Pan American-Grace Airways

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Pan American-Grace Airways, better known as Panagra, was an U.S.airline formed as a joint venture between Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company.

[edit] History

Panagra operated flights from the United States to the Andean countries of South America, connecting as far south as Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile. The airline was founded in 1929 based in Lima, Peru, (50% stock from Pan American Airways and 50% from W.R.Grace and Co.) to compete with SCADTA, a German-owned company, and held a quasi-monopoly over air travel in the west coast of South America during the 1940s and 1950s. The deal was that Pan American World Airways (PAA or PANAM) would operate its flights from the US to the East Coast of South America (Venezuela, Brasil, Argentina), while Pan American Grace Airways (PANAGRA) would operate on the West Coast (Colombia,Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, to end the route in Buenos Aires). After 36 years of successful operations in 1965, PANAM president Juan Trippe decided it was time to disengage from the "marriage" and finally sold its 50% of Panagra to Braniff International. Panagra merged with Braniff International Airways and took Braniff name in May 1967. Braniff operated successfully all the Panagra routes to South America with the new DC-8-62s, until 1982, when Braniff went into bankruptcy. Eastern Air Lines purchased Braniff South American routes and continued the operations with its own pilots but kept all the ground personnel and cabin crew bases Braniff had in its stations. When Eastern also filed for bankruptcy, beginning in 1990, these routes were purchased and operated by American Airlines until today. Some cabin crew members from the old Lima and Buenos Aires PANAGRA bases (just a handful cabin supervisors) are still flying these routes. PANAGRA was chosen many times as the best airline in South America. Its DC-8-31 (the first jets they operated) beginning 1958 and 60s had "upper berths" in First Class cabin) making them the forefathers of the "Premium First Class of today.

Grace Shipping was a subsidiary of W. R. Grace and Company. W.R.Grace had a 50% share of Pan American-Grace Airways, which also is known as Panagra through Grace Shipping.