Pan Am Training Video: "Gate Close-out and Computer Training" (circa mid to late-1980s)

[@syferdet]

Today I learned what a "lozenge asterisk" is.

[@jonathankleinow2073]

This sent me down a rabbit hole to find out what it's actually called. From the Wikipedia article on "Lozenge (shape)": "A similar shape with concavely curved edges instead of straight lines and oriented such that its edges lie up, down, left and right, is defined in the Miscellaneous Technical Unicode block as a square lozenge. It is used in travel agencies, where it appears on the specialist keyboards used with booking terminals, where it has the familiar name, the pillow symbol. In the 1960s, it was used in banking and for other purposes." It looks like it was/is used in the Apollo Reservation System developed by United Airlines in 1971. Presumably Pan Am's PANAMAC system used it as well.

[@vix4x41]

@@jonathankleinow2073 omg I remember “lozenge I” was the entry to get the current pax count!

[@pilotcritic]

1:40 The original machine had a base plate of pre-famulated amulite surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two spurving bearings were in a direct line with the panametric fan. The latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzlevanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar waneshaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented.

[@ddelony1]

Two of my interests in one video: retro airlines and retro computers.

[@dpro34s]

I'm used to modern Command line interfaces, but these old Airline systems are incredibly cryptic.

[@christopherbarnard608]

basically like working in DOS

[@Hans-gb4mv]

Not much different than other transactional mainframe systems.

[@andreyv116]

Mainframe UIs are notoriously cryptic, yes

[@x_x_w_]

They're cryptic but they are a bulletproof and fast. Would you rather have a pretty GUI that breaks or something that you can pound on for hours and hours on end and get stuff done. Most experienced Delta agents screamed at corporate when they got rid of Delta term at the gate and the check in counter for a pretty GUI version that they could use to restrict people doing stuff easier. One outage of that pretty GUI (not crowdstrike) and the mainframe access was turned back on silently and remains to this day.

[@horseathalt7308]

@@x_x_w_ I think we can trace a LOT of hacking to modern GUI interfaces.

[@kendrapratt2098]

Karen Carpenter working for PanAm, I see. After watching this, I’m now qualified to work as a PanAm Gate Agent!

[@AppliedCryogenics]

My 90-yr old Dad is incredibly proud of his time working for Pan Am's Guided Missile Range Division during the early 1960's. He spent much of this time at a tracking site on the Island of Grand Turk, in the Eastern Missile Test Range.

[@horseathalt7308]

Wow tell us more, Pan Am worked as a govt contractor. I had no idea (and I'm history buff too) that they were involved in such military activity!

[@orlandoparksguy]

Greatest airline logo of all time. Eastern Airlines is up there too.

[@der.Schtefan]

Split screen terminals, how fancy

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

We ❤ PanAm.

[@li-ao]

Great software I've never seen before!

[@li-ao]

Just came back to this video. Before diving more I was thinking of the Pan Am a fictitious airways specifically designed to making this video as for illustration of the software's operation process, but with further research this was a really great and awesome airlines company. Really good to enjoy the heritages.

[@grecom_]

@@li-ao World aviation could not be understood without a company like Panam, the true driving force behind international travel. They set the path to follow.

[@crjetpilot]

I was a temp in BOS for a time back in the late 80s with NW. Our rez system looked similar (Polaris). We frequently had misconnects from our CPH flight, who were continuing on to JFK, and a couple of times, I FIMed them over to Pan Am. Well, after transferring to another terminal (far away), they returned very angry because they weren’t accepted. 😬 I dunno, I guess it was because it was Pan Am Shuttle? I made sure to put them on Eastern after that. I’m loving these old PA vids! Brings back good memories.

[@x_x_w_]

Oh I can tell you about the time that I sent somebody on United from our station to MSP/SEA via DL and then from Seattle to Boston on Alaska so they could make a business meeting in the morning. Mind you it was one of my regulars so I did the only right thing and upgraded her to first on the Seattle to Boston leg. She was the only one to make it to the meeting. Everyone else got stuck in the weather.

[@horseathalt7308]

@@x_x_w_ Wow thanks for your professionalism and service to your customers. If only things were as good today as they were when you were on duty.

[@lovedfriend2020]

I don't know if anyone could smoke in a closed, airtight tube! Things have changed so much in the world

[@grecom_]

Not all of them changed for the better, some got worse.

[@kernow9324]

In the 1980s I worked in telesales for Cathay Pacific. Customers requesting oxygen at the booking stage were not told that they would be seated in a smoking area, which is where the oxygen was located. Bizarre.

[@Canleaf08]

There was a Varig flight which crashed due to a cigarette in the lavatory. Good that it is banned.

[@1Rdby]

Nov 1994 delta banned smoking on international flights and all US airlines pretty much followed immediately.

[@straightpipediesel]

@@kernow9324 The cabin outflow valve is in the back of the plane, so lateral flow of air is from the front to the back (ideally, air should go from the ceiling to the floor, through the dado panels, to the underfloor area to the back). That's why stuff you don't want to keep around, cigarette smoke and oxygen, is in the back.

[@byron.nikolouzos]

So much information to take in!! Was I supposed to be taking notes?? So gonna fail 😭😭😭

[@christopherbarnard608]

Lozenge.. we used to call them "pillows" at Eastern

[@cxa340]

We still call them pillows today at my airline

[@127dot0dot0dot1]

"Because Pan Am is a customer driven airline" - There's your problem, you want to be a pilot driven airline, the customer doesn't know how to drive a plane.

[@Hans-gb4mv]

But I don't want to drive, I want to fly!

[@x_x_w_]

You better face the front because the passengers get nervous when you face the back.

[@josephpadula2283]

First flight PanAm JFK Airport to Kingston Jamaica at 6 yo in 1964. We got to the Airport by helicopter from Newark ! I think it was free with an international Ticket .

[@horseathalt7308]

How did that work, and do you remember the name of the flight company that used the helicopters!??!?! Wow cool!

[@EricCoop]

The wall paint at the gate. That's anti-condensation paint. It's banned now, because it is carcinogenic. And orange screens...ain't seen those in a while.

[@atomsmash100]

Was that still PANAMAC or had they cut over to SABRE at this point?

[@frankgarrett242]

Looks like SABRE. My aunt had access to this system when she owned a travel agency.

[@ultraswank]

This looks/feels more like circa 1990-1992 to me.

[@PanAmMuseum]

This bothered me as well as I guessed it was 1988 or 1989. Unfortunately , the video was not dated. I changed the title to “circa mid to late-1980s”. Thanks, Tom Betti

[@lifechooser]

I'd like to be seated next to Miss Somers. Of course, that will be $399

[@jaminova_1969]

Suzanne Somers? Hubba Hubba!

[@lilsheba1]

omg looking at these computers is just...horrifying lol

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

Why?

[@horseathalt7308]

@@WhatALoadOfTosca I like it. Simple, to the point, and only the information you really needed. Today GUI based software is annoying with too many stylistic aspects simply because they can.

[@jonathandpg6115]

@@horseathalt7308yeah no this sounds like a joke. There are lots of software that are more business approach and don't have styles for no reason and can make the information much easier to see and dissect.

[@horseathalt7308]

@@jonathandpg6115 I used these types of systems for years, if you can learn you will be just fine and the effort to enter data is less work.

[@cxa340]

Just remember those same systems are in use today - some airlines may have a GUI on top, back the back end is the same

[@philipgallivan7681]

Anyone else from the UK think it was Stacey Dooley in the thumbnail?

[@MrItsme73]

Damn that software looks difficult to comprehend compared to modern systems

[@UnionAdvocate]

Those format systems don’t break like todays point and click systems

[@x_x_w_]

​​@@UnionAdvocatebut don't you dare mistype something.... Otherwise you're going to have to type the 138 character ticket sync command all over again.

[@x_x_w_]

Also to the original commenter, The airline still run on this stuff. It's just that there's an additional layer over the top of it that makes it look pretty. Why do they keep it? It's stupidly fast.

[@H3yItsC0dy]

@@x_x_w_as somebody who works for an airline using this software i agree 😂

[@jonathandpg6115]

@@x_x_w_I mean that's not the reason they still run on the software. If you are using a GUI already...then the speed benefits of a TUI is gone.. (GUI = Graphical user interface, TUI is text user interface). The reason airlines still use them is why a lot of companies use old software....because remaking it is costly and until the companies have a reason to get a brand new software they will just use something like this with little modifications at a time to keep them current.

[@kneel1]

and in 2024 they are still using the same technology at most airlines 🤣

[@yvr2002rtw]

Except for airlines who migrated over to Amadeus Altea DCS where everything is a graphical interface. Most other airlines still use this type of system but there is usually a graphical overlay for the more commonly used functions.

[@cxa340]

@@yvr2002rtw Its graphics on the front end, but the backend is still the same

[@EricCoop]

Defaulting to "do not cancel." Wow, that evokes pre-9/11 memories. Now they all default to "cancel, always."

[@AVantinfluencer]

When airports and airlines give a minimum flying fudge about security and more about revenue.

[@BrownBrother27]

Air India 182 and Pan Am 103 happened. September 11, 2001 accelerated more security measures. Airlines still care about revenues.

[@richardbarrett7236]

Believe me, after decades in the industry, even today revenue and passenger loads are monitored almost microscopically. Security has mostly been taken away from airlines and federalized.

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

The passengers at Lockerbie would disagree.

[@horseathalt7308]

@@WhatALoadOfTosca US govt was informed of the possible attempt and suspect but did NOTHING about it!