Shirley, I am serious.
My mother worked for Eastern Airlines in the 1980s. And ever since I was kid, she always told us that “flying used to feel like an event.”
Back in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, air travel wasn’t just about seeing how many shitty Adam Sandler movies you could watch during a flight. It was an experience.
Airlines competed on comfort, style, and offerings. Cabins were spacious. Seats were huge. People dressed up. You got real meals on actual plates, legroom wasn’t a myth, and every airline had its own personality instead of the same grey interior and a $14 sandwich.
How times have changed.
Modern flying is all about efficiency: tighter seating, limited space, identical cabin designs, and the slow transformation of passengers into carefully arranged carry-on luggage.
Airlines optimize for capacity now, not comfort. Lounges became rarer, service became standardized, and the glamour that once defined air travel mostly disappeared somewhere between budget carriers and cost-cutting.
See for yourself.
These vintage photos show there was a time when flying looked like the golden age of travel.
Nowadays? You need a vacation from flying home from a vacation.
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