The Good Old Days of Airline Flights

Budget airlines and tax-free fuel has allowed more and more people to take advantage of airline flights, but what happened to the golden era of air travel? Do you remember when flight attendants were stewardesses and you could smoke while you cruised at forty thousand feet? Sometimes there was even enough room to stretch your legs and meet the captain, how times have changed.

Of course in the past air travel was also prohibitively expensive for most, but this did mean that many aircraft flew only half-full. In the age of last-minute flight deals to fill aircrafts, it’s hard to imagine the space and luxury which was available to passengers in the good old days.

Pre 60s aeroplanes were noisy and bumpy piston-driven machines. Unlike the modern jet engine aircraft, they had real trouble if they encountered storms and turbulence, and engine failure was a much more frequent event.

In the 60s and 70s airline travel was truly luxurious. Meals were included, legroom was aplenty and aircraft were still generally flying only half-full. Airlines competed with each other on service rather than price. Furnishings and cuisine just got better and better, with each airline trying to provide a first-rate service.

There were problems though, with long lines of planes waiting for take off, complications getting through airports and even plane hijackings. Security at airports has been stepped up in the last few years because of global terrorism, and we are seeing much fewer hijacked aircraft as a result.

Was there really a golden age of aviation, or should we just be glad to be paying around a quarter of what passengers did fifty years ago? Meals, drinks, aisle or exit seats have all been priced into the tickets these days, with the emphasis being on getting there as quickly and as cheaply as possible, even if it does mean filing into a flying sardine can with hundreds of other sun-seekers.

While some people might be pushing for airlines to get back to offering superior services, many of us realise now that if a flight is only going to take a few hours at most, then it’s probably better to grin and bare a crammed flight and enjoy the savings when you arrive in the destination.

There are still some airlines that focus on providing a luxury service, but they are few and far between in an industry full of low-cost airlines offering continual discounts and special offers. Perhaps if we are prepared to pay a decent price for air travel then we will start to see the experience itself become more pleasant.

John Mce writes on a number of subjects including aviation, holiday flights, cheap flights and holidays.

‘holiday flights’

John Mce writes on a number of subjects including aviation, holiday flights, cheap flights and holidays.