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Small Pan Am Pan American Airways (Pan Am) advertisement uses an image of an early, man-powered dirigible invented by
Charles F. Ritchel in the 1870s to promote a modern airline employee benefit called "Sublo travel".
Ad Analysis
Visual: The image depicts the 1878 Ritchel Flying Machine, an early attempt at a steerable aircraft (dirigible).
Context: By contrasting this primitive flying machine with the sophisticated air travel of the present day (when the ad was run), the ad emphasizes how much aviation had advanced over the "10 years" mentioned in the text.
"Sublo Travel": This term refers to "Space Available Basis" (SAB) or "Non-Revenue" (NR) travel, a common perk for airline employees, their families, and sometimes retirees.
Employees could fly on a standby basis at a substantial discount, often 90% off the standard fare.
The term "sublo" is likely an abbreviation for "sub-load," meaning passengers who only board if the main paying "load" of passengers doesn't fill the plane.
The advertisement shows extremely low "service charges" for Pan Am employees based on distance traveled ($10 for up to 10,000 miles, etc.), highlighting the value of this benefit. |
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