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Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am
In Skygods, Robert Gandt, a Pan Am pilot for twenty-six years, gives the first inside account of Pan Am's unprecedented demise. To tell the complete story, Gandt interviewed hundreds of former Pan Am airmen and executives. Gandt reveals what really happened in the cockpits, where Pan Am's captains, dressed in Navy-style uniforms, once ruled their ships like petty tyrants. Though Pan Am captains were considered the best and the brightest in the industry, Skygods tells disturbing stories of captains who let stewardesses land their planes, who flew at the wrong altitude and in the wrong direction, and who tragically disappeared along with their planes into the night. Gandt takes readers behind the scenes at Pan Am's executive offices in the landmark Pan Am building - a massive edifice to the founder's personal vision. He shows how a series of impulsive and short-sighted CEOs succeeded in destroying one of America's greatest companies. Pan Am employees were rocked by the company's decision to purchase a domestic carrier - at an eventual cost of nearly a billion dollars. Strapped with debt and flying half-empty planes to places like Monrovia, Rabat, and Lagos, Pan Am then stunned its employees by selling its profitable Pacific routes. The airline that could bend the wills of American presidents was reduced to relying on the Shah of Iran for the financial salvation it would never receive. Ultimately, it was a senseless terrorist act over Scotland that shattered Pan Am forever - and ended an era in American travel.
172 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1995
171 people are currently reading
832 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
November 22, 2017
Enjoyable and informative, if every Skygods other Skygods word Skygods wasn't Skygods "Skygods".
Skygods.
Skygods.
March 23, 2018
How does a world-class airline fall so quickly from the heights that its pilots are accidentally locked in the building when it closes its doors for the last time, forced to jump from a fire-exit door onto shrubbery below? The decline and crash of Pan-American Airlines wasn’t as abrupt as memory has it, as Skygods narrative history demonstrates, but a drift toward failure that was nearly corrected a time or two but never long enough. Skygods' history of Pan-Am uses the stories of its captains, executive, and crew to make personal a proud airline’s fall from glory.
Pan-Am isn’t an airline I ever flew on, closing as it did when I was six, but as a brand name I heard about it often enough growing up -- and I witnessed the airline’s complete self-confidence in movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey. That complete self-confidence was part of its early pilot culture, when a airline created by a Navy buff adopted aspects of navy lingo and dress. The planes were “Clippers”, and their crews wore smart uniforms, answering to their lord and commander in the air -- the Master of Ocean Flying Boats. It wasn’t just a name: Pan-Am specialized in overseas destinations, beginning with a Key West to Havana run, and to serve the undeveloped world by air, it used floatplanes or flying boats. Pan-Am captains were alpha males later running jet engines, often wrong but never in doubt. Juan Trippe, the effective creator of Pan-Am and its chief for decades, was certainly confident in his own vision and the airline. He pushed commercial aviation into the jet age against its reservations, twisting elbows and manipulating one company against another, forcing them to do his bidding. Trippe got what he wanted -- jet airlines that could go faster and over greater distances -- but at a price. The brutal deal-making clouded Pan-Am’s reputation, making it political enemies, and Trippe’s greatest dream, the 747, would bleed the rest of Pan-Am’s life.
Pan-Am had taken on enormous obligations in creating that fleet, but it had enormous assets, too: it wasn’t just an airline, it owned a pricey chain of hotels. It was an international corporation with an antiquated culture, however; even in the sixties it operated like a small transport firm from the thirties, with such lax accounting measures that no one could tell what lines were profitable or not. When Trippe was dreaming of doubling his capacity with 747s, flights to Europe on 727s (another Trippe coup) were flying half-empty. And those “Skygods”, the captains who ruled their ships with an iron hand? They were getting old, with an easy arrogance made more volatile by forgetfulness. In this period, eleven new jets, their crews and passengers, were destroyed in spectacular crashes abroad. Although Pan-Am would reform its approach to command and develop a stellar safety record,, it couldn’t win back political favor: its old monopoly on international routes was slowly pried away, while the old bar on domestic routes was retained.
Although Pan-Am’s profits dwindled into losses year after year, the downward spiral seemed to be arrested by another CEO, who closed a lot of low-performing lines and put employees on furlough. The airline began making money again, only to blow it all in a bidding war for a southern airline with domestic routes. The integration of the two airlines was not handled well, and from then on Pan-Am’s successive directors kept repeating the other’s mistakes: they’d sell off a performing asset, use the money badly, and come out worse for the wear. Pan-Am just couldn’t adapt to slug it out in the domestic markets, and in gutting its international flights to finance the domestic fight, it essentially consumed itself to death. Outside matters didn't help, from an oil crunch to an act of very public terrorism that saw Pan-Am Flight 103 smeared across the Scottish countyside.
I don’t know that any extinct airline enjoys the reputation in death that Pan-Am does, receiving adulation in modern films like Catch Me if You Can and the series Pan-Am. And then there’s the case of a man who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to recreate a first-class cabin and lounge from a Pan-Am 747 in his garage, then expanded it in a separate building. Those who remember it -- or those who are simply curious about it -- will find in Skygods an easy but sad narrative of the airline’s return to Earth.
Pan-Am isn’t an airline I ever flew on, closing as it did when I was six, but as a brand name I heard about it often enough growing up -- and I witnessed the airline’s complete self-confidence in movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey. That complete self-confidence was part of its early pilot culture, when a airline created by a Navy buff adopted aspects of navy lingo and dress. The planes were “Clippers”, and their crews wore smart uniforms, answering to their lord and commander in the air -- the Master of Ocean Flying Boats. It wasn’t just a name: Pan-Am specialized in overseas destinations, beginning with a Key West to Havana run, and to serve the undeveloped world by air, it used floatplanes or flying boats. Pan-Am captains were alpha males later running jet engines, often wrong but never in doubt. Juan Trippe, the effective creator of Pan-Am and its chief for decades, was certainly confident in his own vision and the airline. He pushed commercial aviation into the jet age against its reservations, twisting elbows and manipulating one company against another, forcing them to do his bidding. Trippe got what he wanted -- jet airlines that could go faster and over greater distances -- but at a price. The brutal deal-making clouded Pan-Am’s reputation, making it political enemies, and Trippe’s greatest dream, the 747, would bleed the rest of Pan-Am’s life.
Pan-Am had taken on enormous obligations in creating that fleet, but it had enormous assets, too: it wasn’t just an airline, it owned a pricey chain of hotels. It was an international corporation with an antiquated culture, however; even in the sixties it operated like a small transport firm from the thirties, with such lax accounting measures that no one could tell what lines were profitable or not. When Trippe was dreaming of doubling his capacity with 747s, flights to Europe on 727s (another Trippe coup) were flying half-empty. And those “Skygods”, the captains who ruled their ships with an iron hand? They were getting old, with an easy arrogance made more volatile by forgetfulness. In this period, eleven new jets, their crews and passengers, were destroyed in spectacular crashes abroad. Although Pan-Am would reform its approach to command and develop a stellar safety record,, it couldn’t win back political favor: its old monopoly on international routes was slowly pried away, while the old bar on domestic routes was retained.
Although Pan-Am’s profits dwindled into losses year after year, the downward spiral seemed to be arrested by another CEO, who closed a lot of low-performing lines and put employees on furlough. The airline began making money again, only to blow it all in a bidding war for a southern airline with domestic routes. The integration of the two airlines was not handled well, and from then on Pan-Am’s successive directors kept repeating the other’s mistakes: they’d sell off a performing asset, use the money badly, and come out worse for the wear. Pan-Am just couldn’t adapt to slug it out in the domestic markets, and in gutting its international flights to finance the domestic fight, it essentially consumed itself to death. Outside matters didn't help, from an oil crunch to an act of very public terrorism that saw Pan-Am Flight 103 smeared across the Scottish countyside.
I don’t know that any extinct airline enjoys the reputation in death that Pan-Am does, receiving adulation in modern films like Catch Me if You Can and the series Pan-Am. And then there’s the case of a man who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to recreate a first-class cabin and lounge from a Pan-Am 747 in his garage, then expanded it in a separate building. Those who remember it -- or those who are simply curious about it -- will find in Skygods an easy but sad narrative of the airline’s return to Earth.
August 17, 2024
Entertaining writing style and narration, story itself only somewhat interesting
September 16, 2016
[Disclaimer: both my wife, to whom i read this book aloud, and I are pilots and have worked in many facets of the aviation industry for much of our careers ;o) ]
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think anyone interested in aviation, especially commercial air transportation history will enjoy it. Initially it felt a little bit like "The Right Stuff" meets the commercial airlines, but it was more than that. An individual's power of personality and vision, corporate power, politics, labor/management struggles, how the pure love of flying moves individuals, the cult of the Pilot, governmental regulation and "free" market....
Anyone who grew up during the rise of jet air travel and who remembers what it was like to fly before it became a necessary misery (at least on US airlines) might like this behind-the -scenes look.
Connections appear between those who become near mythological: Rickenbacker, Lindbergh, Trippe, Hughes, Borman, Kennedy, McNamara and events beyond control such as Desert Storm, fuel cost, terrorism...
How Juan Trippe & Pan Am helped make Boeing commercial airplanes what it became.
Many wonderful, some hilarious, anecdotes.
Mr. Gandt spins it all into a pretty good yarn. Hard to put down. Read it aloud in a couple weeks to my wife while she was knitting at night.
Bottom line: a strange brew of events and persons that saw the rise and propagation of world-wide air travel and the financial ruin that eventually befell one of its seminal airlines.
The effects of which linger with us in the skies today.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think anyone interested in aviation, especially commercial air transportation history will enjoy it. Initially it felt a little bit like "The Right Stuff" meets the commercial airlines, but it was more than that. An individual's power of personality and vision, corporate power, politics, labor/management struggles, how the pure love of flying moves individuals, the cult of the Pilot, governmental regulation and "free" market....
Anyone who grew up during the rise of jet air travel and who remembers what it was like to fly before it became a necessary misery (at least on US airlines) might like this behind-the -scenes look.
Connections appear between those who become near mythological: Rickenbacker, Lindbergh, Trippe, Hughes, Borman, Kennedy, McNamara and events beyond control such as Desert Storm, fuel cost, terrorism...
How Juan Trippe & Pan Am helped make Boeing commercial airplanes what it became.
Many wonderful, some hilarious, anecdotes.
Mr. Gandt spins it all into a pretty good yarn. Hard to put down. Read it aloud in a couple weeks to my wife while she was knitting at night.
Bottom line: a strange brew of events and persons that saw the rise and propagation of world-wide air travel and the financial ruin that eventually befell one of its seminal airlines.
The effects of which linger with us in the skies today.
November 2, 2016
Loved it! As aviation buff and fan of history, this book combined my two favorite genres and I found it enthralling and looked forward to every page. However, if your not a fan of history or aviation, this is still well written and time well spent, it may not be as captivating as my basis option.
October 17, 2020
A book in three parts: [1] The birth and rise of Pan Am, [2] Pan Am in trouble [3] the fall and death of Pan Am.
The first part covered the brinksmanship-like deal-making of Pan Am founder Juan Trippe and the huge influence Pan Am had on the initial development of both the Boeing 707 and the Boeing 747. Interesting to me. And uplifting. Perhaps author Robert Gandt should have expanded this section and titled the book “Skygods: The rise and fall of Pan Am” instead. But he didn’t.
The other two sections detail the Pan Am slow-motion train-wreck. Economic downturns, political favoritism, Mid East oil prices, terrorism and the two military operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm all contribute to the troubles of Pan Am (and many other airlines). There is a lot of focus on Pan Am’s top leadership since their responses to these troubles (and how they raised capital to weather the tough times) would determine whether Pan Am could survive the troubles or not.
There is also a lot of focus on the pilots. They are the Pan Am elite – especially the haughty senior pilots (the Skygods), who typically are guaranteed a job while the junior pilots may face the prospect of indefinitely-long furlough. Indeed, the airline pilot’s inflexible seniority system permeates their lives. And the complexities of two merging airlines trying to merge their two sets of pilots into a single seniority system caused hard feelings (and possible unemployment) for many pilots.
Bottom line: The majority of the book is about the slow disintegration of Pan Am. Informative but depressing.
The first part covered the brinksmanship-like deal-making of Pan Am founder Juan Trippe and the huge influence Pan Am had on the initial development of both the Boeing 707 and the Boeing 747. Interesting to me. And uplifting. Perhaps author Robert Gandt should have expanded this section and titled the book “Skygods: The rise and fall of Pan Am” instead. But he didn’t.
The other two sections detail the Pan Am slow-motion train-wreck. Economic downturns, political favoritism, Mid East oil prices, terrorism and the two military operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm all contribute to the troubles of Pan Am (and many other airlines). There is a lot of focus on Pan Am’s top leadership since their responses to these troubles (and how they raised capital to weather the tough times) would determine whether Pan Am could survive the troubles or not.
There is also a lot of focus on the pilots. They are the Pan Am elite – especially the haughty senior pilots (the Skygods), who typically are guaranteed a job while the junior pilots may face the prospect of indefinitely-long furlough. Indeed, the airline pilot’s inflexible seniority system permeates their lives. And the complexities of two merging airlines trying to merge their two sets of pilots into a single seniority system caused hard feelings (and possible unemployment) for many pilots.
Bottom line: The majority of the book is about the slow disintegration of Pan Am. Informative but depressing.
June 6, 2023
An okay book, providing a history of Pan American World Airways, with a concentration on its lengthy downfall. The author, aviation writer and former Pan Am pilot Robert Gandt, combines a pilot centric narrative with a business history to describe the steady path to oblivion of the once dominant U.S. international airline. The book covers the initial pioneering efforts of Pan Am executives and pilots to develop a global airline network. This was followed by a transformation of the airline industry, with Pan Am leading early commercial jet aircraft development. The Skygods of the title are the swaggering bigger-than-life personas of Pan Am leadership who made the airline the dominant international carrier. But, ultimately, Gandt lays squarely the blame for Pan Am’s demise at the hubris of these Skygods, in their creating a culture that could not adapt to late 20th century air travel. Unfortunately, the book suffers from combining a pilot centric narrative of hi-jinx, adventures, and tragedies with a business history of a major firm in a complex industry. The cockpit stories come across disjointed while the firm analysis lacks details. The result is a book enjoyable to read but lacking a needed level ofin-depth substance. Highly recommended for aviation history buffs looking for a broad overview of the demise of Pan Am.
January 20, 2018
I didn't really know much about Pan Am before this book, but this seems to be a decently thorough history - although it seems very focused on the internal history and company culture. I am decently skeptical about a lot of this, though. For one thing, in my experience companies get a reputation for having a specific culture, which gets blown up in the re-telling, and the whole "airline full of Sky Gods" thing seems to fit that pattern very well.
Another problem is that he goes into a suspicious amount of detail about what various people were thinking and doing at certain times, all stories told in the indicative. At first I thought he had just done very thorough research, but then he goes on to describe the thought process and actions of people moments before their plane crashed with all hands on board. Maybe the pilot of Pan Am Flight 103 radioed in and said, "Things are going good, I've put my feet up and I'm relaxed, we're mostly concerned with the food service at this point" into the black box recorder just before the plane blew up, but I would guess that Gandt just speculated about what happened on the flight and did not bother to put this in the subjunctive mood or qualify it as speculation.
Another problem is that he goes into a suspicious amount of detail about what various people were thinking and doing at certain times, all stories told in the indicative. At first I thought he had just done very thorough research, but then he goes on to describe the thought process and actions of people moments before their plane crashed with all hands on board. Maybe the pilot of Pan Am Flight 103 radioed in and said, "Things are going good, I've put my feet up and I'm relaxed, we're mostly concerned with the food service at this point" into the black box recorder just before the plane blew up, but I would guess that Gandt just speculated about what happened on the flight and did not bother to put this in the subjunctive mood or qualify it as speculation.
November 18, 2019
The bigger they are,the harder they...
This was a great read. Originally I felt that Gandt skimmed over Pan Am's early days. But, as I read Gandt took us on journeys that introduced us to Pan Am characters that filled in much of Pan Am's back story.
Reading this book showed me the frustration of govern!ent picking winners and losers. Yes, Pan Am made some poor business decisions in its last decade or so, but things may have been much different if big brother did not stone wall their early attempts at building a domestic route structure.
The union pecking order reminded me of one of many reasons I decided to keep piloting as an expensive hobby. That pilot flying your airplane may not be the best pilot, he or she is just the one with the most seniority.
If you enjoy aviation history, this book is a definite must.
This was a great read. Originally I felt that Gandt skimmed over Pan Am's early days. But, as I read Gandt took us on journeys that introduced us to Pan Am characters that filled in much of Pan Am's back story.
Reading this book showed me the frustration of govern!ent picking winners and losers. Yes, Pan Am made some poor business decisions in its last decade or so, but things may have been much different if big brother did not stone wall their early attempts at building a domestic route structure.
The union pecking order reminded me of one of many reasons I decided to keep piloting as an expensive hobby. That pilot flying your airplane may not be the best pilot, he or she is just the one with the most seniority.
If you enjoy aviation history, this book is a definite must.
April 23, 2018
Most of my friends are aware of my fascination with aircraft, airlines and aeroplanes, so my selection of this book to read will be no surprise to them. Although, not to everyone's taste I loved it because as well as the obvious great story to be told about one of the world's great pioneers of commercial aviation, this book also takes you behind the scenes into the murky world of backroom politics and high finance. The essential wheeling and dealing for any business, but particularly those that rely on Governments permissions and more relevant international Government-to-Government agreements for their very existence are fraught with danger. In fact, according to this book it was consistently the failure of the US Government that was instrumental in eventually putting Pan-Am out of business, although a few of their own Chief Executives seem to contribute along the way towards their eventual demise. I thoroughly recommend this book as a fascinating read.
August 25, 2018
Excellent
The way to think of this book is not so much a history of Pan Am more of a long account of the decline. The early sea plane years are covered a little quickly but that is not the main remit. I had long wanted to read more about why this great airline fairly and this book is perfect for that.
It has a well written an interesting narrative, it is easy to read and not too technical which is perfect for a more casual reader. It is written in parts from the perspective of the pilot hence the title.
I would highly recommend it just accept that it is not quite a straightforward history of Pan Am.
The way to think of this book is not so much a history of Pan Am more of a long account of the decline. The early sea plane years are covered a little quickly but that is not the main remit. I had long wanted to read more about why this great airline fairly and this book is perfect for that.
It has a well written an interesting narrative, it is easy to read and not too technical which is perfect for a more casual reader. It is written in parts from the perspective of the pilot hence the title.
I would highly recommend it just accept that it is not quite a straightforward history of Pan Am.
May 20, 2024
A fascinating and compelling insight of perhaps the most innovative and daring airlines to ever exist. Gandt did a spectacular narrative breaking down how the airline went from being one of the world's greatest to a sad tale of a slow death.
I did believe some parts were rushed, especially in the old Clipper days of flying boats and that some key moments were glossed over. I would have enjoy learning more about Halaby's term as CEO and those after him, as well as how the management team felt about deregulation exactly.
A few typos permeated throughout, which led to a bit of confusion as I made my way throughout the book.
Overall, a fantastic story but glazes key aspects.
I did believe some parts were rushed, especially in the old Clipper days of flying boats and that some key moments were glossed over. I would have enjoy learning more about Halaby's term as CEO and those after him, as well as how the management team felt about deregulation exactly.
A few typos permeated throughout, which led to a bit of confusion as I made my way throughout the book.
Overall, a fantastic story but glazes key aspects.
May 13, 2020
Although I was unfortunately born too late to have even seen a 747-200 in Pan am's colours, after reading Skygods I feel I have some sort of connection to the "Imperial Airline".
Gandt did an excellent job describing the highs and lows of Pan Am, as well as the individuals involved throughout the airline's history. I found the narrations in the perspective of pilots and others particularly engaging.
This book is great for anyone looking to learn about a once-glamorous American company, not just aviation enthusiasts (even though I'm sure aviation enthusiasts will love this book).
Gandt did an excellent job describing the highs and lows of Pan Am, as well as the individuals involved throughout the airline's history. I found the narrations in the perspective of pilots and others particularly engaging.
This book is great for anyone looking to learn about a once-glamorous American company, not just aviation enthusiasts (even though I'm sure aviation enthusiasts will love this book).
November 18, 2020
I was busy with my life (and being Canadian, not as aware) when the great Pan Am airlines was sinking into oblivion.......just like Eatons and Simpsons they, either in combination of, or because of, had poor executive management, we're not keeping up with their clientele's trends , spending far too much money ahead of profits, mismanagement of their staff, economic difficulties or wars. For any business to survive many things have to go right......really though provoking on how a business fails.
April 2, 2022
Airplane heads and Accidentals
As a victim of similar fate being a Eastern Air Lines pilot of the same vintage of the “New Hires” I can relate. I knew the story, I was close to it, I roomed with Marty in a commuter pad in Valley Stream Long Island. I heard it said about Marty that he was a master in the art of survival, if Pan Am went down to four employees, he’d be one on the.. so I had a lot of PanAm friends. This is a very readable book, Gandt is a creative writer, a real wordsmith. A good read to those without inside knowledge.
As a victim of similar fate being a Eastern Air Lines pilot of the same vintage of the “New Hires” I can relate. I knew the story, I was close to it, I roomed with Marty in a commuter pad in Valley Stream Long Island. I heard it said about Marty that he was a master in the art of survival, if Pan Am went down to four employees, he’d be one on the.. so I had a lot of PanAm friends. This is a very readable book, Gandt is a creative writer, a real wordsmith. A good read to those without inside knowledge.
April 9, 2023
Death Of The Skygods
I never got to fly on a Pan Am jet but I sure remember them as the ultimate bastion of flying cool and class. But behind the scenes, Pan Am was apparently like many other American corporations whose leaders arrogantly thought they were too big and too important to fail. Wrong!
This book is a fascinating look at early “seat of your pants” commercial aviation that morphed into a logistical and corporate nightmare. Ultimately, Pan Am died an ignominious death and my first trip to Europe was on United.
This is an interesting read.
I never got to fly on a Pan Am jet but I sure remember them as the ultimate bastion of flying cool and class. But behind the scenes, Pan Am was apparently like many other American corporations whose leaders arrogantly thought they were too big and too important to fail. Wrong!
This book is a fascinating look at early “seat of your pants” commercial aviation that morphed into a logistical and corporate nightmare. Ultimately, Pan Am died an ignominious death and my first trip to Europe was on United.
This is an interesting read.
September 20, 2024
Was looking forward to being transported to peak jet age, but this book skimmed over peak jet age pretty quickly, instead choosing to jump from founding of Pan Am to crisis to crisis to the end. Another review mentions that every other word is “Skygod” which is true and especially confusing because they never really explain what Skygod means exactly.
The dive into the history of Pan Am was interesting, and understanding it more makes me think there is an opportunity for a really good nonfiction here, but SKYGODS unfortunately isn’t it.
The dive into the history of Pan Am was interesting, and understanding it more makes me think there is an opportunity for a really good nonfiction here, but SKYGODS unfortunately isn’t it.
January 18, 2025
I find it fascinating reading about massive companies that no longer exist or who are drastically smaller then they once was. And Pan Am is a company like that. Being born in 81, I was too young for their heyday. And when I think of Pan Am, I think more of the Pan Am Games.
As for the book, it’s very informative..but that’s also a downside. There was a bit more info then I think we really needed and the book could have been shorten up.
I’d recommend the book if you like reading about historical companies or a fan of flying.
As for the book, it’s very informative..but that’s also a downside. There was a bit more info then I think we really needed and the book could have been shorten up.
I’d recommend the book if you like reading about historical companies or a fan of flying.
December 22, 2017
A compelling and well-written history of one of the most iconic U.S. companies of the 20th century. In many ways, this is the tale of the United States of America over the course of the century - technological innovation, unbridled optimism and enthusiasm and a tremendous global impact that, in the end, just could not manage to be sustainable. For fans of mid-century U.S. history, this is a great read.
November 26, 2018
It's a fascinating read not only for aviation geeks but for anyone interested in the birth of modern air travel, the politics behind it as well as the role war played in the story. Obviously, Juan Trippe, one of the most influential CEOs of the 20th century, features prominently in the book, but he's just one of many visionaries who can track their lineage, directly or strategically, to the rise and fall of Pan American.
March 29, 2021
Fascinating! I blew through this Audiobook at break-neck speed because it was that entertaining. I have, of course, heard of Pan Am, and know of it as a luxury international airline that disappeared. But I never knew its story. Gandt's telling of the history of Pan-Am from the air boat days to the jumbo 747 days is a gripping story of a company as it goes from riches to rags over the course of several decades. If you look aviation or corporate history, you will love this one.
January 2, 2022
(3.5) Pretty much what I was looking for when I got this book - an overview of Pan Am’s history from its foundation to its downfall. Fast-paced and included stories of individual pilots, which I enjoyed.
I would have liked to see some sources/citations though, and the writing style was a bit too sensational for my taste at times. I would have also liked to see more about other people who worked for the airline, as it only ever seemed to focus on the pilots.
I would have liked to see some sources/citations though, and the writing style was a bit too sensational for my taste at times. I would have also liked to see more about other people who worked for the airline, as it only ever seemed to focus on the pilots.
February 2, 2022
End of an Era
Intriguing story of success and failure that had repercussions across America. Robert Gandt does an excellent job portraying the good, bad and ultimately the tragedy. The author's "folksy" writing style
gives us a human perspective of the life and death of a giant organization that was instrumental in developing the American aviation prowess of the early amid 20th century. Very enjoyable and informative read.
Intriguing story of success and failure that had repercussions across America. Robert Gandt does an excellent job portraying the good, bad and ultimately the tragedy. The author's "folksy" writing style
gives us a human perspective of the life and death of a giant organization that was instrumental in developing the American aviation prowess of the early amid 20th century. Very enjoyable and informative read.
April 2, 2023
A fascinating read detailing the birth, growth and demise of Pan American Airlines. This book provides insight of the struggles of a technology (aviation) that at times could not keep pace with needs of a growing airline such as the likes of Pan Am. The book gives details of what it was like to run an airline before deregulation and how many airlines such as Pan AM could not change with the new reality of airline competition after deregulation.
December 16, 2023
Fascinating, yet heartbreaking to read
Thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the personalities involved in the evolution and deterioration of the once premier US airline. The long trajectory of decisions made with limited strategic thought or planning was like watching a slowly evolving car crash. Highly recommend the book - just wrenching when you understand the impact that C-suite decisions can have on thousands and thousands of families
Thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the personalities involved in the evolution and deterioration of the once premier US airline. The long trajectory of decisions made with limited strategic thought or planning was like watching a slowly evolving car crash. Highly recommend the book - just wrenching when you understand the impact that C-suite decisions can have on thousands and thousands of families
June 25, 2024
Phenomenal book that beautifully tells the rise and fall of what is thought of as the grandfather of the airline industry. After hearing so much about Pan Am and the “Sky Gods” that flew their planes, it is exhilarating to read about the “glory days” and also sad to read about the misfortunes which came from rash business decisions, or lack there of, which led to the demise of the once great airline.
July 15, 2019
It’s a must read.
If you are an Airline Pilot it’s a must read. If you are upper management in the airline business, it’s a must read!
I was pleasantly surprised to find so many lessons embedded into fun and engaging stories. Rob manages to go back and forth with anecdotes and pieces of history and facts in a very dynamic way.
If you are an Airline Pilot it’s a must read. If you are upper management in the airline business, it’s a must read!
I was pleasantly surprised to find so many lessons embedded into fun and engaging stories. Rob manages to go back and forth with anecdotes and pieces of history and facts in a very dynamic way.
January 9, 2021
I learned so much about Pan Am airlines. Whom would have thought so much would go on behind the scenes, the people involved like Charles Lindenberg and how what started out as such a money maker could fall so far, and so fast, come back and be doing well, only to be sunk again. Sad story but very good read
March 24, 2025
This book was not bad, but not quite what I expected. Interesting glimpse into PanAm. I don’t know that the author did a good enough job of depicting its “rise” and “fall”. It had its funny moments and I learned a few new things (Employees took pay cuts to save the airline only to be shafted in the end). Simply ok.
September 25, 2017
Good read for any airline employees and geeks.
Excellent history of Pan Am and the failure of management to have a plan and foresight into the future. Including the turmoil in the post deregulation of the airline industry.
Excellent history of Pan Am and the failure of management to have a plan and foresight into the future. Including the turmoil in the post deregulation of the airline industry.
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