Pan Am was an American icon for more than sixty years. The company skyrocketed into success and set the industry standards for others to follow. With Trippe at the helm, it seemed the company could do no wrong and that the world was truly within its grasp. However, changes in competitiveness in the marketplace, thanks to the Transpacific Route Case and deregulation, coupled with decline in air travel and soaring fuel prices caused the company's ultimate demise.

             Juan Trippe: The Man Behind Pan American:.

             Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American World Airlines, graduated from Yale in 1921. He became bored with working on Wall Street, and after receiving and inheritance, started to work with New York Airways, a commuter service that served the wealthy and powerful. Eventually, with the aid of some of his wealthy friends, Trippe invested in an airline named Colonial Air Transport ("Juan Trippe", 2005).

             Trippe's interests lie in servicing the Caribbean, though. As such, he created the Aviation Corporation of America, based in Florida. It was this company that Trippe would use to take over fledgling Pan American Airways. Pan Am's first flight from Key West to Havana took off on October 28th, 1927, and signaled the beginning of an era of evolution for the aviation industry.

             Besides Pan Am, Trippe established China National Aviation Corporation, providing domestic service within the Republic of China. He also became a partner in Panagra, the Pan American-Grace Airways, holding a quasi-monopoly for air travel in many parts of South America ("Pan American-Grace Airways", 2005). But, it would be Trippe's Pan Am and his famous Clipper planes that would indelibly etch his aviation efforts in the minds of millions of people.

             Trippe was known, in the aviation industry, for his innovation. He believed Pan Am was the standard setter, and that air travel should be just for the wealthy, but for the general public as well.