Trippe, Juan T

Trippe, Juan T(erry)

(born June 27, 1899, Seabright, N.J., U.S.—died April 3, 1981, New York, N.Y.) U.S. airline founder. He served as a pilot in World War I. After graduating from Yale University in 1922, he promptly established an air taxi service using government-surplus aircraft. He next formed Colonial Air Transport, which began the first airmail route between New York City and Boston. In 1927 he founded Pan American World Airways. Under him the company introduced the first round-the-world air service (1947) and the first commercial jets (1955). He retired in 1968.