United Withdraws Bid for Pan Am’s Latin Unit : Airlines: The move follows Delta’s offer to invest with others in a scaled-down Pan American, which would fly only to Latin America.

In a move that surprised the airline industry and further muddled the future of beleaguered Pan Am Corp., United Airlines on Monday withdrew its offer to purchase Pan Am’s lucrative Latin American division.

United’s announcement to withdraw its $235-million offer came late in the day after a meeting with the bankrupt airline’s unsecured creditors. The creditors met for much of the day with United executives as well as representatives of the other carriers that want to purchase large portions of Pan Am’s remains. These include Delta Air Lines and Trans World Airlines.

The action came just one day after Delta upped its bid for Pan Am’s European routes and its Northeast shuttle by $50 million to $310 million. In addition, Delta has offered to invest with others in a scaled-down Pan American, which would fly only between Latin America and the United States.

TWA Chairman Carl C. Icahn has also said he was enlisting other investors, including American Airlines, to take over much of Pan Am, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.

The final decision on who can buy what and for how much is expected to be rendered Aug. 12 during a hearing before federal Judge Cornelius Blackshear in New York.

Despite United’s withdrawal from the bidding, analysts say the Chicago-based carrier still covets the Latin American routes, which are among Pan Am’s biggest moneymakers. Without the routes, United would not be able to compete on a global basis with American Airlines, which bought the Latin American division of bankrupt Eastern Airlines for $365 million.

But analysts add that United’s $235-million bid is still offering too little for the Pan Am routes.

“I would maintain that the United bid has been totally inadequate for Pan Am and its creditors,” said Timothy Pettee, an airline industry analyst with the Alliance Capital Group. “I think the bid has to exceed at least $300 million because the Latin American division generates substantially more revenues and earnings than do the European routes for which Delta is paying $310 million.”

Another stumbling block, those close to the situation report, is that both Delta and United want Pan Am’s Miami-London route. United wants it to feed European passengers to the Latin American operations it seeks. Delta maintains that the route is part of its deal.

Those close to the negotiations also said Monday that while the creditors did not reject Delta’s sweetened bid, they also did not “embrace” it, probably because it was still too low.

All of the prospective buyers have offered Pan Am advance payments as high as $60 million so the once-proud airline can continue operating. It is believed to have less than $30 million in cash.