An American Airlines Hostess in 1967 (Getty photos)

The Way It USED to be!

When People Dressed For The Flying!

A Shame The Way People Dress At The Airport
And On The Aircraft!
The First Class Cabin When First Class was First Class!

Commentary
The public wanted cheap seats (hence the flip-flops and T-shirt dress in First Class...when First Class WAS First Class) and airline management and the unions got greedy. Now you have an airline system falling flat on its ass. You cannot have it both ways. Decide what kind of airline you wish to be and set a business model. Changing the way you do business on a daily basis confuses everyone!

People hated airplane food; the butt of jokes...now they wished they'd have it back. Go figure.
ed.

THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY

Yearning for the Glamorous Golden Age of Flying
July 15, 2008

'Boeing Boeing,' JetBlue Indulge In Nostalgia'Boeing Boeing," a current hit on Broadway, is a revival of a 1960s farce about a bachelor in Paris who juggles three girlfriends, all dazzling, miniskirted stewardesses, by relying on the accuracy of airline timetables to schedule trysts. "My fiancées wheel about the earth so precisely as to be almost poetic," boasts the cad "Bernard."

Audiences in New York and London have found the proposition hysterical. Of course even in the early days of jet travel, airline flights run into delays and cancellations and schedules get discombobulated. Hilarity ensues.

The production, which won two Tony awards this year, channels a feeling many travelers share these days -- nostalgia for the good ol' days when flying was an uncrowded, enjoyable, adventurous dress-up luxury. You hear it often from longtime road warriors who hate the unpredictable flying-bus travel of today, especially in summer, when the U.S. air-travel system bogs down with long lines, late flights, missed connections and gruff service. Move along, shut up and pay your fees, right?

Nostalgia for the glam days of air-travel seems to be growing. JetBlue Airways Corp., for example, has launched an advertising campaign touting "Happy Jetting" that uses '60s style type in its print ads to give it a retro feel, trying to recall not only JetBlue's early days before it ran smack into long delays and stranded passengers, but also to the fond feelings people once had for air travel.

Can we ever go back to the fun traveling days of the 1960s and 1970s? What do you miss most about those bygone days? "I don't think people have let go of looking for every aspect of travel to be experiential," said Fiona Morrison, JetBlue's director of brand management and advertising.

There also have been various calls to rethink deregulation of the airline industry as it enters another tumultuous recession because of high fuel costs. Removing government controls on airline schedules and prices ignited tremendous growth in air travel, boosting the national economy and changing our lifestyles by making air travel cheap and available to the masses. But it also has meant instability for airlines, poorer service for many travelers and congestion in the skies, on runways and in terminals.

Robert Crandall, the now-retired chief of AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, recently called for re-regulating some aspects of the business, such as government playing a greater role in airline schedules to curb devastating delays.

"The idea of allowing airlines to schedule more flights than an airport can handle is unacceptable stupidity," Mr. Crandall said in an interview. "We can't have planes sitting for hours and spilling fuel out the tailpipe."

Joan Marcus
A flight from the mid-1960s.
The nation needs to accelerate deployment of a satellite-based navigation system as well, he said, because it will boost capacity, speed up air travel, reduce fuel use and pollution, and improve airline finances.

Of course, the good ol' days weren't as good as we probably remember them today -- flying was expensive and sometimes unreliable even then. Today's jets are more dependable mechanically and fly faster and higher in smoother air. Flying is much safer today than it was even 20 years ago, and airline schedules offer much more flexibility to consumers than they did in the 1960s and 1970s.

The trade-off for low ticket prices and ample air service is that airline seats are squished together, terminals are chock-a-block, passengers are sorted through connecting hub airports, more luggage gets lost, and delays have become rampant.

Few people in aviation, including Mr. Crandall, think we can ever go back to the days when half of the seats on jets were empty, offering comfort to fliers, and airports and airlines operated far below peak capacity. The reality of the airline world is that many travelers -- not all, but certainly most -- buy based on low prices and schedule convenience. They won't pay more for the promise of extra legroom and onboard meals.

"People regard the airline seat as a commodity," Mr. Crandall said.
JetBlue took off eight years ago trying to differentiate itself with some frills as well as cheap ticket prices, offering leather seats, onboard satellite television, friendly flight attendants and snacks instead of peanuts.

"When we launched, we were harking back to the glory days when it was exciting to travel," says Ms. Morrison. The "Happy Jetting" campaign is an attempt to recapture the airlines early days instead of the recent history of planes stranded in snowstorms and long delays.

The cast of the Broadway show 'Boeing Boeing.'
"Boeing Boeing" harks back much further to a day when airlines also sold sex appeal, with glamorous stewardesses chosen partly for their looks. The show was a flop on Broadway when it arrived in 1965, lasting only 23 performances. (The French farce, written by Marc Camoletti, had been a hit in Paris and London, and was made into a movie starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis.)

But today it is much funnier because its premise seems so preposterous -- one man trying to organize three relationships based on airline schedules, a two-day layover for "Gloria," a Trans World Airlines stewardess, followed in short order by visits from "Gabriella" from Alitalia and "Gretchen" from Lufthansa. Say goodbye to one over lunch; welcome another a few hours later over dinner. "You just follow the timetable," says "Bernard," played by Bradley Whitford of "West Wing" fame.

Actress Kathryn Hahn, who plays "Gloria," said in an interview that many flight attendants come to see the show and lament at how much more difficult their jobs are now, with worries about air rage, terrorism, difficult travel and company layoffs.

"There's also something sad, something innocent about this play after Sept. 11 and after so many horrible travel tales," Ms. Hahn said.

Producer Sonia Friedman says "Boeing Boeing" would have been a disaster 10 years ago, with its political incorrectness and stereotypes panned by audiences and critics. Producers had a difficult time raising money for the revival, which opened last year in London, but the show proved a hit.
"It taps into a time people recall fondly," says Ms. Friedman, not only in terms of travel but also in relationships and sex. "And we know we can never do it again."