Ever fly PanAm?

[outahere]

We are trying to plan a week's vacation in Orlando in mid-February and most of the flights on the major carriers are either already booked, or very expensive. We are considering flying PanAm from Portsmouth, NH to the Orlando/Sanford airport.

Does anyone have any comments or recent experience with PanAm?

Thanks........

 

[mmouse37]

Are they still flying???? I thought they went out of business awhile ago. Did they start up again? Is it a Regional Airline now?

MJ

 

[outahere]

Yes, they started up again a few years ago. Probably not what you'd call a regional airline, but they only fly to/from a few airports. You can check them out at www.flypanam.com.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

It has the old name and logo, but it's <b><i>definitely</i></b> not the same airline. This one has been quietly carving out its own market niche by serving second-tier airports ignored by the major carriers.

 

[MO64RN]

I have not flown on Pan Am but it will be my next choice to Fly when I go to Newark as they now have non stops from the Sanford Orlando Airport. I live about 10 min from the airport.

I will tell you if you fly into Sanford it is a much smaller airport than MCO and also less traffic and congestion. You will be about 40 minutes from WDW but you would have to weigh what is more important to you.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

FWIW... I have directions from the Sanford airport (SFB) to the cruise terminal at my web site.

www.dcltribute.com/directions/sfb.htm

 

[atigeg]

I have toyed with flying on the new Pan Am, since they fly out of Gary, Indiana, which is not too far from us. But the limited number of flights makes me nervous...if they ever increase their service to Orlando from Gary, I might just give them a try. I asked Happy Limo about Sanford once when I found out about Pan Am, and our driver said that there are a lot of international flights there. I was wondering if maybe it was the equivilent of how Midway Airport used to be here in Chicago...of course, now Midway has expanded quite a bit.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[ennazus]

We have flown with Pan Am twice out of Portsmouth to Sanford and I would HIGHLY reccommend it! Portsmouth & Sanford are both easy to get in & out of as well as to find your way around the little terminal.

The crew on Pan Am was very professional. I had one of the stewards ask if he could sit next to me during the take off & landings of one flight and we chatted for a bit. He was very nice and he really enjoyed working for Pan Am.

If you can think of any other questions, please feel free.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by outahere
We are considering flying PanAm from Portsmouth, NH to the Orlando/Sanford airport.

Pan Am is down to six flights per week between Portsmouth and Orlando-Sanford. Take a look at "Workers urging Pan Am to fly right" in the Portsmouth Herald.

Originally posted by atigeg
I have toyed with flying on the new Pan Am, since they fly out of Gary, Indiana, which is not too far from us.

Pan Am operated its final flight out of Gary Chicago Airport on Saturday, June 29, 2002. See "Last Pan Am flight leaves Gary."

Pan Am has also stopped service to other airports. See "Pan Am leaves bay area." The article says that Pan Am ended service to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. The article conclude with, "Pan Am also eliminated flights to Miami and Naples and cut 10 of 16 daily flights at its hub in Sanford, according to the Orlando Sentinel."

These massive cutbacks by this tiny airline don't look good.

Will Pan Am still be flying anywhere by February 2003? I hope so. I'd like to see Pan Am succeed. But, personally, I would not take the risk of buying tickets on Pan Am for so far in the future unless I could get a better idea if the airline has a future.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

The article that Werner gave a link to about PanAm leaving Gary indicated that PanAm is changing strategies... they're abandoning the stategy of using second-tier airports ignored by the majors and are moving to major airports... thus their entry into Newark. I would imagine that Portsmouth, NH would be one of the last markets they leave, though, since that's their home base.

On the other hand, another of the articles that Werner gave a link to said they were scaling back at Portsmouth as well and moving their crews from Portsmouth to Sanford.

(FYI... another airport they've dropped service to is Mid-America Airport... a <b><i>huge</i></b> federal project east of St Louis in Illinois that had failed to attract any airlines other than PanAm.)

 

[atigeg]

Aha, the mystery is solved! I had tried to check flights on their website a while back, and nothing showed up. I was going to call them but never got around to it...I didn't even realize that the flights weren't showing up because they no longer exist.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[outahere]

Thanks to everyone who replied.... I think I may take Werner's advice and not book with PanAm just yet. I did notice that they have two flights, in each direction, in Feb. but only one each way in April - bad omen? I'd hate to have the trip cancelled at the last minute. Guess I'll keep checking the other carriers for price changes - down I hope