SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome to the Pan Am Podcast, brought to you by the Pan Am Museum in Garden City, New York. This podcast and our museum are dedicated to celebrating the legacy of the world's most iconic airline, Pan American World Airways. My name is Tom Betty and I'm the host of this program. Thank you for joining us. The Pan Am Museum Foundation is a nonprofit organization. Our mission statement is to educate, celebrate, and inspire present and future generations by preserving historical and diverse personal stories of Pan American World Airways. Please visit our website for more information at the Panamuseum.org. Again, our website is the Panamuseum.org. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you are using Apple Podcasts, please consider leaving a review. It will help others discover this program. If you're not familiar with Pan Am, welcome. We are honored to have you here, and for you to learn about what we're all about. If you already know of Pan Am, worked for or flown on the airline, or just love our history, it's good to be with you again. So with that, let's get this episode in the air, so to speak. Welcome aboard your Pan American jet clipper. Later, we will be joined by author Wendy Sue Connect to discuss her book, Life, Love, and a Hijacking, My Pan Am Memoir. Wendy joined Pan Am in 1979 and was with the company until 1991 before joining Delta Airlines. But first, let's explore the iconic Pan Am Worldport in the Unit Terminal Building, also known as JFK's Terminal 3. At the end of the 1950s, to showcase its new jet fleet, Pan Am hired Ives, Toronto and Gardner Associated Architects, along with architect Walter Prokosh of Tippett's Abbott McCarthy Stratton to design and build a new jet terminal in New York at Idlewild Airport, later to be renamed JFK, after the Swain president. In 1957, the architectural team unveiled their plans and began construction. The Pan Am Terminal, also known as the Unit Terminal Building, had a giant four-acre round cadalever roof, anchored by cables and 27-foot-high windows. Before the advent of retractable jet bridges, the overhang design allowed the nose of Boeing 707 and DC-8 jets to park under the roof to protect passengers from inclement weather as they boarded into planes. The roof extended 114 feet out from the terminal through a cable system that made the top of the building look like an ensemble of small suspension bridges. Richard Whitkin described the roof in a 1957 article in the New York Times this way: quote, it will eliminate the huddled dash through bad weather by extending the roof like a huge oblong umbrella over the aircraft parking space, end quote. The design had the look of a futuristic saucer spaceship, and the size could have covered the playing field of Yankee Stadium. The $12 million structure, that's $113 million today, opened on May 24th, 1960. Passengers arriving in taxis and cars were greeted at the entrance by giant zodiac figures designed by renowned sculptor Milton Hebald. Let's take a listen to an interview of him discussing his work. This was recorded in 2013, and unfortunately, Mr. Hebald passed away in January 2015.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I'm Milton Hebold. I'm a sculptor. I'm 96 years old. I've been a sculpt for almost a lot of time in my life. And we go back in history. I was at the American Academy in Rome in 1956-57 when Walter Protosh, an architect, who designed the Air Church, came to me with a project. He wanted me to design decoration for a huge glass screen. And uh I set to work. And the idea I had to have a subject that would go of 20, 220 feet in length. And I tortured myself to design the signs of the zodiac, which all through the centuries, travelers have used the constellations which the zodiacs represented. The lion, the water carrier, the bow. All these things represented guides to marriages, to uh travelers, to judges, and it and such it became the symbol of world travel to me. I thought it would be very appropriate to that time. So I said I made plans, I made designs, submitted them, the people were very enthusiastic about it, and I set to work at the American Academy, where I had a big studio and largest and people, including the foundry, I could do all the process there in Rome. And ultimately, three years later, in 1960, the PM terminal was dedicated and my signs were short in front of it. And so far, the people coming into coming into America, I would be greeted by the science of America. People who arrive from Europe and yes, yes, arrive by ships agreed by the Statue of Liberty, is a symbol of American American travel. It is my dream to see my sculptures three years' work re-established on the world court of the Delta Airlines again in a place where they can again serve the same functions that they served before.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

After seeing Mr. Hebald's sculptures while being driven up the ramp to the terminal entrance, passengers would notice there were no doors to be seen. A unique ventilation air curtain system in the entryway kept the terminal interior warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This open air entrance was designed to make it easier for passengers to enter with luggage and then quickly check in their bags. Baggage check was immediately inside the terminal to reduce luggage carrying, and a few steps beyond baggage check was the seat assignment desk. Further inside were service desks to allow for ticket changes and future ticket purchases. Newsstands, duty free shops, and the Panorama Room restaurant was available to the public, along with Clipper Hall, a small museum featuring aircraft models, exhibits, and artifacts on the history of Pan Am. Departure gates were convenient to the public areas. Another unique feature outside was a built-in aircraft air conditioning system that carried cool air underground through 16,000 feet of piping to covered pits at each of the eight aircraft parking positions to help cool down the engines of arriving planes. Several years after opening, and with the arrival of the Boeing 747, the 1957 terminal design, with 707 jets in mind, proved to be short-sighted, as the new four-story high aircraft could not fit under the overhang. New gates needed to be built in order to accommodate the new jets. Construction began in 1967 and the expansion was completed in 1971. And to usher in a new era of travel with Pan Am's new jumbo jets, the airline renamed Terminal 3 the Pan Am Worldport. The new massive four-level addition fanned out from the existing terminal, and a pair of horseshoe-shaped elevated roadways ring the expansion to allow private cars, taxis, and buses to drop off departing passengers within a few steps with any one of the terminal's 56 check-in positions, or to pick up arriving passengers from one of four separate baggage claim areas. In addition to the concourse check-in counters, there were six curbside luggage check-in positions, as well as check-in facilities at each gate for late arriving passengers. A new computerized baggage claim system was able to handle almost 7,000 pieces of baggage during peak traffic hours. At peak efficiency, the system was programmed to start delivering baggage to carousel type claim devices within five minutes of an aircraft gate arrival and available for pickup after 15 minutes of flight arrival. The new terminal also included a 300-seat restaurant, lounges, concession stands, a heliport, and the six new gates could also be adaptable to the Concorde and American Supersonic Transport. The Worldport was the largest airline terminal in the world and held that title for several years. Not only seeing countless millions of travelers, the Worldport served as backdrop in pop culture and was featured in the 1962 film Touch of Mink with Doris Day, in the 1963 film Come Fly With Me with Dolores Hart, and the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die with Roger Moore. Pan American World Airways operated from the World Port until the airline transitioned the North Atlantic operations to Delta Airlines shortly before the airline ceased operations on December 4, 1991. Delta would operate most of its long-haul flights out of JFK in this terminal to destinations in Europe. In 2006, Delta would invest $10 million to renovate terminals 2 and 3, including all public spaces, business elite lounges, and crown room clubs. In the July 2007 issue of Delta Sky magazine, Delta Senior Vice President Joanne Smith remarked on the distinctive saucer roof in an article on new flooring, lighting, and signage at this, quote, historic airport, end quote. Ironically, three years later, on August 4, 2010, the New York Times reported that Delta was planning to move its international flights to Terminal 4 following the construction of nine additional gates in Concourse B of that terminal. Delta's domestic flight would continue to be operated out of Terminal 2. But to the surprise of many, Delta planned to demolish the former Pan Am Worldport to create additional aircraft parking between Terminals 2 and 4. After this surprise announcement, a group of historic preservationists and former Pan Amployees formed a group called Save the Worldport to raise awareness of the historical and architectural significance of the former Pan Am building. The Facebook group had over 9,000 supporters alone and attracted attention worldwide. Historic preservationists applied to have the structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior. These nominations must start and be approved at the state level before being sent to the federal government for final approval. Previously, in 2001, the New York State Historic Preservation Office revoked the building's eligibility for listing on the National Register and in May 2013 upheld that decision, claiming the building had lost significant historic integrity due to excessive modifications. However, at the same time, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the Pan Am World Port on its annual list of America's 11 most endangered buildings, saying that the building, quote, symbolizes America's entry into the jet age, end quote. Let's take a listen from a news report from WCBS in New York on May 9, 2013.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

JFK Terminal 3 is now in its final two weeks of active life. Delta Airlines is moving out and tearing it down. For some, that's just the way things are. Starship Enterprise looks like a spaceship fixing to take off. The fight is really over that circular roof. It's four acres large. They call it the flying saucer. Originally, Jets would nose right up to the gates, and passengers would be sheltered from the elements getting on and off the planes on those portable stairways. Now, preservationists say they'd at least like to save that, but the port authority seems to think it's not worth the trouble.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

This building opened on May 24, 1960. 53 years to the day that it's got closed.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

The building's been denied official landmark status because renovations have moved it too far from its original design. As a result, World Port does not have the same protection as TWA's fleek old flight center, which stands empty but preserved a short distance away. A Port Authority spokesperson told us, unfortunately, JFK is a land-constrained airport, and the space where World Port is located will be needed for other aviation uses.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

The real problem is that Delta Airlines wants the space because if the new terminal next door, they want the space to park their aircraft.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

The terminal was officially closed the next day, 53 years to the day from when it opened. As an alternative to demolition, the National Trust for Historic Preservation proposed incorporating the world port into a connecting passageway between terminals 2 and 4, but this suggestion was rendered moot by Delta's abandonment of the connector plan. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and runs John F. Kennedy International Airport, could have blocked Delta's plans, but in the end turned out to be a willing partner in the redevelopment. A Port Authority spokesman said this in June of 2013, quote, the old Pan Am Worldport terminal at JFK served this region for more than half a century, but is obsolete for 21st century aviation purposes. Unfortunately, JFK is a land-constrained airport, and the space where Worldport is located cannot be set aside for preservation because it is needed for other aviation uses that will lead to job creation and economic growth. Sadly, demolition of the flying saucer section was completed on November 22nd, 2013. The remainder of the terminal demolition was completed in the summer of 2014. The National Trust for Historic Preservation cited the Pan Am Worldport as one of 10 historic sites lost in the year 2013. Now on to our interview. After pursuing her degree at the University of Arizona, she became a flight attendant for the world's most iconic airline, Pan Am. Wendy's rich and amazing career included many humorous adventures, observations, and life lessons. Her story is a mix of hilarious, seat-gripping moments and some tragic times. A love of writing compelled her to share her story of an era like no other in aviation history. Since her career as a flight attendant, Wendy Connect has become an inventor, on-air spokeswoman, writer, and health activist. She has appeared on QVC hundreds of times as the on-air spokesperson for the line of travel bags she designed, as well as numerous other products. Wendy lives in LA with her husband, an avid travel partner, and their four-legged furry son, Milton. Her book, Life, Love, and a Hijacking, My Pan Am Memoir, is available for purchase from the Pan Am Museum store. There is a link in the episode description. Hi, Wendy.

SPEAKER_06 19:13

Hey Tom.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Welcome to the Pan Am Podcast.

SPEAKER_06 19:17

Well, thank you so much for having me on. I love the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Thanks. So I loved your book. I felt like in reading it, I felt like we were on a patio somewhere sharing a bottle of wine and you were telling me all of your stories. And I really enjoyed it. One of the parts that I really, really loved was the stories about your mom. So let's start there, especially when she, how do you say, uh overloaded your benefits?

SPEAKER_06 19:47

Well, my mom was a huge Pan Am enthusiast. She she had a lot of fun with looking back. You know, that was one of the greatest moments in time when finding her on my flight. You know, my mom, as you read in the book, she was such a character. And um she really loved to travel. And even though when I first told her I wanted to apply to Pan Am, she was like, wait, you can't uh I just finished credit, I finished college, and she's like, you can't throw your education away. You can't become a stewardess. And then when I told her, well, mom, I need my college education for Pan Am and I need a second language, and you get benefits, you get to travel for free. And then that sort of changed everything. So with that, um we just you know, that contributed to our lives so much. And um, by the time I started flying, my dad had passed away, my mom was remarried, and she wasn't in the best of marriages, so any chance we could, we took off. And anytime I could, I took her with me. And my mom was the kind of person that she would talk to anybody about anything. And I mean, we used to say, you know, some of her best friends were made from like standing in line at the post office. She was really fun to have along, and I think she would have actually made a great Pan Am flight attendant because uh she just had that sparkle for travel, and she was a Sagittarius and a gypsy. And one of the things that was so much fun was just having her along, and even when I would take her on like trips with me, what she was such a character that one time we were when Pan Am first had a our first domestic flight was across country. So I actually was working once from Miami to San Francisco, and I'm my mom, I you know, walked by her and I go, Mom, you have to put that hand carrier luggage underneath the seat in front of you. And she's like, Well, if it's not bothering me, why is it bothering you? Like, I'd be serving breakfast and she'd say, Um, do you have any like toast and jam? That's all I really feel like. Like, you know, she was she treated everything like so matter-of-factly. But anyway, the my best story about my mom was that she really had this love of gambling. And uh it was just something, you know, she just loved to be at go to Las Vegas and she'd go on the New Year's with her friends. And so one time I was working this trip that I wouldn't normally work. This was when I was at Delta, and I didn't realize, but you know, I was I was I think it was uh I traded with somebody and I was only flying from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, which of course never went a bit of Pan Am route. We had this layover in Las Vegas, and we were just like with the first flight in the morning. We were to leave uh at 6 a.m. So I'm about five o'clock, I'm in the crew bus, and my sister calls me like frantic. I can't get a hold of mom. Where is she? And I'm like, well, you know, she likes to walk early in the morning. My mom was so crazy, she would sometimes sleep in her workout stuff so she could just get up and walk. She didn't like to waste time. She wanted to be dressed for her morning walk. So I said, she's probably out walking. So then I get on the plane and I'm working in first class and I'm going around with trays of mimosas, and you know, it's a I think it was a 737, and there are about four seats in first class, four rows. And I get to the third row and I see my mom sitting up all quaffed, looking beautiful. And she just looked at me and turned bright red and started sliding down in her seat. And I yelled out, Mom! Yeah, it was just like a shock, and the whole everyone in the plane must have heard me, and all the passengers just turned around. Well, the story was this wasn't a first, I found out later. She would leave sneak out of her apartment in Santa Monica. This is after she got divorced, sleep, sneak out of her apartment, take the last flight to Las Vegas, and then she'd go with her little, you know, maybe take $100 with her, play craps all night, and somehow uh make that last. She'd have a blast, and then take the first flight home in the morning. So nobody knew she was gone. Of course, this time she was totally busted. And then um, so I really said, you know, you're taking me out to lunch, you're not getting away with this. So um, and had a little limit on our travel benefits. So I think she only had maybe 18 round trips a year. It was some insane number, but plenty to satisfy most people. But what I found was uh one day I I got this letter from the Delta Travel Bureau saying that um I owed them like something like $1,800 or something, and that my mother was abusing her travel benefits. And when they sent me the accounting of it, it was like LA, Las Vegas, LA Las Vegas, Las Vegas, LA. So apparently she'd been taking all these little trips, unbeknownst to me, and uh the Delta uh travel bureau called real early in the morning, like, hi, I'm from the Delta Travel Service, you know, with their nice southern accents. And she's like, Well, we we have an issue here with your mom. I was like, listen, my mom is, you know, 78 years old. She just retired from her job and she's discovering her travel benefits and she's having such a great time. And I'm gonna send you, I think I had a bill for like $1,800 for all her overages. I said, I'm gonna send the check right away. So I send the check with this conciliatory letter. You know, I last thing I wanted to do was mess around with my travel benefits, and it was so cute. They sent me this letter back with a check, stapled to the letter, saying, You just watch your mom, and you know, uh, we just love your story and we want to be your mom. It's so cute. It was very, very sweet. But she was really a character and the uh experiences that we had traveling, you could never replace in a million years. It just that um brought us closer, and just the memories that we made, you know, at the very end of her life. Um, I brought all the albums and we just went through everything, and it was just so wonderful, and it just almost makes me cry right now thinking about it, how grateful I am. And Pan Am made that happen really nice.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Why don't you take us back to the beginning of your Pan Am career and tell us about what interested you in becoming a flight attendant and how you became a flight attendant, and then we can go into some of your hilarious stories in your book.

SPEAKER_06 26:55

Oh well, I think growing up, I just was always in awe of flight attendants. My dad would uh go away on business trips and he would come home and say uh he would always talk about his flight and always talk about talking to the stewardesses, or I remember he talking about one of them how well groomed she was. And he just I think he just loved the whole experience of traveling and the whole ambiance. And at that time, of course, it was still so glamorous, and it was I was just in awe because he'd come back from New York with all these stories. He was a buyer for a chain of children's clothing stores, so he would go to New York often and he'd come back and tell us all these stories, and I would be just so fascinated. And we only traveled by car when I was growing up, and I just thought, how cool would that be to be able to travel? So after I graduated from college, I thought, like most of us that became flight attendants, well, we'll just do this, you know, maybe we'll fly and do it for a couple years. And Pan Am was like the creme de la creme of airlines. And I knew that I needed a college and a second language. So that sort of was sort of that was sort of the clincher to me. It wasn't just any airline. This airline you really had to be qualified for, and it had a lot more status. And I kind of shot for the stars when I went for my interview. And remember my mom was very worried because she said, Oh, you know, are you, you know, she was worried I wouldn't be tall enough, or you know, they had all these crazy requirements about weight, and I remember just starving myself before the interview, literally. But um I just it was just a a dream and a goal, and I was just so flabbergasted when I was offered the job. And I remember I was in college at the University of Arizona and I got my ticket to training, and I literally would look at that ticket every day, just so excited. Never been on a 747, never been to Hawaii where our training was gonna be. And I just it was just like uh an incredible time in my life thinking that I could be a Pan Am stewardess.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

And that was the beginning of a completely new life, correct?

SPEAKER_06 29:26

Oh my gosh, yeah. It was like I kind of had this feeling, which actually came to be. So I just knew I was just embarking on this big adventure, and that all my other friends that were graduating, they were going to like corporate jobs, and I just it was like a fantasy. It really was. I mean, I think I wrote about this in my book. I mean, even just getting fitted for that Edith Head uniform, I was just in awe. And I literally had tears in my eyes when they were fitting me. Couldn't believe I would be wearing that uniform and representing Pan Am. It was just beyond my wildest dreams, to be really honest.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

So tell us about what it's like to be a flight attendant.

SPEAKER_06 30:16

Well, being a Pan Am flight attendant was really like it was felt like you were the an ambassador. The work of the job of serving was one thing, but the way Pan Am made you feel was that you were really their representative to the world. And so you had to be very cognizant of all the traditions and all the other cultures. I would have to say that you felt like you were more like a representative more than today's flight attendants. Do you know what I mean? We and it was all so elegant. And I learned so much about good food and good wine, and we really had a um a culture of excellence, and they expected you to uphold that. And it was a very it was a very satisfying job because I think you got such excellent feedback from passengers that were also so happy to be on Pan Am and to be part of the experience.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

The one thing that struck me about your book is yes, uh working for the airline was hard work, but it was also a lot of fun. And then when you weren't on duty, you were able to go to Paris for lunch and fly over to London for dinner. Can you tell us a little bit about those stories?

SPEAKER_06 31:42

Yeah, well, I mean, that's the that's the greatest thing. You'd think that as tired was as we were traveling, you know, it is working, you know, you're working long hours and everything. But for me, the second I had any time off, I wanted to go somewhere, any appreciable time off. So that's when I'd grab my mom or even go alone. I one of my most fun trips was taking a trip to go visit a friend of mine that was in the Peace Court in Abidjan. Now, I had no idea how to reach her. I sent a wire in those days. We didn't have uh, you know, there was no texting or anything like that. I had to actually send a wire to her. She was in this obscure place in um French West Africa called uh San Pedro. And I remember just hopping on the plane and I'm sitting there and start talking to the passenger next to me. And it's this guy who was with a group of guys going to French West Africa for work. They worked for Exxon. And so there was about five of them. And the passenger says to me, He's like, Are you kidding? You're going to French West Africa alone. And I'm like, Yeah, I'm gonna go see my friend who's just uh you know on the map, it looked like it was a 20-minute flight to San Pedro. I wasn't quite sure if she had gotten my telex, but it was one of those things where like I was definitely too dumb to know better. And he was just, oh my gosh, you can't do this. So he was so kind. We landed and he basically got his office to check out all the flights. It was one of those things where I thought, oh, it's like a you know, 20-minute flight or a two-hour drive. And anyway, it turned out it would have been impossible to get there because of the way the roads were. So they arranged flights for me. I think they doubled up and the intercontinental and gave me my own room, and they just took me under their wing and ended up having so much fun. You know, uh they would work during the day and I would um go to dinners with them or go to the beach during the day. Because what I didn't know when I got there was the flight that goes to San Pedro only went twice a week. So I didn't have a choice. I had to wait. And uh I think that was like an adventure that I never could have planned, but also very fortunate that they were sort of, well, they were definitely watching out for me and made sure I got there safely. They made sure I contacted my uh friend, and it's kind of a joke. Uh the conditions that she was living in were not quite the wonderful conditions from the uh intercontinental and the wining and dining treatment I was getting in Abidjan. So I think I stayed with Terry about two days and went back. I didn't wait for the, you know, I waited for the next flight, didn't wait for the one that was a week later. It was kind of funny. But it was just we it was kind of one of those things where I did feel like I had a little guardian angel.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

One of the themes that that I get from your book and talking to you and and other Panium flight attendants I've had the privilege of talking to is there's like this personality that will make the best out of whatever situation or where whatever location we end up in. And I I I hear that and sense it over and over again. Did you want to kind of comment on that?

SPEAKER_06 35:25

One of the qualities that you'll find in all Pan Am flight attendants is that we're very flexible. You know, we you learn that anything can happen anytime and you have to roll with the punches. So I think that's um maybe it's I don't know if it's a personality trait that you develop or that you already have, or that you're not going to be happy in that job unless you are able to do that. But that is one thing that uh I can really vouch for everyone I know that I flew with and my friends still from Pan Am. We're sort of like up for the adventure. You always have a direction when you're flying, but you just never know that direction could change, and you have to be able to react on a dime. And and and I think we just go with it. And so we make we do make the best of options because that's just I think part of our part of our personalities.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

You've met some very interesting people over the years uh working for Pan Am. Saw some very interesting places. Any memories that really stand out to you that you wanted to share with our listeners?

SPEAKER_06 36:38

Uh well, I've met so many interesting people. Uh, one of my most interesting experiences was uh one of my flights I and that I also wrote about of the Secret Service. That was fascinating. We were all my crew was to deadhead, which means you know, you just go as a passenger from uh New York to Los Angeles. And I was the most junior on the flight, so I was asked to work. And then I got home, and about two days later, I get a call from my supervisor that there was uh was found in the transit lounge a note threatening President Reagan's life. And that they wanted a Secret Service man uh to come out and visit me. So that was kind of funny. I was so excited about this. I thought this is like something like from a spy novel. Uh, he came out and I was so excited, I thought this is gonna be like a romance, the romance story of my life. You know, I met I meet this Secret Service guy, but he he drives up in like a station wagon and he's sort of an you know older sort of dad type at the time I was like 23 or so. And what was uh so interesting though, he starts showing me these seating charts and telling me that they've been codenamed the cat. And that he said, it's my um, if I can find this guy, I'm gonna get a huge promotion. And he was just fascinating learning about, told me how they find their suspects and they they take pictures at all these rallies, and if someone's name someone comes up uh multiple times, they're start to um kind of follow them. But anyway, I was of no help, and the day ended up to be, you know, pretty much a dead day. I wasn't of help to him, but it was a fascinating experience, and um I couldn't place this guy in all the seating charts he gave me. I had no idea, but it was fascinating, and I think he was one of the most fascinating people I met. But can I tell you one funny story?

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Sure, please do.

SPEAKER_06 38:50

I had uh Phyllis Diller on a flight, and I always liked her because she became a huge success in her 40s. She didn't start her comedy till late in life, and she was there sitting in first class, and I just had to say, Oh, I just have to tell you that I just adore you and you look so good. And I just can't believe, you know, like she I think she was probably, I don't know, probably in her 70s then. And then and I said, You look fabulous. How how do you do it? And she looked at me and she patted her face and she just looked up at me. She goes, How do you like it? The paint's not dry yet, referring obviously to her recent facial work, but it was pretty cute. Yeah, I just love that. I got to um help Tom Hanks take his uh boots off once. Um, Billy Crystal, I met him. I mean, all we met so many fun people. Movie stars felt so at home at Pan Am. They were really themselves. We didn't normally make a big fuss. We just treated them just you and know with the same dignity we treated everybody else with.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

We're gonna take a quick break with one of the last Pan Am commercials from 1990.

SPEAKER_04 40:09

We'd like to introduce you to an airline. It flies to more cities around the world than any other U.S. airline. Its pilots are so well trained they train pilots from other airlines. Its transatlantic fleet is among the youngest in the air, and its frequent traveler program is the richest in the world. We're flying better than ever.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Welcome back to our interview with Wendy Sue Connect. One of the other themes that I hear all the time with these Pan Am stories is that flight attendants are a retail force of reckoning. Can you tell us a little bit about the shopping habits of Pan Am flight crews?

SPEAKER_06 40:59

Well, I think they are legendary. We can sniff a bargain. Um, and I think we are fortunate in that a lot of retailers know that, you know, word of mouth, if you give us a good deal, we're gonna tell our friends. And so, for instance, like in Hong Kong, I'm sure you've heard stories about the Pan Am Pearls. We had a little place we used to go up, it was a uh kind of a secret little shop up the street, up some stairs, and there was a vendor there that we would buy these incredible pearls that we called the Pan and Pearls. And today I think um, I mean, I think they're still legendary and probably that place still exists. I wouldn't be surprised if you could still go buy a string of beautiful $25 pearls.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

I think we we sell them at our museum gift shop on our website.

SPEAKER_06 41:53

Oh, fabulous! I hope they're going for more than $25.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_06 42:00

Um they're making a good markup on those.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

We do sell them so our listeners could, if you're looking for a present, uh you can go to the Panium Museum uh gift store and purchase some pearls.

SPEAKER_06 42:14

I have to laugh. One of the one of my biggest compliments was when I was living in India and um I was bargaining. You know, it's like it's expected that you're gonna bargain for anything at a stall. And uh I remember I don't know what I was buying, but the vendor said to me, Goes, madam, goes, you are not tourist, are you? Because I was doing such a good job bargaining. I think when I wore him down, he realized, oh, I'm not your average tourist.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Well, I've heard that retailers like in Milan and Hong Kong and London, they knew the Pantium uh flight attendants and and they had you guys marked and they understood that hey, if I get really good sales from these ladies, then they're going to tell their colleagues and my business is just gonna expand and expand. Is that true?

SPEAKER_06 43:12

Absolutely. Oh yeah. They to the extent that they would bring their goods to our hotel rooms because you they knew we weren't joking, we were we were real buyers. And once they got a reputation, they yeah, they they were golden, exactly. I missed out on some of those amazing bargains in Beirut, and people used to go gold shopping. But I remember um being in Taiwan and we had like our own private showing of watches and beautiful scarves. And one time I tell my mom, I said, you know, we're gonna go to Seoul Korea and just bring like two outfits and keep a lot of room in your suitcase because we're gonna. Buy up everything. I mean, we had a lot of great connections there. They got so used to us shopping in Seoul that there was a vendor that you could buy those bags that just expanded like into like a big giant body bag. And if you were Panama, they would monogram it for free.

SPEAKER_05 44:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 44:21

So you know, because we we would always come home with more than we left with. There was just no way. Even when I told my mom, just leave room in your suitcase. We ended up buying at least one or two of those giant bags because the bargains were so great that we just started like after we were done shopping for ourselves, we just started shopping for everybody else we knew. Because how could you pass up, like, you know, eelskin purses? I had I had the collection of eelskin purses that I probably could have opened a store. But all those vendors, they really did cater to Pan Am flight attendants because they knew we were we were not only shopping for ourselves, we were shopping for everyone else. And then when new crew would come, yeah, they would follow suit. And once somebody got a good reputation, that was that was it. The rest is history. We were loyal shoppers. I remember one flight attendant told me when I my one of my first layovers in Hong Kong, she said, don't just buy clothes. She said, make sure you buy things that you'll have and keep. And I remember I I have on that trip, I bought a little coisoné, beautiful little box that to this day is still on my bathroom counter. Because she's right. It's not just, you know, clothes come and go, but something that has some meaning that you can use is always good to always good to remember.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

One of the more moving stories in your book is the story about your father and your relationship with your father who died before you became a Pan Am flight attendant. And there's a story in your book that I was wondering if you can tell us about when you had a passenger on a plane and the connection that you had with your dad.

SPEAKER_06 46:16

So I always just idolized my dad. And uh sadly, he died when I was 17 on my 17th birthday. And to the day he died, honestly, I never even had an argument with him. And it always sort of um, I always sort of thought, gosh, too bad I couldn't share these benefits with my dad. And one day I was on a flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong. And as what happens in the middle of the night, sometimes, you know, the flight wasn't full. I was just talking to a passenger and he told me he was in the rag train, meaning he was in the uh manufacturing business, and he told me he manufactured children's clothing. Oh, I told him, I said, you know, my dad was in that business, said I know a lot about it. And he said, Well, what was your dad's name? And I said, Oh, you know, my dad died 10 years ago. I don't think you know him. And he said, Well, uh, you know, I told him Sam Connect, and he was just flabbergasted. He's like, Oh my god, I I knew your dad so well. He was like my mentor. And he said, uh, you know, come sit down when you can. So I sat down with him, and he just started telling me stories about my dad. And when I told him, oh, you know, I my biggest regret is my dad would have just loved traveling like this, and I could have brought him to China. He's like, Oh, yeah, he goes, your dad would have loved Hong Kong. He would have been, you know, he would have been in every bathhouse here. So it was so sweet. I just kind of, you know, my dad was a real fun loving guy, so he was probably right. But um what was so cute, he said, because our flight was going on to uh Singapore, he said, when you come back to Hong Kong, I want to take you to dinner. And we did. We had dinner at the beautiful restaurant overlooking Hong Kong Harbor. And um, I remember he asked me, would I like to come to work for him? He said, I know, you know, that's not your business, but if you're a connect, I know you'll be good at the job. And he was gonna train me to to become a buyer, and you know, I took his business card and I thought, ooh, all of it was such a tempting uh offer. And then, you know, I honestly I couldn't do it, but I did want to keep in touch with him, and somehow, I don't know how Tom somehow I lost his business card, which is to this day kills me. I always often wonder what happened to him, but and I, you know, that's that's another road I could have taken, but in the end, nothing would have pulled me away from my job at Pan Am.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

What's what's interesting to me about your book and your stories, and and you just mentioned it, that it wasn't meant to be. There are there are lots of different points in your career at Pan Am being a flight attendant, where you had choices that were life-altering. Anything you want to share with us?

SPEAKER_06 49:33

Well, I always thought when I got my job at Pan Am that, oh well, I'm I'll just do this a couple of years and then I'll go to business school. And I think I think a lot of us thought that, well, you know, I think we didn't realize once we started that job what a phenomenal job it was. And having been single, I had the chance to got to explore some of my entrepreneurial instincts. And I thought, well, you know, I could justify flying if I was doing something else. So I started a little business bringing these little dolls in from Guatemala, and I repackaged them into this little product called We Worry Watchers, and I sold them to stores. So I this was about probably about eight years into my career, and I thought, okay, um, it's my time, I'm gonna apply to business school. So I applied to this school called uh American Graduate School of International Business based in uh Phoenix, and it also had another name, some people might know it is Thunderbird. So I ended up getting accepted to that school, and I was just really torn. Like, do I do I really want to leave Pan Am? It was just such a struggle because it was just so much a part of my life. And in the end, I thought, well, I'll just keep doing this little business and I don't really need to go to business school. So I turned it down because I figured, you know, what I had at Pan Am I couldn't replace. And I was getting, I was, you know, you get such a great on-the-job education. And because of the way our job was, you did have a lot of time off to pursue these other things. So I just thought, well, I have the best of both worlds. I'm I couldn't quit. I just couldn't quit, Tom. That's great. I guess that's what it amounts to. It was really hard. Hard job to quit.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

Tell us a little bit about your special assignment in India.

SPEAKER_06 51:38

Oh, well, I was very, very lucky to um get this special assignment. For a long time, I did all these little assignments at the base in Los Angeles. So I would, if they had if they offered these special assignments, I would volunteer for them. And some of them were just like speaking to travel agents or representing Pan Am at conventions. And then for a while I worked at the office and I worked on the sick desk where people have to call up and sick. So that was a lot of fun. But I think they wanted to get me off that job because I think a lot of the flight attendants were getting away pretty easy when I was on the sick desk. So they offered me this position to go to India when Pan Am was actually, I think this was a big cost-saving measure, and they had to okay it with our union.

SPEAKER_00 52:33

But Wendy is too lenient on the sick days. We're sending her to India.

SPEAKER_06 52:38

Exactly. We need to get her out of here. So uh we had ended up with this assignment where basically we were hiring these four nationals, and uh it was a big it was a big to-do at the time because the union was like unsh, you know, they were sort of felt like overtaking American jobs, and they had a controversy about that. But then they decided, well, let's send our flight attendants over to train them because we want to uphold the standard. So I was able to go and do that. And honestly, of all my experiences at Pan Am, that changed my life the most because well, just the whole culture cultural experience for one thing. But then getting to know the flight attendants intimately, you know, and becoming they they like were so welcoming and become you you almost felt like you were part of their family. So many of them would invite us to to dinner at their homes, and we just got to know them on such a nice level, and that's how I got to know Nirjo Banat, who was so tragically killed in the hijacking of Flight 73. But that whole experience is uh from the hijacking, even though it was the most traumatic experience of my life, it was also being it was I was felt like I was part of something very meaningful. That um at the time, you know, we I had I kind of even knew I started to write a diary then. I knew what was happening was just such a monumental, how do I put it? It was just beyond my wildest imagination of you know, uh an experience that was going to be life-changing.

SPEAKER_00 54:43

And we are working on a flight 73 episode, and uh we will have Wendy on that program to cover the hijacking incident in more detail. So getting back to Pan Am. Yeah, um, what is it about Pan Am that still resonates today? And what does Pan Am mean to you?

SPEAKER_06 55:09

Well, to me, Pan Am is an identity, and it's something I'm so proud of. And I think that will never change. That Pan Am has um it was such a big part of my life that I didn't expect was ever gonna happen. And I think you've seen this with all the other guests you've had on your show. We're family, you can go anywhere in the world, and if there's another Pan Am person, no matter what capacity they worked for Pan Am in, you're just brethren. And it's that kind of experience that I don't most people, unless you're part of it, can really understand. And I'm I can't I can't emphasize enough how grateful I am for that because I realize that it's unusual and it's you know it's out of the ordinary, but it's something that's sort of an inexplicable bond. And now, you know, as we're all kind of getting older, it doesn't matter if you worked like I I have some great friends from Pan Am that I wasn't even born when they started working. You just have that bond because you have had that same common experience. And I think it's also um sort of a mentality, you know, or or a maybe it's I think maybe it's just a whole gratitude thing where we're grateful for so that makes us grateful for one another. So we've had that experience.

SPEAKER_00 56:44

Any message you have for our listeners?

SPEAKER_06 56:48

You just prompted something for me too, because at the end of my mom's life, I brought pictures, like because she was, you know, in a nursing home for like the last few months, and I brought all our albums from our travels. And that's one thing I would like to say to people is that when you travel with, you know, people that are precious to you, those are memories that are gonna always be so special and that you'll never regret creating those kind of memories through travel is so important, and that we should all remember to continue to do so and what you can learn from travel. I I I do um I do this talk, which I'm gonna do again. I haven't done it from my book, and it's about it's about the book, but it's also about how travel's changed and why we still need to travel. And it's kind of all about that, like the importance of what you can learn from traveling. And I really appreciate you having me on, especially the opportunity to talk about travel, which is still so close to my heart. And I think that we're all so lucky to have this opportunity to travel and need to make those memories with my mom and my brother and my sister, and just to this day, my my brother and sister, we still have the travel bug. And I think we appreciate not just the, I mean, just what traveling means to education. It's so important for to be stay open-minded and the learning experience. I just think we're very lucky and I'm very grateful to Pan Am for letting that sort of uh giving me the opportunity to let that love blossom.

SPEAKER_00 58:32

Well, it's been a pleasure having you on the show, and uh, we will have you in the very near future with the Flight 73 episode.

SPEAKER_06 58:40

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

Uh, because you have a very interesting story to tell with that as well. So thanks again.

SPEAKER_06 58:48

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 58:49

Talk to you soon. Take care. Pan Am was a pioneer in air travel and still stands as one of the most iconic and innovative airlines in aviation history. That legacy lives on at the Pan Am Museum in Garden City, New York, where you can explore the rich history of the aircrafts and individuals at the heart of the company known as the world's most experienced airline. For more information about the Pan Am Museum, check out our website at www.thepanammuseum.org. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As was once a tagline in one of our commercials, we would greatly appreciate your support to help the Pan Am Museum continue making the going great. You can also support the museum by shopping on our online store for all things Pan Am accessories, apparel, jewelry, books, models, and posters. We want to hear from you. If you have a question for us or want to share your story, our email address is podcast at the Pan Ammuseum.org. And with that, we're gonna close out this episode with a Pan Am song from 1975 called Welcome to Our World. As flight crews once said to passengers departing for their destinations around the world, thank you for flying, Pan Am.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:22

Open up your eyes, don't go out.