[1] In 1980, Pan American World Airways acquired National Airlines, thus obtaining a domestic route network in the U.S. for the first time in its history.

In order to provide connecting passenger service to smaller destinations, the creation of a feeder network soon became necessary.

For this task, a number of airlines flying narrow body jet equipment and/or turboprop aircraft were contracted via code sharing agreements: The focus of the Pan Am Express network was put on feeding into Pan Am's hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

The northeastern U.S. was particularly well covered, but there were also feeder service flights operated in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas as well as the midwestern and southern U.S.

[3][4] It fully concentrated on serving the JFK hub and also operated a second feeder network in Europe, offering regional flights out of Berlin Tegel Airport.