re: Throwback to when airline travel wasn’t trashy

quote:

---

and chance of death was 1000x higher than today

---

Was it really worth the scacrifice?

And now, I'd rather take a road trip than get on a plane if I can help it.

My father flew for TWA for 29 years- Convair 880, 727, 707 and L1011. My sister and I flew alot as kids and things have changed ALOT. We always had to dress up. Always flew stand-by. But the service....
I remember a flight we took from St Louis to Boston on Easter of 1982 or 1983 on a 747. We had a full meal- chicken parm, fruit, salad and a desert. There were like 15 people on that flight. It was awesome for us. Ashtrays between the seats were chock full of butts.

My parents managed to get the autographs of the entire 1967 Philadelphia 76ers on a flight. Dont know if was a charter or what, but think of what the odds are today of seeing the LA Lakers or any pro sports team in your terminal or plane today.

And you're right about the pilots- Dad did 8 years in the Navy and 7 more in the reserves. Our neighbor was a 757 captain for Delta and flew Thuds in Vietnam. Met a whole bunch of former military guys Dad flew with when we traveled.

I got to experience the tail end of it in the mid 70’s. A three hour flight netted you a full course meal, and you didn’t once feel like you were livestock. I still remember back then though how odd it was to be in a non smoking section in a pressurized airplane. but then that was pretty much the case everywhere you went and people really didn’t think much about it back then to the best of my recollection.

In any case, the treatment you received all the way around back then was far superior to the treatment you receive today in air travel. It was a different world, and you felt highly valued and important. Today, you’re pretty much the equivalent of livestock.

A couple of years ago I had to fly from St. Louis back to NOLA for work. My employer (US Army) booked me on the 4AM flight . There were about 40 of us on the flight and the lone stewardess told us when we took off to lift your feet. ?
Well, when we took off all the empty soda cans rolled to the back of the plane.

You can still see the young pretty air hostesses on airlines like Emirates and Ethiad.
Gulf Air used to have them as well but that carrier has deteriorated.

Based on that video, sailing in steerage with Russian and Italian immigrants looks nicer than a two hour flight with the dregs of modern American society.

Nope

quote:

---

I remember the first time I ever flew, maybe 1974? and we dressed as if we were going to church.

---

yep
my pops always made us wear a blazer and shined shoes when we flew
those first few photos look like the lounge area upstairs on 747
i remember the first time that we flew first class on japan airlines
sushi and champagne for the adults
they also brought the ol man a smoking jacket
and i recognize those orange seats
thats definitely national airlines...

here you go

LINK