Panagra -- Employment  with Panagra  (Pan American Grace Airways) was a major career move for me; -- and was an exciting and personality shaping experience.  The airline industry in the 1952 was considerably different than it is today; -- as aircraft were smaller and propeller driven, and passenger service much more personal.  A please-the-customer attitude prevailed at all levels, and was our Corporate policy.  Panagra pioneered the western routes from Panama south down through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and on into Argentina in 1927; -- and of all the companies to serve that region through the mid-50s I believe they were the best.  In 1953 I took over Bolivian operations, working out of El Alto Airport,; -- the highest commercial air-service facility in the world at the time (13,404 feet); -- and in the spring of 1955 was reassigned to Cali, Colombia where I served until I left the company to return to the U.S. 

The cross-section of peoples I met or worked with during those years, and the variety of management experiences gained, considerably shaped my future vocation.