The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 1 (archived PDF)

A I R T R A N S P O R T A N D F E R R Y I N G
agreements reached. Pan American Air Ferries, Inc., was set up to
operate the ferrying service all the way from Miami to Khartoum
in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. T h e Pan American Airways Co. came
into being to establish a flying boat transport service from the United
States to West Africa. Pan American Airways-Africa, Ltd., was
organized to take over the existing British trans-African transport
service.4sOn I 2 August 1941five contracts were signed by represen-
tatives of Pan American and its subsidiaries, the United States govern-
ment, and the British government. Three of the contracts, those
between the United States and units of the Pan American organiza-
tion, provided for the ferrying and transport services.44The British
signed agreements with Pan American Airways-Africa and Pan
American Air Ferries, by which full operational rights were assured
along the trans-Africa route.45
In considering the Pan American agreements, it should be borne
in mind t h a t the United States and Britain were interested primarily
in the ferrying service. T h e transport services were of secondary
importance and existed primarily for support of the ferrying opera-
tion. Thus, when the President announced publicly on 1 8 August
1941 that the agreements with Pan American had been concluded,
stress was placed on the importance of speeding delivery of aircraft
to the British. The transport services, the President stated, were to
“supplement the ferry system by returning ferry personnel and carry-
ing spare plane parts and items essential to effective delivery of air-
craft to the Middle East.” 4 G Not until after the United States entered
the war, and acquired thereby heavy military commitments of its
own that went far beyond the prewar lend-lease obligations, did the
South Atlantic transport service assume outstanding importance as
a support to combat operations. At its inception, it was considered
merely an adjunct to ferrying.
Before Pan American Air Ferries (PAAF) could begin operations
on an extensive scale, a greatly enlarged organization had to be
developed from the limited personnel and meager facilities inherited
from Atlantic Airways. For the first four or five months, the efforts
of the company were expended principally in setting up a training
program at Miami. Some former commercial and airline pilots were
recruited, but for the most part the trainees were recent graduates
of the civilian pilot training program, who had at best several hundred
hours of flying time. Because of the shortage or nonexistence of air-
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