PACIFIC PIONEER, 77 YEARS AGO
A four-engined Philippine Airlines Douglas DC-4 arrived in Oakland, in the San Francisco Bay area, bringing 40 American servicemen closer to their homes. That journey carried the fledgling nation’s flag across the vast ocean, thus earning the title “Asia’s First Airline” across the Pacific. The success of the chartered DC-4 flight would pave the way for PAL to set up scheduled services to the U.S. mainland by December 03, 1946.
For 77 years, PAL has had the honor to connect families and fly tourists and businesspeople to and from the United States – a tradition that continues today with nonstop flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Honolulu and Guam.
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PAL’s first journey across the Pacific took 2 ½ days. Nowadays, one can reach the West Coast region of the U.S. in just 12 hours. |
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The Douglas DC-4 carried 40 American servicemen home who yearned to be reunited with their loved ones. |
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PAL’s chartered DC-4 had a very simple cabin configuration with no inflight entertainment or the creature comforts today’s jets are known for. Nonstop jet travel is also quicker compared with flying on propeller-driven DC-4’s that needed to stop in Guam, Kwajalein, and Honolulu before reaching the mainland. |
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By the end of 1946, PAL had already expanded its international reach across the Asian region aside from the U.S. mainland. It has begun to set its sights on Australia and Indonesia. |
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