My Dad was a Pan Am pilot from 1964 when he left the Air Force, until they were bought by Delta, and then he retired from Delta. He loved Pan Am; its demise was very upsetting to him, and even today he doesn't like to talk about it. I asked two weeks ago. He was based in JFK, and I remember that flying saucer building. It was cool and spacey.
One of the nicest flights I've ever been on was a JFK-Paris flight, and we were moved to first class (if there was room, seating was discretionary by the head flight attendant, and they usually moved crew members' families to good seats). Pan Am first class involved champagne and caviar, and they even carved meat at your seat. My sister and I were underaged, but the flight attendant urged us to try the champagne and caviar. Dad has many stories about famous people he has flown, and interesting cargo, like circus elephants and race horses, and the unmarked 747 that flew Israeli fruit weekly into Saudi Arabia.
I was in high school on December 21, 1988, when a teacher came into my classroom and asked me where my Dad was. Pam Am 103 blew up. My Dad was home, but that was a common route. He said that Pan Am 103 was the beginning of the end.
Those Pan Am bags in the tv show, we had alot of those floating around the house. I used a Pan Am bag for a school bag. My Dad still has Pan Am stuff around.
Regarding pilot ages, in 1964 when he was hired, my Dad was 28.
I forgot to mention the dress codes. They were pretty strict, especially for non-revs. We had to dress up, including panty hose for women and no open-toed shoes. I hate panty hose, so one time I wore an ankle-length skirt. You could maybe see one inch of skin on my ankles. The gate person came up to me and said I really should be wearing panty hose.
I also remember the smoking sections! Us non-revs were usually put in the smoking section.
