On Pan Am

Pan American World Airways.  Pan Am.  Ah, what the mere mention of this fabled company's name inspires!  Although the original Pan Am hasn't graced the skies since its agonizing, final flight in December 1991, just say "Pan Am" around any airline enthusiast/dork today and you'll see their eyes get a little glassy.  There will be a little catch in their throat when they respond reverently, saying, "Oh, yes, I remember Pan. Am."

How do I know about these reactions?  Because I am one of those airline enthusiast/dorks.  And Pan Am is THE Holy Grail of our kind.  We love this legendary carrier.  As a child, I remember whenever I saw a Pan Am 707 or 747, I wondered where it was going, because it was surely some place exotic.  Pan Am was America's "Chosen Instrument."  Sure, there were other airlines carrying the U.S. flag (TWA, I'm talking to you), but none could hold a candle to the mighty Clippers of Pan Am.  I was obsessed with Pan Am.  After growing frustrated with some of the decisions of their management, I applied to be their CEO.  I was 12.  No lie.

I only flew Pan Am twice, back in May 1984.  Like so many others, Pan Am would take me to Europe for the first time.  I'll never forget the excitement I felt when I got the Pan Am's storied "WorldPort" at JFK for my flight to London Heathrow on the fabled Flight 2.  I was two rows behind "Clipper Class"-Pan Am's fancy-pants business class and it was then and there as I watched the service unfold through a slit in the curtain that I decided my days of flying in the back were numbered-and I was enthralled.  Pan Am's glory days were behind it at this point but it didn't matter.  This was Pan Am.  I'm quite certain I didn't sleep the entire flight.  Several weeks later, I flew back to JFK from Frankfurt on Pan Am's Flight 73.  Another 747-100.  I remember being disappointed that Catering in Frankfurt had loaded far too much sauerkraut for lunch and I'd had it with sauerkraut after several days in Germany.  I also remember the river of wine that poured down on several rows from the overhead bins.  Some genius packed too many bottles of wine in their bag which shattered in turbulence over the north Atlantic.  Again, it didn't matter.  This was Pan Am.

So, why all the Pan Am nostalgia?  Because tonight a new television series called "Pan Am" debuts on ABC.  It's supposed to be about four Pan Am "stewardesses" (try calling one of the flight attendants on your next flight a stewardess - let me know how that works for you) in the glory days of flying in the early '60's.  It looks ridiculous and soapy.  I will, of course, be watching it.  TV shows are notoriously bad about their authenticity when it comes to air travel.  For instance, they'll show a picture of the plane flying and it'll be a 747, for instance, but the cabin shots are all single-aisle aircraft.  It just irritates the airline dork to no end.  So, knowing that the planes should be 707's, I'm going to be, well, displeased tonight when the cabin shots are of a modern-day Airbus or some such foolishness.  At least, "The Amazing Race" starts tonight.  Yeah, I'm kind of excited.