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Crisis
Russell L Ray Jr is well remembered as the
last president and CEO of Pan American World
Airways (Pan Am), but his formidable résumé
points to a great depth of experience in
aerospace and commercial aviation.
Following his service in the United States Air
Force as a pilot in Strategic Air Command, he
joined Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in 1960 as
Director of Commercial Sales for the US, Canada
and Mexico. Eleven years later he joined
Eastern Airlines where he became senior vice
president of marketing and served on the board
of directors.
In 1985, he left Eastern to become president of
San Diego, California-based Pacific Southwest
Airlines (PSA) where he was also a director on
its board. Following the merger of PSA into
USAir in 1988, he joined aerospace and com-
mercial aviation giant McDonnell Douglas as
vice president and general manager of
commercial marketing. Four years later Ray was
recruited as president and CEO of Pan American
World Airways at the request of creditors and
investors, including Delta Air Lines. Following
his tenure at Pan Am, he became CEO of World
Airways, where he steered that carrier to
profitability before recruiting Hollis Harris as
CEO. Ray was then elected as executive vice
president of British Aerospace Inc.
A graduate of Occidental College and the
University of Southern California Management
Policy Institute, he is a recipient of an
honorary Doctor of Law degree from
Pepperdine University.
honour of being asked to save Pan Am.
I had an excellent job at McDonnell
Douglas and we were successfully selling
aeroplanes, but I went to New York and
talked to the creditors, and they offered
me the job. I accepted the position
believing that there was a 50-50 chance
that we could get a reorganisation plan
in front of the judge by December 1991. I
was helped by two people, Rolf Andresen
who was the Chief Financial Officer – I
brought him across from Eastern – and
John Ruzich who was our marketing
guy. Both were terrific people, and I had
confidence we could produce a plan that
would sell to the judge. I was enamoured
of the idea that it was my responsibility to
really do something that was tantamount
to saving a piece of history.
AW: What were your impressions of the
company upon your arrival in New York,
and how did you begin to tackle the
challenges facing Pan Am?
RR: The first thought that came to mind
was that employee morale was very low
due to several reasons. The company
had already sold off its Pacific routes to
United Airlines, and Delta which would
have been a 45% shareholder in a
surviving Pan Am was picking off our
best employees. My second impression
was one of fear, that travel agents and
the public were not choosing to book with
Pan Am.
My priority on taking over was to hire
a senior financial person from outside
the airline who had a lot of familiarity
with Latin America, South America, and
the Caribbean. I hired Rolf Andresen
who was bilingual and understood the
nuances of Spanish-speaking countries.
We formed a core group and hired a new
advertising agency, then tried to put a
smile back on the face of Pan Am. We
started working on the reorganisation
plan – with some help from Delta which
was co-operating well with us in the
Russell Ray Jr was
hired by Delta Air Lines
and Pan Am's Creditors
Committee to rescue
the pioneering airline
whose logo is second
only to Coca-Cola in
worldwide recognition.
JOHN WEGG VIA AUTHOR
In 1976 Pan Am drove
the development of the
Boeing 747SP (Special
Performance) for ultra-
long flights. A total
of 45 were eventually
built, ten of which were
acquired by Pan Am.
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/
DIRK GROTHE