimps, snails, rats and frogs.