America’s Greatest Defunct Airlines

"Pan Am" gets a second life on ABC this fall, but fans of the popular new show may be scratching their heads trying to remember what exactly happened to the now-defunct airline. Many were surprised when Pan American World Airways went under in 1991. Yet, "Pan Am" is just one airline in an encyclopedia list of companies that have gone under in the U.S.

Like Pan Am, many airlines have been rocked by scandal (crashes, hijacking, safety concerns, etc.). Companies were forced to sell or change their name to hide from the backlash. Other airlines simply suffered from bad decision making, such as an honest marketing scheme where flight attendants said "We made it! How about that," upon landing.

Almost every airline files for bankruptcy at one point or another. One company on this list even filed three times, though they probably should have given up after the first.

READ ALSO: 'Pan Am' Review: It's Glossy, but not Quite Polished

Click "Start" to learn about the demise of Pan Am and others. Some, like Pan Am, were leaders in the airline industry. Others we're hoping we never see again.

Pan Am was the largest international air carrier in the U.S. from its founding 1927 to its collapse in 1991. It was more than just an airline, it was a cultural icon. The Beatles famously stepped off a Pan Am flight in 1964 when they arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport for their first American tour.
It came as a shock to many when Pan Am quickly began to dissolve in the late 1980’s due to overspending and security concerns on board. In 1986 a Pan Am flight was hijacked in Pakistan, resulting in 20 deaths. Soon, the company began selling off routes and sections of the company. Pan Am filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 8, 1991, and shortly thereafter, sold the remainder of the company to Delta.
The famous blue logo is once again resurrected on ABC’s new series “Pan Am,” which follows the 1960’s flight crew.

A competitor of Pan Am throughout most of its history, Trans World Airlines (TWA) was considered to be the second largest U.S. commercial airline from 1925 to 2001.The airline filed for bankruptcy three times before finally merging with American Airlines in 2001. In 1992, the company cut trans-Pacific and cargo routes, which some experts believe started a downhill spiral that TWA could never recover from. American Airlines picked up the company for an estimated $2 billion, due to American covering TWA’s previous liabilities.

ValuJet was an airline with a reputation so bad that it had to buy a smaller company to take its name. The company’s downfall began after the crash of flight 152 on May 11, 1996, when all 110 passengers died in the Florida Everglades on a flight from Miami to Atlanta. The crash was determined to be the result of a fire in the cargo compartment from chemical oxygen generators. The company’s reputation plunged as further safety concerns were exposed. The U.S. Department of Transportation later deemed just 15 of the 52 jets able to fly.
ValuJet made the best decision they could, creating a partnership with Airways Corporation, which owns AirTran. Then, they ditched the ValuJet name. Most recently, AirTran was bought by SouthWest Airlines, making ValuJet one of the biggest secret comebacks in airline history.

How would you feel if a flight attendant gave you a pink lunch box survival kit with a lucky rabbit’s foot, security baby blanket, and a book called the “The Power of Positive Thinking”? You would probably run off the plane immediately. For some reason, Pacific Air Lines thought that this beyond unconventional ad campaign in 1967 would release the tension from the rising safety concerns stemming from a 1961 skyjacking.
"It's basically honest. We spoof the passengers' concern, but at least we admit they have it," stakeholder and New York Lawyer Matthew E. McCarthy told Time Magazine in 1967. Three months after the campaign, the company was defunct!

From 1983 to 2000, Tower Air carved out a small niche in air travel, operating primarily from the U.S. to Israel. Perhaps, the most lasting memory of Tower Air is in Jim Carrey’s 1997 film “Liar Liar.”
The airline should have known it was in trouble when a 1997 Zagat Online Survey ranked the airline 59 out of 61 airlines, beating out another on this list Valujet, at 60. Surprisingly, Tower Air managed to hold on for a few more years. In 1999 the company took a major hit when it lost Department of Defense contracts due to bedbugs. Yes… bed bugs. The airline was found to provide dingy hotel accommodations for employees, with a lack of security and bed bugs.