text: what happened to pan-am airlines?   thanks for asking! i am a business librarian, so i will consult hoovers business database to find your answer:  pan american airways represents the latest effort to keep the storied "pan am" name aloft. the company was formed in 1998 when new england railroad operator guilford transportation industries bought bankrupt pan american world airways. that air carrier had acquired the rights to the name of the original pan am, which folded in 1991.  these days pan american airways offers service under the pan am clipper connection brand in the eastern us and puerto rico. the carrier's flights have been operated by affiliate boston-maine airways since pan american airways fired its unionized pilots and shut down its own flight operations in 2004.