Unfair Competition? American and Japanese Transpacific Route Rivalries, 1946-1971

Abstract

This article examines the changing nature of competition between American and Japanese airlines for transpacific passenger and cargo routes during the formative early postwar era. It focuses on the period from 1946, when the US government first certified Northwest and Pan American airlines to fly to Japan, to 1971, as the age of mass air travel took off amidst major economic changes such as the Nixon Shocks. Utilizing both American and Japanese sources, the author argues that a complex mixture of economic and diplomatic factors shaped American and Japanese airlines’ transpacific route rivalries.