# Did the golden age of flying actually suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038 "2019-06-25T15:35:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/21 "2019-06-25T23:14:23Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Both Sony and Ampex had magnetic tape systems for video that were available as early as 1961-1962. They were big and expensive, so most airlines used a film system with 16mm films loaded in a horizontal cassette. When I flew in 1963, it was an actual film projected on a screen at the front of the cabin. There was also a time period that they used VCRs. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/22 "2019-06-25T23:38:35Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Both Sony and Ampex had magnetic tape systems for video that were available as early as 1961-1962. They were big and expensive, so most airlines used a film system with 16mm films loaded in a horizontal cassette. When I flew in 1963, it was an actual film projected on a screen at the front of the cabin. Ours had to be video, since there were monitors every few rows. I had forgotten to mention that it was great to be able to walk up to the gate. Also, when I flew to Hawaii, the plane stopped in San Francisco and we were able to leave it to go to an observation deck on the airport. Of course, you had to embark and disembark on a stairway they rolled up to the doors.\* When we landed in Honolulu, a Hawaiian woman put a wreath of flowers around my neck. It was my first lei. \*Not a staircar. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/23 "2019-06-25T23:57:16Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Some people dressed up. I never did. On the other hand, no one wore cutoff shorts and shorts showing men’s hairy armpits, so all the better. Are there shorts that cover armpits? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/24 "2019-06-26T00:14:26Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > There was also a time period that they used VCRs. I don’t think they used standard VHS tapes, though. I’m pretty sure they were a proprietary format that only worked on aircraft entertainment systems. But I totally remember United’s 757s as recently as the mid-2000s with CRT monitors over the aisle and the flight attendant had to start the movie by inserting a cartridge in a VCR like device in one of the overhead bins. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/25 "2019-06-26T00:17:41Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The only question I would have about such activities in the past are things like: how well lighted are the cabins? Were there those little spotlights so you could see at night or during storms? How bouncy was it? Etc. > . First I flew was in the 1960’s. As I recall: well lighted; yes, there were those little spotlights above the seats; it was only bouncy if there were storms. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/26 "2019-06-26T00:20:33Z")
I began flying commercially about 1965 as an unaccompanied minor, and it sure seemed luxurious then. Lots of special attention, tours of the cockpit (“Joey, have you ever been…in a Turkish Prison?”), no lines or hassles, hot food that seemed pretty good (of course I was used to TV dinners). Into the early 70’s it was simpler to park at the airport, change your ticket without huge price penalties, jump on the plane at the last moment and go, etc. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/27 "2019-06-26T02:02:15Z")
I recall flying as a pleasure and special event back then, mainly due to the cost. Now, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/28 "2019-06-26T02:20:52Z")
In 1951 I flew from Seattle to Minneapolis on a Boeing Stratocruiser. I still remember that flight as the ultimate in luxury. Took 6 or 7 hours, but they were very pleasant hours. It is interesting to speculate that the entire time required took about as much time a would be required now, with all the traffic, security, etc. And I love big round engines! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/29 "2019-06-26T02:28:08Z")
Besides all the stuff I already mentioned (I knew I’d forget a lot of things) there was “youth standby”. When I was in my late teens/early 20s I could fly anywhere for exactly half price just by showing up on a standby basis, and there was almost always a seat. And fares were incredibly low back then to begin with. I mean seriously, one route I flew frequently as a kid was just over 400 miles with about an hour and a half total time, and the regulated cost was $35, of which I paid $17.50. Today the same route is a confusing mess of competing fares but all in the hundreds of dollars, even the heavily discounted ones. Oh, and one time I traveled with a new Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder I’d just bought. It was kind of a complete stereo sound system with detachable speakers that assembled into the top of the unit to create a luggage-like device resembling a small steamer trunk. By which I mean, huge. But there was no way I was going to check this thing so I took in onboard. Nobody bothered me about taking it on the plane, and as I expected it didn’t fit under the seat, it didn’t fit in the overhead bin, so I just sat with it on my lap. The entire flight. Nobody cared. Yes, great free meals, free drinks, cheap fares, lots of space, tours of the cockpit for the kids – that was the golden age. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/30 "2019-06-26T02:34:22Z")
Just a reminder, the purpose of flight attendants is not to look pretty, or to serve drinks. Their purpose is to be emergency responders. A flight attendant is more like a nurse than like a waitress. Regulations require there to be a certain number of people on a plane trained in emergency response, and so the airlines hire flight attendants. But most of the time, there isn’t an emergency, and if you’re going to be paying for them to be on flights anyway, you might as well have them doing something worthwhile to occupy their time. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/31 "2019-06-26T04:11:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’ve been flying more or less since the 70s, and very extensively during the late 80s and 90s, and I think it was far, far more enjoyable than it is today. It was far less crowded, business class meals on long-distance flights were truly gourmet affairs and of course free, there may have been more legroom than today in many cases, security was far less of a hassle, and lots of other things I’m probably not remembering. Fares were also phenomenally lower, and points rewards systems far more generous. I agree with this. I didn’t fly business a lot back then, but I did occasionally, and it was a first-class experience. But even flying tourist was special in those days. I well recall flying in tourist class from Toronto to LA and back in about 1980. The flight attendant came around for drink orders (“Sir, would you like anything from the bar?”), and walked back from the galley with your drinks on a silver tray. You paid for them in cash, and the flight attendant could make change. Meals were brought on the meal cart, and you generally had a choice of two items (“Sir, would you like the steak or the chicken?”). Meals were, of course, complimentary (well, your ticket cost included them), and pretty good. The only drawback was that there might only be one movie, and what you did during the other three hours (or more) of the flight was up to you. I typically had a good book and a bunch of crossword puzzles. Nowadays, I fly business class when I can. I can’t always–I do a lot of commuter hops, where business is not offered–but where it is, then outside of complimentary alcoholic beverages, complimentary earphones, and bigger seats, it’s not much more different than tourist class was back in the day (“Sir, would you like anything from the bar? And would you like the steak or the chicken for dinner?”). The service and the meals are the same as they were in tourist forty years ago; and while there are many more entertainment options on demand, they’re no different from those offered to the passengers in tourist class. And I still bring a good book and a bunch of crossword puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/32 "2019-06-26T04:54:59Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’ve always taken the “golden age” to be the pre-deregulation days. > > Define “bigger”. The seat width on single aisle planes has stayed pretty much the same since the 707, as there’s really no advantage to making them narrower. The seats on some widebody planes have gotten narrower though, for example on the 777 they can squeeze in an extra seat per row in economy by using narrower seats. > > And I keep hearing people claim that airlines keep moving the seats closer together, but I don’t see much evidence of this. 31" seat pitch has been pretty much standard since the early 2000s at least, and that’s still what most airlines use now, the exemptions being the super cheap airlines like Spirit. And with thinner seat backs legroom can actually increase while keeping seats the same distance apart. > > I’ve found that the quality of the food increased noticeably after the began charging for it. It’s not five star restaurant quality but I’ve generally found it to be reasonably good. > > Most if not all airlines have brought that back now. OP referenced the 90s so I took that as my starting point. That’s also more or less when I started flying as an adult so my memories are a little more exact. I recall single-aisle planes in a 3/2 configuration with wider seats. Thinner seats=more legroom ha ha. It means another row of seats. And seat pitch is continuing to shrink. As for food quality, chacun a son goute. I don’t know what distance flights you take but I haven’t gotten free booze on US long haul flights in forever on a variety of airlines, unless they gave you a free one as a sop for waiting four hours on the tarmac. Virgin America was the last one on which I enjoyed unlimited free pours. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/33 "2019-06-26T05:02:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > And fares were incredibly low back then to begin with. I mean seriously, one route I flew frequently as a kid was just over 400 miles with about an hour and a half total time, and the regulated cost was $35, of which I paid $17.50. You didn’t give the year, but earlier you said you’ve been flying since the 70s, so I figure your numbers are from then. Inflation has been about 400% since the mid 70s, so that $35 is really $175 today (inflation-adjusted wages haven’t gone up much, so I won’t count that effect). And at least for the routes I care about, there are plenty of 2ish hour flights for \<$175. Ok, the youth standby thing is cool, but that doesn’t work for most people. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/34 "2019-06-26T05:35:10Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Are there shorts that cover armpits? Yeah, the ones with really high waistlines. (I do need to proofread better.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/35 "2019-06-26T05:42:33Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Besides all the stuff I already mentioned (I knew I’d forget a lot of things) there was “youth standby”. When I was in my late teens/early 20s I could fly anywhere for exactly half price just by showing up on a standby basis, and there was almost always a seat. And fares were incredibly low back then to begin with. I mean seriously, one route I flew frequently as a kid was just over 400 miles with about an hour and a half total time, and the regulated cost was $35, of which I paid $17.50. Today the same route is a confusing mess of competing fares but all in the hundreds of dollars, even the heavily discounted ones. In the very early '70s the student discount I mentioned allowed me to fly on the Eastern Shuttle from Boston to NY for about $12. You were guaranteed a seat, you could buy your ticket on the plane, and you got a bagel in the morning. I used to read the '50s and '60s Nancy Drew books to my daughter, and Nancy, Bess and George were always running up to airports and jumping on planes at the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/36 "2019-06-26T05:59:32Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > … > > As for food quality, chacun a son goute… Say what now? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/37 "2019-06-26T06:47:08Z")
There were certainly aspects that sucked: Average fares were much higher (individual anecdotes notwithstanding), planes were less reliable, there were many fewer flights to choose from, you were more likely to get bumped due to overbooking\*, and I’m pretty sure bags were more likely to get lost too. \*People have mentioned that flights are more crowded. That’s true, and arguably a downside to the same data-crunching that reduced the overbooking problem. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/38 "2019-06-26T07:12:53Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > … and I’m pretty sure bags were more likely to get lost too. That much is true. I remember flying to London Heathrow in 1983, on British Airways, and my bag was tagged with a simple British Airways tag that read “British Airways LHR,” and a flight number. Somebody in the bowels of the airport had to read that, and direct it to the correct aircraft. Similarly, somebody also had to read the complicated YYZ-HNL-SYD-PER trip I took a few years later, again just tagged with an airline tag. My bag arrived where I was, but it was always iffy. I find that today, with barcodes indicating flights and destinations, there is much less worry. The one time that Air Canada had to book me on another airline to get me where I was going, they were able to use barcodes to find my bag from the bowels of the airport quickly, deliver it to me, and I was able to check in with the other airline, and check my bag with them. My bag arrived at my destination, with no problem. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/39 "2019-06-26T09:04:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Just a reminder, the purpose of flight attendants is not to look pretty, or to serve drinks. Their purpose is to be emergency responders. A flight attendant is more like a nurse than like a waitress. Actually, the very first flight attendants were required to be actual nurses. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038/40 "2019-06-26T10:57:42Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Also, the flight attendants were more likely to be stewardesses. And stewardesses back then were required to keep to a certain, ahem, desirable standard. There’s a reason that the term “stewardess” gave off a vibe like the term “French maid”. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Seems reasonable](http://ktelontour.blogspot.com/2015/09/vintage-burd-ads-3.html)… Ah, the Golden Age of Being a Straight Male. In those days, pretty much any profession that was predominantly female gave of a “French maid” vibe. These days, good luck finding a cleaning lady who speaks French. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-golden-age-of-flying-actually-suck/836038.md?page=3)