Flying Round-The-World With Pan Am: A June 17th Anniversary

Pan Am inaugurated the first regular round-the-world airlines service 65 years ago today. Passengers could disembark at any of 8 cities, then simply reboard and continue when the flight came around again.

by Barbara J King

Barbara J King Globe

When I first jetted to Kenya for anthropology field work, my Pan Am flight lasted 22 hours: New York to Dakar (Senegal) to Monrovia (Liberia) to Lagos (Nigeria) to Nairobi. Exciting experience, that, becoming a small part of Pam Am's aviation history. But I missed out on the best long-haul Pan Am flight ever. Sixty-five years ago today, Pan Am launched the first regular, round-the-world airline service. Starting in San Francisco and ending in New York, the plane stopped at 8 intermediate cities: Honolulu, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Delhi, Beirut, Istanbul, Frankfurt, and London. The best part? As this article explains, the complete journey lasted 48 hours, but passengers could get off at any city, stay awhile, then reboard and continue onwards when the flight came around again. Can a person feel nostalgia for a flight she never took? ...