Article: " There Was No ‘Golden Age’ of Air Travel"

[serfty]

Interesting concept, although for those where money was no object I think there may have been.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/27/opinion/sunday/there-was-no-golden-age-of-air-travel.html

...
People often talk about a proverbial “golden age” of air travel, and if only we could return to it. That’s an easy sentiment to sympathize with. I’m old enough to recall when people actually looked forward to flying. I remember a trip to Florida in 1979, and my father putting on a coat and tie for the occasion. I remember cheesecake desserts on a 60-minute flight in economy. ...
...
But those good old days, maybe, are more mythical than we admit. Do you really want to travel like people did in the 1960s? Are you sure? ...

 

[RooFlyer]

No Golden Age when you were next to a lit cigarette for an hour or more.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

No Golden Age when you were next to a lit cigarette for an hour or more.

Perhaps it was all relative. Many more people smoked back then. Perhaps some non-smokers now would have been partaking themselves back then.

The article is perhaps a bit harsh. Safety aside, which has improved significantly (although it has always been super safe), it really was pretty good back then. Yeah you had a movie via a projector, but with plenty of leg-room, good recline, generously padded seats, and average flight length of about 6-7 hours... you only really had time to take off, have a drink, have a meal, watch a movie and then refreshments before landing. The time went pretty quick. You stopped off in exotic locales. You stretched your legs and browsed the duty free shops with local wares. Planes were noisy and guzzled fuel. But they were jets!!

Flying today is quite different. And good in it's own way. Half the places we stopped at back then you can't even fly over these days.

 

[Hvr]

Always worth reviewing the past to see if it really was as good as we remember.

It usually isn't. Smoking, highly restrictive fares with a Saturday away required, and the other factors mentioned aren't remembered as well as the leg room and food. Maybe there is a message for the marketing people?

 

[trooper]

LOL.... Ive always thought the 5 and a half day flight from Sydney to the UK in a Hythe Flying Boat in the 40's must have been great... (other than the staggering cost and the low cruising altitude...bumpy!)

Have just discovered that those same staggering fares could get you there quicker for a while...67 hours... in an Avro Lancastrian. (Not surprisingly based on the Lancaster bomber)
Seating? SIDEWAYS. Climbing over the wing spar to get to the galley...which required a jockey sized FA....

Damn...we've got it good! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

 

[JohnK]

I would prefer travel the way it was then stopping over in exotic locations than what we have today.

But then I also loved car trips in the 80's and 90's when major highways went through small country towns.

Life is now fast paced but not necessarily better.

 

[trooper]

Are you sure you could have paid the fares though?

 

[JohnK]

Are you sure you could have paid the fares though?

Highly unlikely but still a great way to travel.

 

[dk4]

The picture in the article shows trying to sleep in a cramped recliner, hardly the golden age of travel! That would be today...

Onboard Luxury Lounges

Private Apartments

Inflight Showers

It's just that the 21st century era of "the golden age of travel" has bypassed US airlines, and the article is from a US newspaper. :idea:

IMO most US airlines have simply forgotten that they are in the business of customer service - hence all their issues with staff who are trained to do everything but offer top notch service! (Induct your staff to become prison guards, then don't be surprised when that's how they think & behave!)