San Francisco International Airport Podcast: The Sound of SFO

Until seventy-five years ago this week it was impossible to buy an airline ticket to fly all the way across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Hong Kong, and back. On April 21, 1937, the very first revenue passengers, all seven of them, boarded a giant four-engine Pan American Airways flying boat at Alameda on San Francisco Bay. The six-day journey to Asia required overnights stays with stops at five island bases along the 8,000-mile route. The flight arrived in Hong Kong via Macao on April 28th completing the first of what then became regular weekly service. Commercial airplane service across the Atlantic would not commence for another two years. This is part two of three in this history podcast series.