That's What Friends Are For
 
August 18, 2015


Guest Posts! 

This week, FlyersRights asked long-time members, and road-warriors, Matt Hesser and Dan Prall, to pen a commemoration - or epitaph - on the glory days of air travel, for a 'lost generation' of younger people who may never know how enjoyable flying once was.

I can remember Allegheny, Aloha, Altair, Aroostook, Aspen, Bar Harbor, Bimini, Braniff, Catalina, Central, Continental (the one who was known as the "classy lass with the brass ass"), Eastern, Frontier (the first one - not the faux one), Hughes Air West, Lake Central, Midwest Airlines, Mississippi Valley, National, Northeast, Northwest Orient, Ozark, PSA, Pan American (and the PanAm flights from FRA/STR/DUS/MUC/ HAM/LHR, etc. to THF/SXF/TXL), People Express, Piedmont, Provincetown-Boston, Ransome, Southern (sans Denzel Washington), Sun Valley Key, TWA, Western, Wien and World airlines, among others - including the merged airlines - Capital, AirCal, etc., and others too numerous to list!
 
I can remember when there was a responsible entity, the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board), who not only regulated the airlines in a fair and balanced manner; but acted as an watchdog for the flying public; as well as providing an entity one could write if you had a complaint - and get a reply - same which was usually a satisfactory resolution to a problem! 
 
Given there is a 13-page list of defunct airlines in the US (Wikipedia), I question how much de-regulation was a help to the overall health and prosperity of the airline business - other than to enable the large airlines to dominate and control the airlines business in the U.S.
 
I can remember the Ambassadors Club, the Clipper Club, the Ionosphere Club, the President's Club, the Council Lounge, Club, among others.
 
I can remember when you had to actually fly 100,000 miles, prove it with ticket receipts to obtain VIP status; and not get loyalty status by real estate deals, gift purchases and other gimmicks to qualify for certain levels of loyalty status.
 
I can remember when you got on a plane and had most everyone's body covered by clothes (even suits, shirts and ties) - as to the latter, if  not going to a business appointment, say, from Chicago to New York, the same day, I like today better, I must say. I can also remember most PAX's actually wearing shoes!
 
I even remember the old Convair 990 (you can check it out on You Tube if you like), when TWA had a business man's (you young women please don't take offense - none meant - as there simply weren't many of you flying on business in those days) special evening flight from JFK to ORD with steak and wine!
 
I can remember clean airplanes and toilets, carpets that weren't thread-bare, comfortable seats, adequate leg room, even some empty middle seats, ashtrays (and given 4 free cigarettes in a promotion package - for the record - I don't smoke!), clean seat backs (without fast food wrappers and stale/spoiled food - and food containers); free water (on a short inter-European trip recently I had to pay for water, soft drinks, coffee and tea - I declined - on principle).
 
I can remember when looking at the aircraft's certificate (displayed above the forward, left front cabin door), planes were only 12-15 years old; thus, having an average of less than 20,000 cycles (takeoffs and landings where the cabin is pressurized/depressurized).  

Now, it is not uncommon to fly in an aircraft that is 20-25 years old; consequently, with 40-45,000 cycles - anyone remember the "peeling" back of the fuselage of the Aloha Airlines flight AQ 243 in 1988?
 
I can remember when you were served a full hot meal (not in a box) in coach and a tasty, choice for a meal in first class, served on fine china - for nearly all destinations of flight times longer than an hour.  If the trip was less than an hour - a nice, tasty sandwich, in both classes was served.
 
I also remember getting a full breakfast from most destinations - and not having to get a second mortgage your home to buy breakfast/lunch/dinner at the airport!  In fact, I remember taking the "old" CO flight from MCI/ORD because of its tasty breakfast at 07:00 hrs.
An example of a memorable container with a snack served by Braniff Airlines in the early-to-mid '80s in both coach and first class PAX's. This was filled with Cheddar, Gouda or Edam cheese, etc., and given on the short flight from DTW/MCI, with a choice of deli sandwiches - served by the flight attendants from a silver platter! Ah -" the good old days" when the customer was king and important.
 
Recently booking a flight from DEN/OGG that in Premium Economy there was no complimentary meal service - on a 5+ hour flight!

I can remember friendly, helpful, kind, considerate, caring, attentive ticket and gate agents not worried about their jobs, having benefits - actually working - and had pride for the airline they represent - and not worried about their job being outsourced.  
 
I can remember when there were only four or five fares, making pricing your ticket simple - not 111 fares, for example, from CLE to LGA!
 
I can remember free checked baggage - on all airlines - in fact, when attending conventions and exhibitions, I used to "check" 10-20 boxes of literature, promotion gadgets, samples, etc. - FREE - and the airline(s) were glad to do so - thinking customer service was important!
 
I can remember when the airlines would actually honor their contract with the PAX (your air transport ticket) and if they couldn't accommodate the PAX within 4 hours, they would issue a FIMS (Flight Interruption Manifest) and put you on the next plane, regardless of  class of service you purchased or available, to your destination. 
 
I can remember riding in the jump seat on Northeast Airlines from BOS/BGR as there were no seats and the pilot was pleased to accommodate me - after all - I was the customer!  Bangor, Maine was not my final destination, but I had a presentation in Fredericton, NB, Canada the next morning! By-the-way, I made the meeting, made the presentation and got the business!
 
I can remember when airports were actually clean, had gourmet food in some restaurants, i.e. the 7 Continents restaurant at ORD and Encounters at LAX.
 
To paraphrase the old saying about history, ..."Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."... indeed, perhaps it would be good to have just a bit of the "old days" for today's flying public?
 

J. M. (Matt) Hesser, Managing Director 
HBT Enterprises, LLC
Colorado Springs, CO

Citizen of the World - United, TWA, PanAm Million Miler+ Pax
 


Guest Post:

Dear readers,

Kendall has asked me to contribute a bit about the "good old days" of flying.  Most of my memories come from flights out of Dallas Love Field on Southwest, and several airlines from DFW from 1973 thru 1995, when I retired at 55.  Over those years, I'd estimate roughly 700 flights for work, and I drove nearby [150-200 miles] on another 300.  I was a forensic chemist with the Dallas DEA lab, and flew for court appearances mostly in the south central and southwest areas, but ranging sometimes to Missoula, LA, and NYC.  I also went on clandestine lab raids many times.

I was usually able to arrange a last-minute trip within a couple of hours, and there were several times when I got to the gate with minutes to spare, and a couple where the lab called the airline and I was told to get off the flight because the trip was cancelled, and as I left, they closed the door behind me.  For those trips I tried to avoid checked bags and took a carry-on and a suit bag.  I was often carrying sealed drug evidence for a criminal trial, and rarely had to show my ID to distinguish me from other passengers.

In the '70's, Denver was a favorite place to fly to, because Frontier had flights from DFW at  5 and 7PM , with steak, lobster, and wine... in coach, and the same on the way back after a day or days in court.  There had to be some perks for being on-call for any court anywhere in the country for a quarter-century.  I was sorta used to it, tho, after over six years in the Regular Army, including a year in Vietnam and an early tour with the 101st Airborne.

Even on SCUBA trips after I was certified in 1987 until several years into this century, I never had a problem with being charged for excess baggage, even on 3-week trips to Australia and Indonesia, so long as I stayed under weight limit, and sometimes I shuffled items from one bag to another at the check-in counter under the friendly watchful eyes of the agent an even in coach I had two 70-lb bags allowed on international flights. On even most short flights, snacks and drinks were free, and on those over 3 hours, you often got a meal as well, depending on time-of-day.  The seats were mostly comfortable and when you let down a tray-table, it didn't punch you in the gut [I WILL admit to having a larger gut at 74].

In other words, passengers were treated as fellow humans and as valuable customers.

I doubt those days will ever return, but FlyersRights is trying to get some of it back.  I'm proud to have been a large cash contributor since 2007 and for several years, a weekly proofreader/editor.

And I hadn't seen Matt's article before I wrote this, but having read what he wrote about Braniff, my only complaint is that they flew me to Vietnam in 1967.

Dan Prall


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