Does anyone have any memories of air travel in the 1970s and airlines which could be seen at airports around the United States and around the world (but are now defunct or merged with other carriers)?  I am thinking about such carriers as the old National Airlines, Pan Am, TWA, the old Frontier Airlines, Western Airlines, Ozark Airlines, North Central Airlines, Southern Airlines, Texas International Airlines, Muse Air, Northeast Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), Air Californian (Air Cal), Hughes Airwest, British Caledonian, Sabena, Swissair and Braniff International Airways.

I am also thinking about such airports as the former Stapleton airport at Denver, the old terminals at Atlanta and Pittsburgh airports, the downtown airport at Kansas City (which was replaced by the new airport in 1972), Washington DC's National Airport, New York City's LaGuardia airport (before it was renovated) and Chicago's Midway airport (which is currently being overhauled).

I am thinking about such jetliners as the Boeing 707 and 720 four-engine jetliners, the Boeing 727 three-engine jetliner, the Douglas DC-9 (many of which are still operated by Northwest Airlines), the French-built Caravelle jetliner operated by such carriers as Swissair, Finnair and even United Airlines, the British built BAC-111, the Fokker F-28 operated in the northeast United States and in Europe, and even turboprops and DC-3 aircraft dating from the 1930s.

I am also thinking about the early days of airport security--how do they compare to today's hassles?  And how crowded were the airports back then? Did you really have to walk far? How dressed up were passengers compared to today?

What are your thoughts about air travel from the 1970s?

This is a great topic and if you write a book on the subject, I'll read it.  Worked for Continental (CAL) when Frontier merged into it.  Frontier had superior cold weather and rain gear, so I patched together uniforms to wear on the ramp.  The old timers told stories of the 70s when stewardesses wore mini-skirts and knee boots.  The ramp agents like me used to wear spotless uniforms with white gloves and salute the cock pit when airplanes were cleared from the gate.

Yeah, Branniff !

In 1974 I flew from Brisbane to Auckland on an Air New Zealand DC-8 (the height of luxury in ANZ's fleet at the time !)  :o

Came back on a Qantas Boeing 707.

Both now essentially history.

FB  :)

Eastern Airlines. I'll never forget that because it was my first time on a plane. My Aunt took me to Disney World for my thirteenth birthday. My first experience on Space Mountain.

Tim
RATT-n-ROLL

I flew Eastern too. Speaking of Disney World, Eastern Airlines sponsored an attraction there called "If You Had Wings."

Wasn't it in the sevenites that Freddie Laker introduced his Skytrains on Laker Line?  He brought the price of flights to America down to make it much more affordable.

I think it was in the seventies that there was all the problems with the DC10's.  There's a couple of stickers on a cabinet at work saying fly DC10 and one of them is annotated ".... but close the doors first!"

I remember PSA, it was my first time on a plane, we flew to Disneyland.

I'd like the no smoking section, please.  ;)

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