Transport: After Business

With new 41-ton Boeing 314s about ready to be put in service on the trans-Pacific run, Pan American Airways will need lots of passengers to fill the seats of these 74-passenger flying boats. Last week it set out to get them. Its action: fare cuts of 20 to 25%. Samples: San Francisco-Honolulu, cut from $360 to $278; San Francisco-Hong Kong, $950 to $760.-

Also out for business, and willing to cut first-class rates to get it, were three Pacific steamship lines, American President, Canadian Pacific and Nippon Yusen Kaisha. Their bid: a round trip from San Francisco to the Orient during April and May for the unprecedented price of a one-way ticket —i.e., $350 to Yokohama.

* Comparative boat fares: $215, $425.