NEW YORK -- Pan Am, which started service just over a year ago,
is shifting its short-term goals in the wake of its acquisition of
Carnival Air Lines.
The carrier's original game plan called for a fleet of Airbuses
that would transport passengers arriving at New York on small and
midsize European airlines to other major U.S. cities, including
Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
But Pan Am now is "phasing down" its Airbus fleet in favor of
the 727s and 737s it acquired along with Carnival Air. It also has
dropped out of the New York-Los Angeles market, where it met a
formidable challenge from American Airlines, and it has shelved
plans for a New York-San Francisco route.
Instead, it is focusing on north-south routes, as did Carnival,
carrying passengers in the Northeast to Florida, Puerto Rico, the
Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Without its transcon routes,
alliances with European carriers are less viable, and Pan Am
appears to be focusing on building relationships in Latin
America.
Donal McSullivan, senior vice president of sales, said Pan Am
has 79 interline agreements ranging from basic through-baggage
pacts to code-sharing deals and plans to seek at least 20 more. Its
latest deal is with Saeta, an Ecuadoran line, that calls for Pan
Am's Miami-New York flights to carry the EH code. It also has a
code-sharing deal with AeroPeru.
All in all, the new Pan Am seems to be taking on the flavor of
Eastern Airlines rather than that of its namesake. On Dec. 16, it
will add Boston to its system with five daily flights to New York
(Kennedy), a market served largely by regional lines, with onward
service to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, Fla., and San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
McSullivan said the carrier was eying expansion in the
Caribbean, another American Airlines stronghold. He noted that last
February's minutes-long strike by American's pilots, which would
have devastated the islands had it lasted longer, was a "wake-up
call" for tourist boards in the region.
Those agencies were supportive of Pan Am's aspirations in the
Caribbean, he said. Meanwhile, Carnival's flights ceased to carry
the KW code on Nov. 16.