Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The piston-driven planes of those days, like the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7, were noisy and often ferociously bumpy. They couldn't fly over storms and turbulence the way jet-powered airplanes can. Engine failures were more frequent. So were crashes. And the cost of a ticket was affordable for only an elite few.
A round-trip coach ticket between New York and Los Angeles was $208 in 1958, according to the Air Transport Association. You can still sometimes find a $208 ticket today, but that 1958 price is $1,570 in today's dollars.
"Most people who think of the Golden Age age of air travel probably didn't fly then," said Daniel Kasper, a managing director at LECG, an aviation consulting company. "The Hollywood image never focuses on how many people were left outside the gate because they couldn't afford it."
Stop complaining about air fares - consumers are getting a smoking deal. If you complain about service, buy a first class ticket. That is akin to what flying was back then - free food, service, etc, at a price that corresponds to what it cost to fly back then too.
For me personally there really was a golden age--I was a United Airlines brat, born in 1954.
We got around pretty well back in the day.
Maybe in terms of pricing, service, and all-around value, the average customer's golden age was in the mid-90's up until 9/11.
Stop complaining about air fares - consumers are getting a smoking deal. If you complain about service, buy a first class ticket. That is akin to what flying was back then - free food, service, etc, at a price that corresponds to what it cost to fly back then too.
First Class domestic ain't all that much these days,maybe a better seat. Three Grand to Hawaii with chicken breast and a sundae chaser ! Would have flown cattle car if my knees were better.At least the 764 is a nice plane.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
