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In this episode we explore the life of Kathleen Clair, executive assistant to Pan Am founder and chairman Juan T. Trippe for over 32 years from 1948 to 1980. We will also hear a personal and private memories of Mr. Trippe and Kathleen.
We are joined by two special guests that knew Kathleen well: Wendy Trippe Barr, the granddaughter of Juan and Betty Trippe and John Luetich, a board member of the Pan Am Museum Foundation, Museum Curator, and the son of Mary Luetich who worked with Kathleen for many years in the Pan Am Building.
Both guests remember Kathleen at an early age and will share their intimate perspectives on this incredible woman.After the airline ceased operations in 1991, Kathleen worked tirelessly to preserve Pan Am history and was a founding member of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and worked with Juan Trippe’s sons, Charlie and Ed, to preserve Pan Am’s historic contributions to the history of flight.
Several audio clips from an oral history interview of Kathleen recorded in 2003 are used in this episode. A special thank you to the Pan Am Historical Foundation for allowing us to use these recordings for this program. Another special thank you to our high school intern Michael Genter for his help in organizing the audio clips.
Kathleen Clair was born on December 12, 1918 to her parents Ted and Kit Clair and would later become the devoted older sister of Phyllis and Donald. She graduated from high school in Englewood, NJ, in 1936 and then went on to the prestigious Katherine Gibbs School for women in 1937.
After graduation, she stayed in Manhattan and spent the next 11 years as a secretary at various jobs. One of the many gifts of Kathleen that become invaluable in her career was her photographic memory. She remembered everything to the finest detail with instant recall.
In late 1948, she applied for a job at the corporate offices of Pan Am, then in the iconic Chrysler Building. She was hired and worked for Mr. Trippe for 32 years until her retirement in 1980.
In December of 2018, Kathleen celebrated her 100th birthday with family, friends and many Pan Am colleagues. A little over a month later, Kathleen M. Clair died peacefully on January 26, 2019, after 100 years of engaging life on her own terms.
She is missed by her large extended family, the Trippe family, colleagues from Pan Am and the larger aviation community, and friends from her long and well-lived life.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we explore the life of legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head who designed uniforms for Pan American World Airways introduced in 1975 and used until the early 1980s.
Then we will be joined by actor Susan Claassen who plays the Hollywood legend in her one-woman production called A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD.
In her storied career in Hollywood, Edith Head won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential costume designers in film history.
Actor Susan Claassen is celebrating her 49th anniversary with Tucson’s Invisible Theatre. As Managing Artistic Director (now emeritus), she has produced and directed over 500 productions.
She was nominated for the 2011 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award and BroadwayWorld LA Award as Best Actress for her portrayal of Edith Head in A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD and most recently, nominated for The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle 43rd Annual Excellence in Theatre Awards for Best Solo Production and Best Production.A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD premiered at the Invisible Theatre in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona and has played coast to coast with more than 700 performances.
The production has toured internationally to the Republic of Georgia; a “Sold Out” engagement at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Toronto and an acclaimed five-week run at the Leicester Square Theatre in London’s West End.
Susan has also been a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2001. She dedicates her performance to the vibrant memory of her beloved mother, Goldie.
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In this episode we celebrate the Archer’s...a family of aviators.
89-year-old Pan Am Captain Stu Archer joined the airline in 1965 as an engineer after serving in the U.S. Air Force. Stu began flying the 727 and then was promoted to captain on the 747 and later Airbus A300 and A310. He stayed with Pan Am until 1991 and then went on to work for Delta Air Lines as a captain.
When he reached the then mandatory retirement age of 60 after three years as a Delta captain, he successful took the company to court forcing the airline to keep him as an engineer and worked for another seven years before retiring in 2000. Many credit his lawsuit as one of the reasons the mandatory age was raised to 65.
Stu credits his uncle, Lawerence Archer, as his aviation inspiration. Born in 1903, Lawerence was one of the early pilots trained by the Wright Brothers and was the first person to deliver mail by air in New England. Uncle Lawerence took Stu on his very first flight in a single engine, open air cockpit bi-wing plane when he was six years old and this forever changed the trajectory of his life.
Lawerence Archer gave his life in service to his country in 1945 during World War II serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
Stu’s daughter Deborah Archer joined Pan Am as a flight attendant in 1979 and worked for the airline until the end in 1991. Afterward, she hung up her wing and became a nurse. She sadly passed away in 2009.
Stu’s son, Captain Jeffery Archer followed in his father’s footsteps and became a pilot for American Airlines in 1991 and became captain in 1995.
And now his grandson, Stephen Archer, Jeffery’s son, carries on the family legacy started by his great-uncle and was recently been promoted to Captain with Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines.
All three of these captains will be joining us to talk about their passion for flying and careers in aviation.A special thank you to American Airlines for allowing Jeff and Stephen to participate in this interview.
If you are thinking about starting a career in aviation and want to be a pilot for American Airlines, visit the AA Cadet Academy.
The Pan Am Museum also encourages you to visit the American Airlines CR Smith Museum in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This museum is named after aviation pioneer and former President of American Airlines, Cyrus Rowlett Smith and has been open since 1993.
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The Pan Am Museum Foundation recognizes the month of May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and in this episode we explore the history of Pan Am’s “Nisei” Stewardesses with Dr. Christine R. Yano, retired professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai’I and author of the book, Airbourne Dreams: “Nisei” Stewardesses and Pan American World Airways.
This book is the story of an unusual personnel program implemented by an American corporation intent on expanding and dominating the nascent market for international air travel. That program reflected the Jet Age dreams of global mobility that excited postwar Americans, as well as the inequalities of gender, class, race, and ethnicity that constrained many of them.
The Japanese word “Nisei” means second generation Japanese American.
In 1955, Pan Am began recruiting Japanese American women to work as stewardesses on its Tokyo-bound flights and for the airline’s celebrated round-the-world flights. Based in Honolulu, these women were informally known as Pan Am’s “Nisei” stewardesses, even though not all of them were Japanese American or even second-generation. They were hired for their Japanese-language skills, but in reality…few spoke Japanese fluently.
However, the main reason for the hiring of these women was to enhance the airline’s image of exotic cosmopolitanism and worldliness as the iconic American company pioneered new frontiers of race, language, and culture. These young women left home to travel the globe with Pan Am, forging their own cosmopolitan identities in the process.
In 2014, Chantelle Rose Acorda, Kim Nguyen, and Jasmine Pigford made a well-done student film and interviewed Hawaii state senator Glenn S. Wakai and Pan Am veterans Ailenn Sodetani and Mae Takahashi.
The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii produced a short educational film, Pan Am Ambassadors, with interviews of Pan Am "Nisei" stewardesses.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we welcome back to the program Captain Mike Bannister, the chief pilot of British Airways' Concorde fleet from 1995 to 2003.
He is also the author of a recently published book titled Concorde. This book is available through your favorite bookstore or online retailer.
Also coming out to great fanfare in 2023 was a special Lego set of the Concorde designed to be built by adults. This special detailed replica from Lego of the world’s most famous supersonic commercial passenger airplane gives builders an immersive project that takes creativity to new heights.
To learn more about Super Sonic Transports or SSTs for short, listen to Episode 7: Supersonic Transports, An Angry JFK, and Flying the Line after this installment. In that episode we explored the race for the first passenger supersonic aircraft between a British and French partnership, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
This episode is also a direct follow up to Episode 19: Concorde where we explore the fascinating history of Concorde and interview three special guests:Jetliner Cabins author Jennifer Coutts Clay who was Pan Am’s general manager for product design and development and before that worked on the Concorde project for British Airways.
John Lampl, a veteran executive of British Airways who worked for the Concorde program the entire 27 years of passenger service and a total of 41 years for BA.
And of course Captain Bannister was interviewed in that epsidoe. Again, if you haven’t heardSupport the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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Pan American World Airways acquired National Airlines in 1980 and preserving the history of National is now the responsibility of the Pan Am Museum and we take this duty seriously.
In this episode we explore the fascinating history of National Airlines. Then we will be joined by four veterans of National Airlines: Captain Roy Berube and flight attendants Fran Smith Boros, David Hinson, and Mari Bacon.
Captain Roy Berube was never a stranger to aviation. His father was an airline pilot and Roy began flying at an early age. He joined National Airlines as a pilot in 1956 at age 19. In his career he has been a line pilot, check pilot, instructor, test pilot, and union rep. Just before Pan Am ceased operations, Captain Berube was transferred to United Airlines mainly flying the 747. He retired from United in the late 1990s and now resides in Buffalo, New York with his wife Sharon.
His other passion other than flying is music both composing and playing. Roy is a very talented musician and even has a YouTube channel where you can hear him play!Mari Bacon joined National Airlines in 1976 as a flight attendant. After Pan Am ceased operations, Mari hung up her wings and started a successful career in nonprofit leadership and management. Today, she resides in Fort Lauderdale and enjoys crafting, being back in Florida, watching her ‘grand dogs’ and meeting up with old friends.
She and others have organized a luncheon event every 2-3 months open to all Pan Am and National former flight attendants, who enjoy reminiscing and catching up with old friends.
David Hinson joined National Airlines in 1977 as a flight attendant. After Pan Am, he transferred to Delta Air Lines in 1991 and hung up his wings in 1997 to start his own company. That company is called David Jeffery Designs, a wholesaler and retailer of unique handbags, mobile bags, coin bags, wallets, jewelry and accessories. And he has many Pan Am items! He resides in Atlanta, Georgia and continues to travel the world, especially India.
Fran Smith Boros was born and raised in Miami and joined National Airlines in 1976 as a flight attendant. After Pan Am closed down, Fran married her attorney husband and assisted him with his legal work. She also earned her real estate license and started a new career. Today Fran and her husband are retired and live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She’s also close personal friends and neighbors with legendary newsman Sam Donaldson and his wife. Fran helped us get an interview with Sam and we encourage you to listen toSupport the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this special episode we will be exploring the incredible life of Pan Am Captain Robert Ford, a trailblazing flying boat aviator that found international fame with an unscheduled flight round the globe. And we welcome back to the program Pan Am 747 Captain John Marshall that knew Pan Am legend Captain Robert Ford and recorded an interview with him in 1994 shortly before he died.
Excerpts of this rare interview are played and you will get to hear the actual voice of Captain Ford talking about his aviation career in the late 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s!
In December of 1941, Captain Ford was ferrying mail and passengers from San Francisco to New Zealand aboard a Pan Am Boeing 314 flying boat named the Pacific Clipper.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor and Captain Ford was ordered to evade the enemy and prevent the Japanese from capturing the aircraft for its technology. Skirting the trouble zone and watching for enemy aircraft, he headed the flying boat west over Australia, India and Central Africa, then crossed to South America, eventually making a safe landing at the Marine Terminal at what is now La Guardia Airport in New York on Jan. 6, 1942.
The entire trip covered 31,500 miles in 209.5 hours of flying time, some of it over war territory. The Clipper had a range of 4,500 miles, and its longest single flight was 3,583 miles across the South Atlantic from Central Africa, to Brazil. Captain Ford, who was then 35 at the time, called his round-the-world flight "a purely routine operation."
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1906, Captain Robert Ford earned his wings as a naval aviator before joining Pan American Airways in 1933. He flew Pan Am’s routes in Central and South American, as well as, the Caribbean before transferring to the Atlantic division in 1939, flying Clippers between New York and Lisbon. He shifted to the Pacific route in July 1941. Before his round-the-globe journey, he had completed some 50 flights across the two oceans.
After retiring in 1952 from Pan Am, Captain Ford became a cattle rancher in Penn Valley, California, north of Sacramento. He died in October of 1994 at the age of 88. At the time of his death, he had been a rancher for 45 years.
Special thanks to Captain John Marshall, board member of the Pan Am Museum Foundation, for allowing this program to use his 1994 interview with Captain Ford.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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This is a special memorial edition of this program and recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Rome airport attack. We are joined by two survivors that were on a Pan Am plane that was firebombed at the Rome airport on December 17, 1973: Pan Am Flight Engineer Ken Pfrang and Pan Am passenger B.J. Geisler.
B.J. is the author of the recently published book, Terror on Pan Am Flight 110.
This episode is a follow up to "Episode 6: Hijackings and the Dawn of Global Terrorism." If you haven’t heard this episode, we encourage you to do so after listening to this installment.
In order to understand the gravity of global terrorism throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it is important to examine the 1967 six day war between Israel and neighboring Arab countries, the September 1970 hijacking of four airplanes all bound for United States, as a direct result of those hijacking…the subsequent Jordanian civil war also known as Black September(Sep. 1970- Jul. 1971), and the Munich Olympic attacks in 1972. These topics are discussed in Episode 6.
In the early afternoon of Monday, December 17, 1973 at Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Airport, a Pan Am Boeing 707, registration number N407PA, named Clipper Celestial was getting ready for departure with 53 passengers onboard and nine crew members.
At around 12:51 local time, five members of a radical Palestinian terrorist group pulled out weapons from their luggage in the airport terminal lounge and opened fire killing two people. They then ran out of the terminal on the tarmac and then attacked the Pan Am jet by running up the boarding stairs of the front and rear doors and threw three hand grenades inside the plane.
A total of 29 persons, including 4 senior Moroccan officials and 17 ARAMCO employees and family members were killed on the aircraft. Passenger Bonnie Presnell died later at the hospital with severe burns bringing the total killed from the attack on the Pan Am plane to 30.
We remember them…
The Pan Am Employees and Family:
Diana Perez, Purser; Lambert Tununga, Pan Am Catering; Bonnie Erbeck, wife of Captain Andrew Erbeck
Members of the Moroccan government:
Inani Abdelatif, Moroccan state secretary for economic planning; Mounlr Doukkali, Moroccan underSupport the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we explore Operation Babylift, the historic April 1975 evacuation of more than 3,000 Vietnamese war orphans just before the fall of South Vietnam.
We are joined by Thoa Bui, Vice President of Programs and Services for Holt International and Al Topping, Pan Am’s Country Director for South Vietnam.
This episode is a follow up to Episode 4: Evacuation of Saigon, Wings of Freedom Mission. If you haven’t heard that installment, we encourage you to do so after listening to this episode.
Operation Babylift was directed by U.S. President Gerald R. Ford in the final days of South Vietnam shortly before the country fell in 1975.
Pan American World Airways sent two Boeing 747 jumbo jets, one charted by Holt International and the other by American businessman Robert Macauley, to assist in the evacuation.
On April 24, 2022, the Pan Am Museum partnered with Holt International and hosted a 47th anniversary celebration. In attendance were two dozen babies, now adults, and their families. They were re-united with three Pan Am flight attendants on their flights and Al Topping. Bringing these groups together for this special humanities program demonstrated the massive positive impact this one historical event had on generations of people to this day. Watch the video from this incredible event in the episode description.
In future episodes we plan on exploring the stories of the children, now adults, of Operation Babylift and the Pan Am flight attendants that cared for them on those historic flights.
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Thoa Bui is Licensed Master Social Worker and serves as Vice President of Programs and Services for Holt International. She implements Holt’s vision and strategic leadership to ensure growth in Holt’s programs for vulnerable children in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the U.S.
Pan Am veteran Al Topping is the author of the book, “Wings of Freedom: A True Story,” about his incredible experience in Saigon. Purchase Al's book from the Museum’s online store.
In 1990, NBC made a movie out of Al’s story called Last Flight Out starring James Earl Jones, Richard Crenna, and Rosliand Chao. Watch the full movie on our YouTube channel!Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are joined by Nell McShane Wulfhart, author of the book The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet.
Nell is a frequent contributor to the New York Times travel section and wrote the column “Carry On” from 2016 to 2019. She has written for Travel + Leisure, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, and T Magazine. She is also the author of the Audible Original Off Menu.
Her recent work, The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet, is a book about how as travel in the jet age became more and more popular in the 1960s, women from across America applied for jobs as stewardesses.
They were drawn to the promise of glamour, the chance to travel, and as an alternative to traditional occupations for women of this time period like homemaking, nursing, and teaching. But as the number of stewardesses grew, so did their suspicion that the job was not as picture-perfect as the ads would have them believe, including some of their supervisors spying on their personal lives (thankfully this was not the practice of Pan Am or TWA).
These women had to adhere to strict weight limits at all times. If they gained a few extra pounds, they were suspended from work. For many airlines, stewardesses couldn’t marry or have children or risk losing their employment. Requirements for hair styles and makeup had to be followed and was strictly enforced and girdles were mandatory at all times. It was also common for most domestic airlines that stewardesses had to resign by age 32.
In the latter half of the 1960s, stewardesses began to push back against their employers creating an employment movement that changed the industry. Nell Mchane Wulfhart crafts a rousing narrative of female empowerment, the paradigm-shifting 1960s and 1970s, the labor movement, and the cadre of gutsy women who fought for their rights and won.
Gloria Steinem said of Nell’s book, “the true story of women who stood up to huge corporations and won, creating momentous change for all working women.”
The Pan Am Museum’s high school intern Michael Gentner assisted with this interview as guest co-host.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are turning the tables…the interviewee becomes the interviewer. Guest host Phillip Keene interviews the host of The Pan Am Podcast, historian Tom Betti to bring our listeners his story. Phillip is a podcast guest in episodes 18, 29, and 30.
This program is marking a milestone as this is the 40th episode and the beginning of season three.
Tom Betti is dedicated to bringing history to life through entertaining and engaging storytelling. Although having a career in public service and government work for over 20 years, history has always been his constant passion.He currently serves on the board of the Pan Am Museum Foundation with Phillip and has co-authored five books on Columbus, Ohio history. His latest book, written with his mentor Doreen Uhas Sauer, is titled Forgotten Landmarks of Columbus.
Since 2006, Tom co-leads various local history tours and educational programing with Doreen where he always brings dry humor and wit, but also makes learning about history engaging and fun. He works closely as a professional partner with the Columbus Metropolitan Library on neighborhood tours, special events, and presentations…and has been a guest on WOSU Public Media.
In addition, he is an active member of the 501st Legion volunteer organization, a LucasFilm affiliate, providing screen accurate Star Wars character appearances to charities and good causes like children hospitals, libraries, hospice centers, and museums. To learn more, watch this video.
To watch the education video of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, click here.
Tom earned a Master of Arts in History from Norwich University and lives in the historic Hartman Hotel Building in Columbus, Ohio with his pug, Roosevelt.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are joined by 98-year-old Madeline Smith and her daughter Valerie Smith O’Grady Skinner.
Both were Pan Am flight attendants…Madeline joined the airline right after the war in 1946 and Valerie, following in her mother’s footsteps, joined the company in 1977.
Madeline was a stewardess until 1951 when she resigned to marry the love of her life. But although personally leaving Pan Am’s employment, the airline was still an important part of her family as her new husband was a Pan Am pilot named Charles Smith. The two met on an overseas working trip and were inseparable, marrying only six months after they met. Captain Smith passed away in 1989.
Valerie stayed with the company until the end in 1991 where she was hired by Delta and would continue flying for almost two decades.Today, Madeline is still a force to be reckoned with. At 98 years young…a typical day for Madeline is playing nine holes of golf, an hour of tennis, kayaking, and then walking two miles!
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are joined by Dan Colussy who served as Pan Am’s President and Chief Operating Officer in the 1970s. Dan will share his experiences of working in the airline industry during a pivotal point in Pan Am history. This interview provides a unique look inside the workings of the executive leadership of the airline in the 1970s.
After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard after college, Mr. Colussy began his career in engineering at General Electric and then went on to work for American Airlines and Northeast Airlines in executive marketing positions before joining the prestigious advertising agency Wells, Rich and Green as Senior Vice President overseeing the Trans World Airlines account.
As a result of a chance encounter seated next to the CEO of Pan Am on a TWA plane over the Atlantic, Mr. Colussy was hired by Pan Am in 1970 as Vice President of Marketing Development and in a short period of time was promoted to Senior Vice President of the same division.
In 1976, Mr. Colussy was promoted to Executive Vice President and was elected as a member of the Pan Am's Board of Directors. Two years later in May 1978, he was elected president and chief operating officer of Pan American World Airways by the company’s board of directors. William Seawell remained Pan Am CEO.
Mr. Colussy left Pan Am in 1980 to pursue other opportunities in the airline and aerospace industries. A successful and respected businessman, among his many pursuits he served as chairman and CEO of Canadian Pacific Airlines and is the former Chairman of Iridium Satellite, which he took out of bankruptcy in 2000 and rebuilt into a global and profitable satellite network providing communications services for over one million customers worldwide.
Today, Mr. Colussy is the Chairman of Gemini Capital, a Venture Capital Fund investing in new technologies.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are joined by 99-year-old Lester Kappel. He worked for Pan Am during World War II beginning in early 1942 until mid 1946. He was stationed for the majority of World War II in Casablanca with the African-Orient division of Pan Am under the Air Transport Command.
Lester provides a unique perspective of what it was like to be working for the airline during wartime in support of Allied forces that utilized Pan Am’s vast global network and resources making it a vital lifeline of resupply.
He began his time with Pan Am as one of the airline’s esteemed mechanics and worked exclusively in 1942 on the celebrated Boeing B-314 Flying Boats and then later expanded his skills during the war to the engines of land-based planes.
Lester was at the airport and saw President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plane when he came to Casablanca in January of 1943 to meet with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Watch the Pan Am 1945 post-war film called, Clippers at War, to learn more about the airline's contribution to the war effort: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvElNiAsC_Y
After leaving Pan Am after the war, Lester Kappel worked in the family printing business for 30 years, while also serving as a volunteer firefighter on Long Island beginning in 1958.
In the 1980s, he sold the company and began working for the local library where he worked for over 30 years up until recently. During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Lester literally did not stop helping his Long Island neighbors until he was dehydrated and had to be taken to the hospital.
Today, Lester is revered by family, friends, library patrons, and firefighters alike. He is a great supporter of the Pan Am Museum and has donated items that are proudly on display in our public exhibits.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are joined by legendary journalist Sam Donaldson where we will talking about traveling with Pan Am on assignment, covering presidents as White House correspondent, tracking down a Nazi war criminal, deregulation of the airlines, and everything in between.
He is best known for his distinguished 52 year career at ABC News, where he covered stories and conducted investigations of national and international interest. In 1977, he was assigned the coveted White House Correspondent assignment for ABC News, a post he would hold for the duration of the Carter and Reagan administrations. He would later return as ABC’s White House Correspondent for much of the Clinton Administration in the 1990s.
This episode is an indirect follow up to Episode 21: White House Press Charters and Flying with Air Force One where we explored Pan Am’s historic supporting role with presidential travel. In that episode we were joined by Dwight Chapin, a trusted aide to President Richard M. Nixon and Pan Am veterans: flight attendant Claire Graham and Captain John Marshall.
Sam Donaldson was a frequent passenger on Pan Am’s White House Press Charters during the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations.
In 1994, his Primetime Live segment on Erich Priebke, a former Nazi SS officer, set off a chain of events that ended with Priebke being arrested and convicted for war crimes and given a life sentence in prison. Remarkably, Priebke was living in Argentina out in the open for many years and admitted to most of his crimes on camera during Sam’s interview.
To learn more about this incredible interview that includes interviews with Sam Donaldson, ABC News producer Harry Phillips, and researcher Dalia Herbst, watch this segment of the television program Nazi Hunters.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we continue to celebrate Black History Month and are joined by veteran Pan Am pilots Captain Perry Jones and Ed Moon.
Perry was the first African American to be hired by Pan Am in late 1965 and Ed was the third to be hired in early 1967.
The second African American hired by Pan Am was Otis Benjamin Young in 1966. "O.B.," as he was affectionally referred to, was born in 1938 and graduated from Howard University and then served in the United States Air Force. After Pan Am, he flew for Delta Airlines until retirement. Unfortunately, Captain Young passed away on June 9, 2021.
These gentlemen were legendary trailblazers at the height of the civil right movement in the 1960s.
All three left a lasting legacy at Pan Am, paved the way for other people of color and beyond, and were part of the change that transformed the commercial aviation community.
In 1976, Benjamin Thomas, an Eastern Airlines pilot, organized a meeting that formed the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, now called the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, to address discrimination in the airline industry.
Ed Moon was a one of the 38 founders of the organization and both Perry and Ed served as president and board chair of the organization through the years.
Today, the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals or OBAP for short, is a world-leading non-profit organization that changes lives by creating a pathway to success through educating youth, communities, and professionals—shaping an aerospace industry as diverse as the people they serve.
For more information on OBAP, visit their website at obap.org.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we celebrate Black History Month and are joined by author Bruce Wolk to explore the inspiring life of sports legend Junius Kellogg and his incredible connection to Pan American World Airways.
Junius Kellogg was born on March 16, 1927 in Haverstraw, New York to Lucy Lee Williams and Theodore Kellogg. Young Junius always excelled in the classroom as an outstanding student, but also was an exceptional athlete in every sport he attempted.
While in high school, Junius made the Virginia State High School All-Star Team, as well as, earning earn high marks in academics. After graduating in 1946, he was awarded a scholarship to West Virginia State, however, he was drafted into the U.S. Army after only one semester.
While in the military in 1948, Junius was named 1st Army all-around athlete. The next year he was offered a basketball scholarship to Manhattan College as the school’s first African American scholarship recipient. When eligible to play in the 1950-1951 season, the 6’10” Kellogg made an immediate impact on the team.
In January 1951, after reporting that someone was attempting to bribe him, Junius helped authorities uncover the biggest betting scandal in collegiate basketball history. And was subsequently hailed a national hero for his honesty and courage.But despite this, a career in the NBA eluded him mainly because being the whistleblower embarrassed some of the league’s executives and star players that were likely involved in past betting schemes. After graduation in June 1953, he was invited to join the Harlem Globetrotters, even though he still dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player in the NBA.
That dream was shattered and his life forever changed on April 2, 1954 when a horrific car accident left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. While recovering in the Bronx Veterans Hospital, Junius was approached to be head coach of the Pan Am Jets, a wheelchair basketball team sponsored by Pan American World Airways. In addition, Pan Am offered him a job in the accounting department.
He became the first African American coach in the history of wheelchair basketball, and with the Pan Am Jets brought the sport to people throughout the world. Junius coached the U.S. Wheelchair Basketball team to a gold medal at the Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games.
He died at age 71 on September 16, 1998.
To learn more about Mr. Kellogg and to watch a tribute video, visit the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum.Support the show
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we are joined by Dr. Johanna O’Flaherty.
Johanna joined Pan American World Airways in 1970 as a flight attendant, and was later promoted to purser, trainer, and in 1986 was appointed Corporate Manager of Pan Am’s new Employee Assistance Program (also known commonly today as EAP).
In this role, Johanna was responsible for the oversight of bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of the 1988 Lockerbie disaster.
Her new book, a memoir called Flight With Weighted Wings, was released in January of 2023 and is available from the Pan Am Museum’s online store.
Watch Johanna’s Pan Am corporate video to new employees from 1987 on our YouTube channel.
Johanna received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in California. Today, Johanna is an expert in crisis management from a psychological perspective, and a renowned expert in the field of trauma, addiction and recovery.
She served as Vice President of Treatment Services at the Betty Ford Center from 2006 to 2013, before serving as CEO of the Las Vegas Recovery Center, Senior Fellow of Clinical Services, from 2013 to 2016.
In addition, she adds her 40 years of personal recovery to her long list of accomplishments. Johanna developed and implemented Crisis Response Programs for Pan American World Airways, Trans World Airlines, and has facilitated the training of Crisis Response Teams for several other airlines as well.
Then in September of 2001, Dr. O’Flaherty was again called to New York to assist with counseling airline employees and facilitating the Crisis Response training for the New York City Transit Authority after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. She also conducted critical incident response training for the FBI and first responders.
Dr. O’Flaherty has been featured on American news channels CBS, ABC, NBC and CNN as well as several podcasts as an expert in her field.
To listen to more of Dr. O’Flaherty, check out the podcast called Living OnBrand with Kim and Glenda.
For more information on Johanna or to contact her, her website is www.johannahelps.com
Today, Johanna maintains a consulting practice and has an active schedule as a keynote speaker in crisis management and addiction. She resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.Support the show
Visit Us for more Pan Am History! Support the Podcast! Donate to the Museum! Visit The Hangar online store for Pan Am gear! Become a Member!Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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On December 11, 2022, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi (Mas’ud), the suspected bomb maker in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, was arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice and brought to the United States for prosecution.
In this episode we are joined by two distinguished guests, Fred Burton and Mark Zaid, who discuss counterterrorism, the intelligence community, the Lockerbie investigation spanning more than three decades, and the quest for American justice.
Due to the sensitivity of these topics, listener discretion is advised.Fred Burton is a former police officer, special agent for the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. State Department, and a New York Times best-selling author.
His best-selling books include his personal memoir GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent and his other books Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent's Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice, and Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah’s War Against America.
Fred’s website is www.officialfredburton.com
Mark Zaid is an American attorney, based in Washington, D.C., with a practice focused on national security law, freedom of speech constitutional claims, and government accountability.
Many of his cases are very well known, such as suing Libya for the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which resulted in a $2.7 billion settlement, the largest of its kind against a foreign government for terrorist activities. Mark’s website is www.markzaid.comSupport the show
Visit Us for more Pan Am History! Support the Podcast! Donate to the Museum! Visit The Hangar online store for Pan Am gear! Become a Member!Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! -
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In this episode we will be recognizing the 31st anniversary of Pan American World Airways ceasing operations and explore the lead up to and the tumultuous year of 1991 which ended with the shutdown of Pan Am.
For the first interview, we are joined by the last CEO and Chairman of Pan Am, Russell L. Ray, Jr., and talk about his unpredictable and short time as the last leader of the airline. Mr. Ray has held senior positions with British Aerospace Inc., McDonnell Douglas, Pacific Southwest Airlines, Eastern Airlines and the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.
For the second interview, we are joined by the "Last Clipper" Captain Mark S. Pyle, who made history as the last pilot to fly a revenue flight of Pan Am from Barbados to Miami. Captain Pyle then flew for United Airlines from 1992 to 2005. After hanging up his wings, he fulfilled a boyhood dream and became a police officer in 2007 and retired in 2012.Support the show
Visit Us for more Pan Am History! Support the Podcast! Donate to the Museum! Visit The Hangar online store for Pan Am gear! Become a Member!Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support! - Show more
