FAT SEXY said:

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Were flights more tense back then?

Was the fear of catastrophic failure on the back of your mind?

Do you feel safer flying today?

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I remember sitting at a little pub table and playing cards with my dad and brother and having some other passenger come by and show us card tricks on a flight to Alaska when I was 7. Don't remember being tense at all.

I do remember my dad talking about flying to Miami in the mid-70s and having checked a pistol at the ticket counter. As they were on final descent into Miami, the stewardess came down the aisle and handed him the holstered and loaded gun. Apparently, they gave the weapons to the flight crew to carry back then and my dad didn't look like he was likely to try to hijack the plane to Cuba.

It was chill. There were ashtrays built into the armrests. People could have a ciggy and calm themselves

Your dad could have looked completely normal like this guy.

High tech audio equipment

- No TSA. You didn't have to arrive hours before your flight and get frisked like you were a felon. I've even had them roll the jetway back to the plane to let me on. It was actually enjoyable to fly. Not stressful.

- People took pride in how they dressed and acted.
- Food was served and usually decent.
- seating area had more room.
- stewardesses we're usually shiny

Downside - you felt like you had been flying in a giant ashtray.

txags92 said:

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Sponge said:

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Your dad could have looked completely normal like this guy.

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Very close, but I think he may have had a beard at the time.

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Best part was that they used to have weight limits on flight attendants.

People dressed nicer but you couldn't see them because of the fog of cigarette smoke.

Food and drinks were free but the food tasted like a cigarette.

Ever since the ashtrays left the airplane the industry has gone down hill. It was very special to travel on airplane then. Folks dressed properly and pilots and the crew was respected. Almost every pilot was from the military and they respected their job.

I always thought it was crazy that they had a smoking section, you are in a large sealed tube breathing the same air. It's hard to believe that there was smoking allowed on planes and it really wasn't that long ago.

Craigy said:

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Ever since the ashtrays left the airplane the industry has gone down hill. It was very special to travel on airplane then. Folks dressed properly and pilots and the crew was respected. Almost every pilot was from the military and they respected their job.

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The sweet spot of enjoyable flight was after they banned cigarettes, but before deregulation. Before deregulation the government set the airfare, so airlines had to distinguish themselves in other ways, which resulted in everything else being better from seating space to food, drinks, attractive stewardesses; all of it.

Deregulation gave us cheaper flights, but the cattle call flying experience we have today. You can still get first class, but you're going to pay for it in cash or miles.

Win At Life said:

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The sweet spot of enjoyable flight was after they banned cigarettes, but before deregulation.

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Uh, that period of time never existed.

Airline deregulation occurred in 1978. The first no-smoking airline, to my knowledge, was Muse in 1981. Smoking was not widely banned in the US until 1990.

I was eight and my sister was seven and we flew alone from Hartford to Honolulu in about 1978. Staff took care of us completely let us have the run of the airplane while in between flights as we stopped in St. Louis and transferred in Los Angeles. Got the wings, playing cards, saw the cabin, sat in pilot seat, flicked some switches, got unlimited cokes and what ever we wanted to eat that they had.

In Los Angeles we got escorted to a room and assigned a person that took us on the behind scenes tour. Baggage, fueling, pilots lounge, talked with pilots and met our pilot.

Got on flight to Honolulu and landed and again treated like royalty. First ones off flight, got the flowers, and grandparents there to meet us.

Flew back the same way after the summer was over.

Will always remember that.

whoop1995 said:

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I was eight and my sister was seven and we flew alone from Hartford to Honolulu in about 1978. Staff took care of us completely let us have the run of the airplane while in between flights as we stopped in St. Louis and transferred in Los Angeles. Got the wings, playing cards, saw the cabin, sat in pilot seat, flicked some switches, got unlimited cokes and what ever we wanted to eat that they had.

In Los Angeles we got escorted to a room and assigned a person that took us on the behind scenes tour. Baggage, fueling, pilots lounge, talked with pilots and met our pilot.

Got on flight to Honolulu and landed and again treated like royalty. First ones off flight, got the flowers, and grandparents there to meet us.

Flew back the same way after the summer was over.

Will always remember that.

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Yeah, I had wings and packs of cards from about 5 or 6 airlines by the time I was about 8.

I miss the free deck of cards

It was so much more enjoyable. Flight attendants were friendly, and family could see you to the gate and greet you when you returned. You were treated as a customer instead of cargo.

Win At Life said:

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YokelRidesAgain said:

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Win At Life said:

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The sweet spot of enjoyable flight was after they banned cigarettes, but before deregulation.

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Uh, that period of time never existed.

Airline deregulation occurred in 1978. The first no-smoking airline, to my knowledge, was Muse in 1981. Smoking was not widely banned in the US until 1990.

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Well dang, my memory is bad, and smoke didn't bother me much when I was younger. Maybe not illegal, but reduced in the 80's? And airline service didn't turn to crap immediately, so seemed to still be holding onto those old practices like hot stewardesses.

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Smoke didn't bother us back then because we sat in the back seat of the car on road trips with our parents smoking in the front seat. Airplane smoke smelled like fresh air compared to that.

First time I flew on a plane was in 1976, but to me what really highlights the differences between "then" and now was a 1994 flight out of Houston on a brand new 767 or maybe 757. The pilot was really proud of the plane and made it a point to talk it up to the passengers. Then he said they were going to leave the cockpit door open and after the seat belt light was turned off everyone was welcome to walk up to the front of the plane (Spread yourselves out now and don't all come up front at once!) and check out the fancy new cockpit. And that's what they did. None of the passengers on the plane that day did anything stupid even though they had the chance. Not sure what would happen if you did that with the clientele the airlines are flying around today.

Another practice that seems rather quaint by today's standards was to point out landmarks like the Mississippi River or whatever as you flew over them. Don't see that as much anymore, but not that long ago flying out of San Francisco on a perfectly clear morning one of the pilots did rather excitedly point out that you could clearly see Area 51 out the right side of the plane as we flew over Nevada. People today seem pretty jaded about most everything, but that announcement did get a lot of people to look out the windows.

Touchscreen said:

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Another practice that seems rather quaint by today's standards was to point out landmarks like the Mississippi River or whatever as you flew over them.

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Is completely forgotten about that! Makes me sad now. Yes, lots of "Well, folks, those of you on the left side of the plane can see the Grand Canyon below….".

txags92 said:

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FAT SEXY said:

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Were flights more tense back then?

Was the fear of catastrophic failure on the back of your mind?

Do you feel safer flying today?

---

I remember sitting at a little pub table and playing cards with my dad and brother and having some other passenger come by and show us card tricks on a flight to Alaska when I was 7. Don't remember being tense at all.

I do remember my dad talking about flying to Miami in the mid-70s and having checked a pistol at the ticket counter. As they were on final descent into Miami, the stewardess came down the aisle and handed him the holstered and loaded gun. Apparently, they gave the weapons to the flight crew to carry back then and my dad didn't look like he was likely to try to hijack the plane to Cuba.

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Did not know you were also an Alaska guy.

I lived in Valdez for 3 years while my father built the Marine Loading Terminal at the end of the pipeline.

Alaska Airlines used to fly a 727 into Valdez for their service to Anchorage.

I do remember the ashtrays being filthy.

One time we were flying from Anchorage to DFW on a Braniff 747 and my brother and I played the sit down table top version of Pong on the airplane.

And with respect to hijackings, in the mid-1980s, we narrowly missed being on an Alitalia flight out of Athens, Greece that got hijacked to Libya. Different times back then.