13 Day Round-the-World Press Ceremonial Flight
"Passengers departed with anticipation & arrived with satisfaction."
Early in 1947 Pan Am was lobbying in Congress to become the focal core of a
new exclusive unified airline (Community Company) representing the American Flag
round-the-world. Opponents of the Congressional Bill printed a booklet, "The New
Monopoly Aviation Bill" stating that the formation of the "Community Company"
would eliminate transportation competition and be alien to our nation's foreign
policy. It was stated that the real competition in international air transportation
was not between US air carriers but between nations. The US could not regulate
that competition, the US could only meet it. International transportation under
the American flag stood at a crossroads. Congress defeated the formation of the
Community Company. The concept of an exclusive unified airline was dead to
everyone except Juan Trippe of Pan American Airlines.
Trippe now considered merging Pan American with TWA or American Airlines.
Such a merger would give him US domestic routes in addition to his established
international air route superiority. Discussions with Howard Hughes of TWA produced
no results. Discussions with Cyrus Rowlett Smith of American Airlines yielded
international route additions but Pan Am's petition for US domestic routing
failed.
Trippe put much effort in lobbying his causes with influential friends and
associates. To this end, he arranged a gala ceremonial journey round-the-world on
one of Pan Am's newly acquired Lockheed Constellations, the "Clipper America."
This Press Flight would depart New York on June 17, 1947, nine days before the
formal inauguration of Pan Am's (FAM-14/18) round-the-world flight service via
Calcutta, India.
Passengers & Affiliation:
Thomas H. Beck Cromwell-Collier Publishing Company
Paul Bellamy Cleveland Plain Dealer
Erwin J. Canham Christian Science Monitor
Gradner Cowles Jr. Des Moines Register-Tribune/Look Magazine
Barry Faris International News Service
Marshall Field III Chicago Sun
Frank Gannett Gannett Newspapers
Mrs Oveta Culp Hobby Houston Post
Roy W. Howard Scripps-Howard Newspapers
David S. Ingalls Cleveland
Clayton Knight Artist & Illustrator
Roger Lapham Mayor, San Francisco
J. Loy Maloney Chicago Tribune
M.T. Moore Time-Life-Fortune Publications
Ralph Nicholson New Orleans Item
Paul Patterson Baltimore Sun
Mrs Ogden Reid New York Herald-Tribune
Francis H. Russell State Department
James G. Stahlman Nashville Banner
Juan T. Trippe Pan American World Airways
Crew:
Capt Hugh H. Gordon Pilot
Capt Gordon F. Maxwell First Officer
S. B. Robinson Second Officer
J. R. Dailey Third Officer
D. Fowler First Engineer
E. J. Demas Second Engineer
H. Simpson First Radio Officer
J. Gordon Second Radio Officer
R. Tunstall Purser
Alice Lemieux Stewardess
Itinerary:
Departed La Guardia Airport, New York 06/17/47
Gander, Newfoundland
Shannon, Ireland
London, England
Istanbul, Turkey
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Karachi, Pakistan
Calcutta, India
Bangkok, Thailand
Manila, Philippines
Shanghai, China
Tokyo, Japan
Guam
Wake Island
Midway Island
Honolulu, HI
San Francisco, CA
Chicago, IL
Arrived La Guardia Airport, New York 06/30/47
