Juan Trippe was one of the pioneers of modern air travel. His company—Pan American Airways—was one of the first to offer cheap air travel round the world. Trippe was born in New Jersey in1889. After graduating from Yale in 1921, he worked first on Wall Street, and then as a flying taxi pilot. From 1924 to 1926 he worked for Colonial Air Transport, and set up Pan American Airways the following year.
At first, Pan Am offered flights across the Caribbean and South America. This was so successful that Trippe started to offer flights to Asia eight years later. In the late 1930s, he made the first flights to cross the Atlantic (大西洋). Immediately after the Second World War, Trippe decided to offer cheap flights to cross the Atlantic. Other airlinesobjected—they wanted to keep prices high, and earn the most profits. For several years, many airports in Europe weren't willing to accept Pan Am flights. The other airlines only finally agreed to offer economy flights in 1952.
Trippe started on his next project the same year—the development of the jet engine. This would make it possible for planes to fly over 8,000 kilometers at much higher speeds (more than 400 kilometers 1 hour). He paid Boeing 8. 5 billion dollars to build passenger jet planes for Pan Am. The first Pan Am-a Boeing 707—flew from New York to Paris in 1958.
In the 1960s, Trippe paid Boeing to build an even bigger jet, which could carry more passengers. This was the 747, nicknamed the Jumbo jet. Unfortunately, Trippe ordered too many 747s and put Pan Am into financial (经济的) difficulties. In 1968 he resigned from the company. Thirteen years later he died.
