Pan Am to fly once more, as a drama project for ABC

Exclusive: Legendary airline Pan Am is once again taking to the air, via a pilot commitment at ABC.

ABC is developing a 1960s-set drama circling the pilots and flight attendants who once made Pan Am the most glamorous way to fly.

Sony Pictures TV is behind the project, with "ER" alum Jack Orman attached to write and "The West Wing's" Thomas Schlamme on board to direct. Idea for the project came from producer Nancy Ganis, who was a Pan Am flight attendant 30 years ago.

Sony Pictures TV production president Zack Van Amburg said the idea came from a meeting he and fellow prexy, Jamie Erlicht, had with Ganis and her husband/production partner Sid Ganis.

When Nancy Ganis began spinning tales of historically relevant intrigue, sex and what it meant to be a flight attendant in the go-go days of flight travel, Van Amburg and Erlicht latched on to the idea.

"These were the world's ambassadors," Van Amburg said. "They were really interesting women at a time when a lot of things were happening, particularly for women in this country... and in terms for what Pan Am did for exporting American culture and importing the world, think about all the visuals of the Beatles landing at JFK on Pan Am."

"Pan Am" will take place in the mid-1960s -- the same era that Emmy-winning drama "Mad Men" chronicles.

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