This #tbt, we’re kicking it back to the golden age of air travel, when flying coach was all glamour. Passengers wore their finest threads, the meals were gourmet and the legroom seemed endless.
But this luxury experience was out of reach for many. And those who could afford it often found relentless racism, sexism and cigar smoke once on board.
So was the air really all that great 50 years ago?
You could fly with the stars ...
Trans-World Airlines, the iconic and now-defunct “Airline to the Stars,” once carried the rich and famous across the world in true golden age style.
The passenger list was a who’s who of the time: Twiggy, Count Basie, Sophia Loren, the Rolling Stones, Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Martin Luther King, Jr.
... but the cost was astronomical
In 1958, a roundtrip flight from New York to Los Angeles cost $208 -- not that far from today’s price. Adjusted for inflation, however, that number becomes $1,570.
The booze was free ...
The ultimate in-flight entertainment system: alcohol. In the years before movies on board, bored passengers would knock back free and endless Martinis to kill time between takeoff and landing. (Some modern day first class passengers still carry on the tradition.)
...but racism was rampant
This was the era of segregation, even in the skies. Ella Fitzgerald was once kicked off of a Pan-Am flight to make room for a white passenger. (She sued and eventually won the case.)
Because airlines were federally regulated, they *technically* could not discriminate against a passenger -- however, it was a very different story for the airports. A study by the NAACP found that a majority of airports in the south were segregated up until their court-ordered integration in 1963.
You didn't need to worry about airport security ...
Imagine arriving at the airport 30 minutes before your flight is scheduled to take off: You keep your shoes on, you don't give a second thought to the liquids in your bag, and there is no such thing as "random selection."
These daydreams were reality 50 years ago, a bitter point to remember the next time you’re stuck in airport security.
... but you could have worried about your safety
In the 1960s, about one out of every 200,000 flights ended in a fatality. Today that number is about one in 4.2 million.
You could actually travel faster …
Fuel efficiency: better for the environment, worse for your flight times. On average, a flight from D.C. to Miami now takes 45 minutes longer than it did in 1973, mainly due to airlines’ focus on saving money on fuel.
And remember the Concorde? It was a supersonic, superfast, super expensive flight -- banned over land in the U.S. because of the tremendous sound it produced.
... but it was really sexist
Before there were flight attendants, there were hostesses: exclusively female, exclusively good-looking and almost exclusively white.
In the 1970s, Stewardesses for Women’s Rights organized an effort for massive change in the industry. They succeeded, and forced retirement at 32 years old, a strict no-marriage rule and even the term “stewardess” were thrown out.
But those uniforms will live on in our hearts forever.