The Airline Industry: Part 1 - Yesterday

Thanksgiving weekend is synonymous with five things: family, turkey, football, shopping and travel. It’s the latter that has my attention, specifically airline travel. Airlines have been in the news a lot lately as the industry tries to cope with fewer passengers and higher fuel costs by charging for services that use to be free and creating new restrictions. They may have dropped the idea of charging more for overweight passengers but they are adding on other ridiculous fees and limitations on top of the significant changes since 9-11. All in all the entire experience of flying has dramatically changed and not for the best.

I fell in love with airports and the idea of travel by air when I was a small child. It was always a major event to go to the airport, usually to pick up one of my grandmothers. In those days we could wait for passengers at their gate. There was always so much to see while we waited. Although I could look out the floor to ceiling windows as the planes landed and departed I was always more interested in what was happening in the terminal.

In the 1960’s airplane travel was still a novelty and special event. You would never see travelers in jeans much less shorts as almost everyone dressed in their Sunday best to board a plane. This resulted in an airport filled with nice looking people all dressed up. Not only were there people waiting for someone to arrive, but back then people would also accompany the traveler to their gate and wait until they could board their plane. This meant that all around you were people who were hugging and crying while saying goodbye or else hugging and crying while saying hello to a loved one. Everywhere you looked there were small dramatic scenes being played out, the sad and painful angst of saying goodbye were offset by the joyous reunions when greeting a loved one.

Then there were the stewardesses. They all looked so beautiful in their crisp uniforms. But it was more than just their looks that enamored me. To my five year old eyes, these women seemed so efficient and knowledgeable and filled with some hidden purpose as they strode through the airports trailing their cute little suitcases behind them. Oh how I wanted to grow up to be a stewardess and fly all around the world.

The first time I did get to fly on an airplane was around 1970 to visit my grandmother in Florida. We may not have been quite as dressed up as travelers ten years earlier but I still remember that my mother wouldn’t let me wear jeans on the plane. The flight was wonderful and the stewardesses were always passing out something – blankets, pillows, drinks, magazines and at least one meal. They also took the time to be kind to a wide eyed little girl and her baby brother, even providing captain’s wings for us. To me, the landing had its own excitement as we got to disembark on the tarmac and then walk to the terminal. In retrospect I realize my mother wasn’t quite as thrilled as I since she was struggling with an active infant and purse and baby bag while walking down that step ladder from the plane. Nonetheless, the entire experience was an event, something that both the passengers and airline staff recognized as still being a special event and respected it as such.

Although I did not fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a stewardess, by the 1980’s I was still flying at least once a year. The first time I wore jeans on the plane I felt a momentary qualm thinking of my mother’s disapproval but one look around at my fellow passengers and I quickly got over it. Flying no longer felt like a privileged means of travel but instead it had become a fun and quick way to get somewhere.

Little did we realize just how unregulated and unrestricted air travel was in the 80’s and even the 90’s. People were still going with the passengers to the gates to see them off or to greet them when they arrived. There were no restrictions on what you could take on a plane (I assume weapons were restricted but I honestly don’t know). Even smoking was allowed in both the terminal and even on the plane. Stewardesses were still handing out everything on planes from food to pillows and even newspapers. The only thing you had to pay for was the alcohol and movies. I remember flying to Paris in the late 1980’s. Even though I was in coach it was a fabulous flight. Back then I smoked and had a seat in the smoking section. For the next half day I smoked, ate, read, saw a movie, and slept while the busy stewardesses handed me pillows, blankets, warm wet towels and at least 2 meals while always being nice and gracious. I think that was probably the height of the best that the airline industry offered. Little did we imagine just how much it would change in the next 20 years...