<Tr> <Th> Headquarters </Th> <Td> New York City Miami, Florida </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Key people </Th> <Td> Juan T. Trippe (CEO 1927--1968) Harold E. Gray (CEO 1968--1969) Najeeb E. Halaby Jr (CEO 1969--1971) William T. Seawell (CEO 1971--1981) C. Edward Acker (CEO 1981--1988) Thomas G. Plaskett (CEO 1988--1991) Russell L. Ray, Jr . (CEO 1991) </Td> </Tr> <P> Pan American World Airways, known from its founding until 1950 as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991 . Founded in 1927 as a scheduled air mail and passenger service operating between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba, the airline became a major company credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry, including the widespread use of jet aircraft, jumbo jets, and computerized reservation systems . It was also a founding member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global airline industry association . Identified by its blue globe logo ("The Blue Meatball"), the use of the word "Clipper" in aircraft names and call signs, and the white pilot uniform caps, the airline was a cultural icon of the 20th century . In an era dominated by flag carriers that were wholly or majority government - owned, it was also the unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States . During most of the jet era, Pan Am's flagship terminal was the Worldport located at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City . </P> <P> Pan American Airways, Incorporated (PAA) was founded as a shell company on March 14, 1927 by Air Corps Majors Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, Carl A. Spaatz, and John H. Jouett as a counterbalance to the German - owned Colombian carrier SCADTA, operating in Colombia since 1920 . SCADTA lobbied hard for landing rights in the Panama Canal Zone, ostensibly to survey air routes for a connection to the United States, which the Air Corps viewed as a precursor to a possible German aerial threat to the canal . Arnold and Spaatz drew up the prospectus for Pan American when SCADTA hired a company in Delaware to obtain air mail contracts from the U.S. government . Pan American was able to obtain the U.S. mail delivery contract to Cuba, but lacked any aircraft to perform the job and did not have landing rights in Cuba . </P>

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