Regarding Pan Am Airways

At least until a few years back, there was a combined GRS/Pan Am publication called GuilfordXpress which came out quarterly. Could have been an "inside" publication. It's kind of older now, but I'm looking right at the one from April/May/June of 2003. The issues were normally 14-18 pages long with RR info first, airways second. Sometimes, these would be followed by features on rail safety/police, customer spotlights, maps, etc... Offhand, I'm not sure it's still published. However, I could probably find out pretty quickly.

Jeff

calaisbranch wrote:At least until a few years back, there was a combined GRS/Pan Am publication called GuilfordXpress which came out quarterly. Could have been an "inside" publication. It's kind of older now, but I'm looking right at the one from April/May/June of 2003. The issues were normally 14-18 pages long with RR info first, airways second. Sometimes, these would be followed by features on rail safety/police, customer spotlights, maps, etc... Offhand, I'm not sure it's still published. However, I could probably find out pretty quickly.

Jeff

Guilford Xpress is now "Pan Am Clipper", still published quarterly.

http://www.panamrailways.com/xpress/clipper.htm

Yeah, I just talked with someone who recently left GRS/PanAm and he said he still gets it. Also says, basically nobody on the road itself calls Guilford by its new Pan Am title. Still going by the the big "G"

Jeff

A quick visit to the website shows that Clipper is still being published... http://www.panamrailways.com/xpress/clipper.htm

And, as always, they're two or three issues behind schedule.

So PAR is infusing the airline with money...No surprise there, but if they keep throwing money at it while it continues to sink will it drag PAR down the hole with it?

One of the problems with the airline is that it's not hitting the major markets it should. Pease/Hanscom/Trenton/Tweed...not the right combinations people are looking for when they fly...Trenton/Mercer County is too far away to serve the lucrative NYC market. Hanscom and Pease are in good areas,hitting the underserved North Shore of Boston, but people don't want to fly to Tweed or Trenton. What they should have done is offered service to White Plains. BWI is a good step though, Direct Pease/Hanscom-BWI flights would probably make some money.

But as I said before, WHEN the airline fails (and I don't think its a matter of if, judging from their schedule, destinations and fares), will PAR be so intwined with it that it also goes under?

Well no one can really know that for sure. The Railroad IS making money. We all know that. But It looks like they are trying to get every possible advantage they can to get the Airline back. I Mean they changed the name of the Railroad to attract business for the airline. Whats better than having 50' Rolling Billboards that cross the country?

Pan Am did offer service from HPN a number of years ago and SWF for the shortest of times, too. We used them for a single round trip from BOS for my elderly mom. It was a nightmare both coming and going. My family will walk on bloody feet before EVER using this airline again for ANY reason from any airport. There are much better options for air travel to just about any market, at least based on our experience. I personally can't imagine they will return to either HPN or SWF in the future.

Bob Ridpath

I was down that way again yesterday, and noticed that yet more of the planes on the ramp are shedding parts, engines, horizontal stabilizers, elevators...

Seems the "Big G" bizness model for running old beaten' down trains dosn't translate to their flying machines...

I was in Charlotte NC yesterday and there were two Pan Am planes sitting off between the FedEx and US Airways hangars. Didn't think I would see them down there!

SLR 393 wrote:I was in Charlotte NC yesterday and there were two Pan Am planes sitting off between the FedEx and US Airways hangars. Didn't think I would see them down there!

The seasonal non-stop jet service from Elmira to Sanford/Orlando has ended, so perhaps they're parking them there for the time being. I know they do run charters from time to time ( info. from flight tracking software). I'm surprised they don't keep them at Pease. Maybe I'm wrong but I think it's just a matter of time until the airline quietly stops flying, at least on a regular schedule.

MEC407 wrote:And, as always, they're two or three issues behind schedule.

By golly, they just posted a new issue of the Clipper on the web site:

http://www.panamrailways.com/xpress/2007Q1.pdf

There is some interesting stuff in there about the history of the original Pan American World Airways, as well as plenty of fluff about the current "Pan Am."

cpf354 wrote:

SLR 393 wrote:I was in Charlotte NC yesterday and there were two Pan Am planes sitting off between the FedEx and US Airways hangars. Didn't think I would see them down there!

The seasonal non-stop jet service from Elmira to Sanford/Orlando has ended, so perhaps they're parking them there for the time being. I know they do run charters from time to time ( info. from flight tracking software). I'm surprised they don't keep them at Pease. Maybe I'm wrong but I think it's just a matter of time until the airline quietly stops flying, at least on a regular schedule.

Just caught a CLT to CVG trip by one of the jets on Flight Explorer today (Sat. June 16), so maybe they are based in Charlotte for some purpose. That's a long way from Rotterdam Jct!

I'm surprised they stopped their seasonal flights to FL. I thought they were partially going after a niche low-cost airline business model, serving popular vacation destinations.

Flying from Bedford to Trenton isn't that bad from a business travel stand point. Bedford can be more convienent than Logan, and Trenton isn't too far from Newark International. Typically Flights from Logan - Newark during the week are premium fare tickets and can be extremely expensive. Bedford - Trenton could offer a low-cost alternative, if you have business in N. NJ or Metro Philadelphia. Remember, not all business travellers have meetings in Manhattan. I have never flown in or out of Bedford and Trenton, so I don't know what they have in the way of amenities for business travellers, so that could be a serious drawback.