The Pan Am Podcast
Experience the legacy of the world’s most iconic airline, Pan American World Airways! This award-winning history and humanities program brings Pan Am’s 64-year history to life through engaging storytelling and insightful interviews from Pan Am employees, passengers, historians, authors, fashionistas, and aviation enthusiasts! Hosted by historian Tom Betti, the program has won the following awards: Platinum 2025, Gold 2024 & 2023, Silver 2022 - Muse Creative Awards; Platinum 2025, Gold 2024, Silver 2023, Arcturus 2022 - Vega Digital Awards; Gold Award from the 2023 Hear Now Palooza of the National Audio Theater Festivals; and Arcturus 2022 Vega Digital Award (Best Host). The Pan Am Podcast is brought to you by the Pan Am Museum in Garden City, New York and is sponsored by the generous personal support of Mr. Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres and President of the Pan Am Historical Foundation. The Pan Am Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and would appreciate your consideration of tax-deductible donations to support our work.
The Pan Am Podcast
Episode 54: A Trip to Japan and Making Connections in the Air
In this episode, Host Tom Betti shares insights on his recent trip to Japan where he met Charlie, a purser with United Airlines, on his inbound flight to Tokyo and on his outbound flight from Osaka met United flight attendants Leslie and Lynn who both worked for Pan Am from 1977 to 1986 until the Pacific Division was sold to United.
Tom also shares some personal travel stories and gives many updates about this program and the Pan Am Museum!
The Pan Am Podcast was recently awarded the 2025 Platinum Muse Creative Award and the 2025 Platinum Vega Digital Award. To learn more, read Tom's interview with Muse staff about this incredible achievement:
Tom Betti on Telling the Untold Stories of Pan Am
On April 24, 2025, the Pan Am Museum, in partnership with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum, hosted an event in Garden City, NY celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Operation Babylift, the frantic evacuation, ordered by President Ford, of Vietnamese war orphans in the final days of Saigon in 1975. In addition, on May 9, 2025 the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum hosted an event in Grand Rapids, MI to celebrate the anniversary.
To mark the occasion, the three organizations produced a short documentary film by Dirk Braun that premiered at both events. You can view this film on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9pNjUZwXb4
There’s also an officially branded Pan Am coffee available from Expedition Roasters Coffee Company that was recently released. There are two kinds available: Organic Guatemalan Single Origin which is more of a medium roast and Sumatra Single-Origin from Indonesia which is more of a dark roast.
Here is the link to purchase Pan Am coffee:
https://expeditionroasters.com/collections/pan-am
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support!
