The group purchased the rights to the venerable Pan Am brand after the original carrier declared bankruptcy in 1991.

In September 1996, Pan Am II was started with an Airbus A300 named the Clipper Fair Wind.

The new airline was led by the last Vice Chairman and Chief Operations Officer of Pan Am, Martin Shugrue, who also helped in the creation of the WorldPass frequent flyer program and who served as President of Continental Airlines and later trustee of the Eastern Air Lines estate.

[citation needed] In September 1997, Pan Am Corporation, the airline operation's holding company, bought Carnival Air Lines.

However, the rapid expansion and economic troubles of the two companies were too much for the new Pan Am—it only survived for two years before declaring bankruptcy.