Juan Terry Trippe (1899-1981) circa 1918

Trippe, Time, 1933

Juan Trippe surveying his office globe.

Juan Terry Trippe (June 27, 1899 – April 3, 1981) was an American airline entrepreneur and pioneer, and the founder of Pan American World Airways, one of the world's most prominent airlines of the mid-twentieth century.

Early years

Trippe was born in Sea Bright New Jersey  on June 27, 1899, the great-great-grandson of Lieutenant John Trippe, Captain of the USS Vixen.    Although it is commonly believed Trippe was Cuban in whole or part, he was actually Northern European in ancestry and his family settled in Maryland in 1664. He was named after his mother's Cuban stepfather. Trippe graduated from The Hill School in 1917, and then Yale University in 1921. While at Yale, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall and of Skull & Bones society.

After graduation from Yale, Trippe began working on Wall Street, but soon became bored. After receiving an inheritance he started working with New York Airways, an air-taxi service for the rich and powerful. Along with some wealthy friends from Yale, Trippe invested in an airline named Colonial Air Transport. Interested in operating to the Caribbean, Trippe created the Aviation Company of the Americas. Based in Florida, the company would evolve into the fledgling Pan Am, then known as Pan American Airways.

Years at Pan Am

Juan Trippe was one of the last of the colorful group of innovators, pioneers, and visionaries (including William A. Patterson, Jack Frye, Robert F. Six, C.R. Smith, and Eddie Rickenbacker) who built the airline industry into what it is today

Pan Am's first flight took off on October 19, 1927, from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, in a hired Fairchild FC-2 floatplane being delivered to West Indian Aerial Express in the Dominican Republic. The return flight from Havana to Key West, in a Pan Am Fokker F.VII, took place Oct. 29, being delayed from the 28th by rain.

Later, Trippe bought the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) to provide domestic air service in the Republic of China, and became a partner in Panagra. In the 1930s. Pan Am became the first airline to cross the Pacific Ocean with the famous Clipper flying boats.

Trippe served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the airline for all but about two years between the founding of the company and the Second World War. "Sonny" Whitney, a stockholder, managed to seize this position. He later regretted his action and allowed Trippe to retake it. Trippe failed to pardon Whitney for a long time. At one point, he even agreed to meet Whitney for lunch for a reconciliation but changed his mind and returned shortly after departing from his office in the Chrysler Building.

Pan Am continued to expand worldwide throughout World War II, being one of the few airlines that was largely unaffected by the war.

Trippe is responsible for several innovations in the airline world. A firm believer in the idea of air travel for all, Trippe is credited as the father of the tourist class in the airline industry, and was the driving force behind Pan Am's formation of the InterContinental  hotel group.

Trippe quickly recognized the opportunities presented by jet aircraft and ordered several Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 airplanes. Pan Am's first jet flight was operated in October, 1958 by a 707 out of Idlewild International Airport (now JFK) to Paris. The new jets allowed Pan Am to introduce lower fares and fly more passengers.

In 1965, Trippe asked his friend Bill Allen at Boeing to produce an airplane much larger than the 707. The result was the Boeing 747, and Pan Am was the first customer.

Originally, Trippe believed the 747 would ultimately be destined to haul cargo only and would be replaced by faster, supersonic aircraft which were then being developed. The supersonic airliners failed to materialize with the exception of the Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144 and the 747 became the iconic image of international travel. In 1965, Trippe received the Tony Jannus Award  for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation.

Trippe gave up presidency of the airline in 1968. He continued to attend meetings of the Board of Directors and maintained an office in the company's Park Avenue office building. In later years, he was portrayed by Alec Baldwin in Martin Scorsese's film, The Aviator.