Juan Trippe 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 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 . Because of his Spanish first name , people often assume that Trippe was of Cuban descent , but his family was actually Northern European in ancestry and settled in Maryland in 1664 . He was , in fact , named after Juanita Terry , the Venezuelan wife of his great uncle . Trippe graduated from The Hill School in 1917 . Attending Yale University as America entered World War I , he left Yale and , along with some of his Yale classmates , applied for flight training with the U . S . Navy . After completing training in June 1918 , he was designated as a Naval Aviator and was commissioned as an Ensign in the U . S . Naval Reserve . However , the end of World War I precluded him from flying in combat . Demobilized from active duty , he returned to Yale University , graduating in 1921 . While at Yale , he was a member of St . Anthony Hall and of the Skull and Bones society . Trippe was treasurer at the first - ever meet of the National Intercollegiate Flying Association in 1920 . After graduation from Yale , Trippe began working on Wall Street , but soon became bored . In 1922 he raised money from his old Yale classmates , selling them stock in his new airline , which he called Long Island Airways , an air - taxi service for the rich and powerful . Once again tapping his wealthy friends from Yale , Trippe invested in an airline named Colonial Air Transport , which was awarded a new route and an airmail contract on October 7 , 1925 . Interested in operating to the Caribbean , Trippe created the Aviation Corporation of the Americas . Based in Florida , the company would evolve into the unofficial US flag carrier , Pan American Airways , commonly known as Pan Am . Years at Pan Am . 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 October 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 boat s . 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 . For a long time Trippe refused to pardon Whitney . At one point , he even agreed to meet Whitney for lunch for a reconciliation but changed his mind and turned around shortly after departing from his office in the Chrysler Building . Pan Am continued to expand worldwide throughout World War II . 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 . Death . Trippe died on April 3 , 1981 , in New York , New York , and is buried in Green - Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn , New York . Legacy . In 1985 , he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by United States President Ronald Reagan . Mr . Trippe was inducted into the Junior Achievement U . S . Business Hall of Fame in 1990 . At Yale University in the School of Management there is a professorship entitled the " Juan Trippe Professor in the Practice of International Trade , Finance , and Business " Personal life . Trippe was a member of the The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland and president of the Maidstone Club in East Hampton , New York , from 1940 to 1944 . His wife , Elizabeth " Betty " Stettinius Trippe ( 1904 – 1983 ) was the sister of United States Secretary of State Edward R . Stettinius , Jr . They had four children , Elizabeth ( " Betsy " ) , John Terry , Charles White , and Edward Stettinius Trippe , who now resides in Tucker ' s Town , Bermuda , where he is executive director of the Tucker ' s Point Club and serves on Bermuda International Airport ' s advisory board . In popular culture . He was portrayed by Pat O ' Brien in 1936 ' s " The China Clipper " . He was portrayed by Alec Baldwin in Martin Scorsese ' s 2004 film , " The Aviator " .