Lots of Shine, but Lacking in Substance

What words or ideas come to mind when imagining the experience of flying on an airplane in today's time? Perhaps some of the first would be how much the business of air travel has become a giant pain in the ass with expensive prices for everying (your seat, your food, your checked bags, etc.), irritating security measures by the T.S.A & D.O.H.S, the potential of your bags getting lost by the airline, and (depending on the length of your flight) the idea alone of sitting in a giant tube with wings for several hours with everything from runway groundings, to unnescessary turbulence, to being forced to recline your chair, to putting up with screaming babies, idiots who have to use the bathroom every 5 minutes, & fat fucks who can barely fit in their own seat; let alone the walking isle. Personally, based on some of my adventures on commerical airplanes, flying is the 11th level of Hell that Dante Allegeheri found to be so bad and so horrifying that he straight up refused to write about it; but apparently the commedians of the world are brave enough to call it out.

To think there was once a time where flying was a business with style. A time where passengers were given plenty of leg room with their seats, treated like royalty by beautiful hostesses who always delivered their A game, & served such fine dining cuisine champagne, medium rare steaks, & lobster tails (for free). Well, my dear readers, I'll have you know that there was such a time, between the 1950's & 60's, referred to as the "Golden Age of Flying". Following the end of the Second World War, avition technology progressed to a point where traveling via the skies had become convenient for commerical use. Gone were the days of loud propellers & coming in were the days of turbine engines capable of allowing a Boeing 707 to travel over 600 miles per hour at an altitude of over 30,000 feet above ground. Companies like Pan-American & Trans World Airlines (owned by the legendary business tycoon Howard Huges) marketed their flights as the top tier of travel; turning a several day's long journey across the Atlantic Ocean by ship into mere hours on a plane. What was once a tool for warfare in the skies of Europe & the South Pacific became a method of vacationing for consumers across the globe. In order to attract the lucrative market of wealthy travelers who once filled up the ocean liners were attracted to these planes with equal levels of luxury.

By the 1970's the Boeing 747 turned the luxury level up to 11, by including a second floor lounge & fully operating bar on board. Was this exclusive lounge & bar restricted to only first class passerngers? Absolutley not! Back then there was no such thing as class distinction on an airplane. To be on a Pan-Am flight from Los Angeles to London, or from Tokyo to Honolulu, or from Berlin to Buenos Aires meant that you were part of the in-crowd. You were sitting pretty & you had every right to flaunt it with fellow socialietes (and occasional celebrities).

However, all these perks came with a cost (much like everything else as part of flying today). Not necessarily in money, but in other catches. Allow me, if you will, to explain why this "Golden Age" of air travel may not have been the epitome of greatness we objectivley think of it as, today.

1) Strict Codes for Dress & More

With a flight that treated its passengers like nobility, came with the expectation of those passengers to dress up for it like they were attending the theatre or a gala. For the course of the entire flight, men had to wear three piece suits with ties, and women had to doll themselves up with high heels & pearl necklaces. For the women as well, they also had to compete in the beauty department with the first generation of flight attendants. These uniformed service workers were often well paid, but also heavily harrased in an era where equal rights & gender equality was not at the social forefront.

Furthermore, while these airlines were not racially segregated, airports very much were. Throughout the southern United States, inferior accommodations often casted down black people from flying, and until the Civil Rights movement began to bring about change, air travel remained a privelidge for white people. Yet, as time went on and society evolved, so did the easing these regulations; as well as the inclusion of men as flight attendants and people of different races to become involved in the business as well.

2) Tickets that Costed a Very Pretty Penny

Along with the strict adherence to dress codes & socially flawed policies for who could be on a plane & who couldn't, came with a hefty price for the ability to fly as a method of travel. For example, is one were to fly on board a TWA flight from Chicago to Miami would cost about the equivalent of a year's salary to the average worker 60 years ago ($150 back then & approximatley $1,300 in today's money). This goes back to why this golden age of flying was aimed exclusivly for high end consumers. Seats & flying routes were limited & expensive to cover in order to make money. Only in more recent times has the idea of dividing up a commercial plane between first, business, premium economy, and economy classes come into existance and taken precedence in terms of pricing & benefits. To top it off, there was no such thing as frequent flyer miles back then, so the ability to earn free flights based on how often you travel via a specific airline would've definatley been out of the question. Though, at least you still get those free peanuts. That's a tradition that'll never die out (hopefully)!

3) A Comfortable Yet Dengerous (& Objectivley Boring) Venture

Despite not having to go through any security or having your bags searched prior to boarding, many of these seats inside period airplanes were certainly comfortable (providing plenty of room for your legs & the freedom to recline back to sleep without making others behind you recline theirs). They even had overhead cradles for infants, attached to the shelves used for carry-on luggage.

However, they weren't always the safest. Since this industry was still very much in its infancy, the amount of professionally trained pilots were very low and with the inclusion of sharp edges inside the cabins, the lack of proper safety equipment like oxygen masks & life preservers, as well as the encouragement of smoking on board,, made the risk of a crash landing or in-flight accident much higher than in the modern day. Along with these high risks of fatality, came with an exceeding sense of boredom. With modern flights, the ability to watch movies, television, listen to music, play games, and track your own flight via GPS on a touch screen built into the seat in front of you while wearing noise cancelling headphones hooked up to your smartphone via Bluetooth, would be something travelers 60 years ago could only wish they had. Back then, aside from drinking, smoking, and the occasional flirting with hostesses, there wasn't much elsde to do while flying. Passengers & crew were encouraged to socialize with one another while also being provided card decks for games & stationary to write about how "fantastic" their experience was to family and friends.

In retrospect, air travel has undergone a huge transformation since the so-called golden age. With universally cheaper prices, and technological advancement in entertainment, the ability for the Average Joe/Josephine to travel the skies from one end of the Earth to the other is far more possible than it was in the past. Perhaps it can even be argued that today's era of flying is the true golden age with the immense privileges offered by frequent flyer programs & luxurious cabins offered by international air carriers, one can literally get breakfast in a first class bed, for mere pennies on the dollar.

So, for those who keep complaining about how great it was to fly in "the old days", you can keep the stogies & lobster tails. I'm sticking with a decently-fared seat on a modern airplane that gets me from Point A to Point B fast & safe.