 High fuel prices and its many older, less fuel-efficient narrow-bodied airplanes increased the airline's operating costs.Federal route awards to other airlines, such as the Transpacific Route Case, further reduced the number of passengers Pan Am carried and its profit margins.On September 23, 1974, a group of Pan Am employees published an advertisement in "The New York Times" to register their disagreement over federal policies which they felt were harming the financial viability of their employer.