Could someone describe for me how going through airport securities in the 80s was like?
To give you an idea of how much things have changed, sometime in the early 1990s, I was on my way back from Wisconsin to Washington state. A friend who lived in the barracks was picking me up at the airport. I had two connecting flights. My first one was delayed so that I missed the next flight. Delta booked me on two more connecting flights, and everything was timed such that I literally had no time to try to call the barracks to tell her the flight had changed (all three flights suffered delays of mechnical problems, tire problems, or computer problems). She shows up at the airport for the original flight. I'm not there. So she goes to the ticket counter and finds out the flight I was actually on. You couldn't do that today.
Then, there weren't any metal detectors. Family members could walk you right up to the gate and stay with you until your flight took off. They would wait at the door as you emerged from the gate. You got a paper ticket in advance, and the gate person would tear off half of it. As you went on the plane, a stewardess stood in the door and checked the ticket again to make sure you were on the right plane and pointed you to your seat.
In 1983, my family was flying to Chicago. The flight was delayed for inexplicable reasons. The staff were pretty vague about why and kept hedging. After five hours, they finally told us why: They lost the airplane in the airport. The airline was an old one, in the process of dying at the time.
Were there metal detectors? How about those wand things the officers use?
No metal detectors. No wands--those are a newer technology. No officers, either. TSA has only been around since after 911.
The conveyors belts? This is for a national flight.
The baggage conveyor belts have been around forever.
In fact, could you describe the flight experience in general? How was it different than it is today?
I think the biggest difference is that most airports now use special ramps for the passengers to get out the plane. Then, they'd wheel a metal stairway to the door of the plane, and everyone would have to board via it. So we'd all come out, airplane noise buzzing around us and wind whipping, and have to climb this really steep stairway. Some airports still have this, by the way.
The actual flight experience is about the same--uncomfortable, pressurized cabins, etc. A lot of the airline seats seemed to be odd combinations of color, like pink and orange. You could smoke on planes at one point, though I'm not sure when this was banned. Flight attendents also had a weight limit--that was pretty controversial at one point because women were getting fired for gaining five pounds. The uniforms were often very short skirts (remember that
pink and orange combo? Yup).
They served peanuts as snacks--no peanut allergy fears then. You got a meal with your flight. They also passed out magazines in plastic covers.
I remember, too, that a flight actually went half full to Hawaii. The airline tried to pass all the passenges to another airline entirely. We trooped through two terminals, carrying all our luggage, only to be told no. Back w went. The two seats next to me were empty on the flight, so I lay down and stretched out (though very bad--they started to descend and changed the pressure. Pain! My ears hurt for days!).
It seems like also that the airlines shut down the restrooms and went to buckle your seatbelt almost an entire half an hour before landing (that's always the time when you have to use the bathroom). Now it seems like it's about 15 minutes before landing.
For research, try looking up Pacific Southwest Airlines. They merged with several other airlines in 1988. There is a surprising amount of information available on the internet for them, including a lot of photos.
