Proudelitist

It was much much more expensive, and that was good because it kept the filthy, stinking, lumpenproles out of the airport and the plane. You never saw trash-bag carry-ons or a family resembling the cast of Duck Dynasty chomping down on Burger King takeout onboard.

Seats were wider, there was more legroom, and they were cushier. It wasn't until the latter part of the 80's that airlines began swapping speed for volume.

In the 80's planes were generally faster. Seriously. The 727 was stupidly fast, as was the Trident. Oh, they burned more fuel, made more noise, and broke down more, but you got where you were going quickly. There was Concorde as well (this also lasted through the 90's in an ever-dwindling service). As I said earlier, speed was traded for volume. More butts in seats means more profit, and slower speed saves fuel which also means more profit.

Wide bodies did the transcons. There were less of them scheduled, so you only had a handful to choose from, but if you were going coast to coast odds are you would be riding in an L1011 or DC10..perhaps even a 747. This meant a less cramped ride, and generally more comfy. I still think the L1011 was one of the best riding aircraft. Oh, and that plane had like 7 lavatories in the back..nothing but lav doors back there. Always one available.

They used to serve food, on DOMESTIC!!! I don't mean allowing you to BUY some microwaved box, or some bag of apple crisps, or a pack with 11 peanuts in it. I mean it was included in the price of your ticket. Going from MIA to LAX? Full on hot meal. Oh, and drinks were free too. All you could drink until the stewardess (that's what they were called) cut you off.

Bag fees? OUTRAGEOUS! You checked everything. Also included in the price of your ticket.

Then, there were upgrades. Sometimes, if you just asked nicely. Imagine that! I used to score them on YYZ-FRA in the late 80's by name dropping the head of Lufthansa Canada whom I was aquainted with, or by flirting with the desk agent. Those people who still think you can score an UG by dressing nicely and kissing butt are remembering the 80's..and have no idea how much that has all changed.

Buying a ticket was a different ballgame. You called the airline and spoke to someone. You told them where you needed to go and when, and they would check what was available. You also used travel agents who would comparison shop. You would get your tickets mailed, pick them up at the airport, or get them from the local airline office. You could then check in at the airport roughly 1 hour before boarding, put your bag through an xray machine and get wanded, and be on your way. Security took less than a minute. No bins, no shoes off, etc. You didn't need a ticket or BP to pass security..so you could bring your friends and family to see you off, and to meet you right outside the jetway doors when you arrived.

You could smoke on planes. Some hated this, some loved it, most didn't care. I will say this though, it seems there were almost never unruly pax. And they didn't divert flights because someone got snippy with the cabin crew. This may be many things, including a lack of nicotine withdrawl, an absence of Ambien in the market, and less crowding of pax into tiny seats on small aircraft for long flights.

There were downsides though. For one thing, more crashes. It was the 80's where we learned about "metal fatigue" and "micro-fractures". Most of the planes in the 80's were 20 year old runners from the 60's and 70's with the exception of the 767. I was still flying on DC8's with CP Air up until 85. It was not unusual to run about 2 major crashes in the US per year. And there was a horrific period between 85 and 89 where it seemed way more than that. The 80's featured crashes like UA 232, Aloha Airlines 243 and JAL 123..spectacular mechanical failures. Also terrorist incidents like PAN AM 103 and Air India 182. And of course, way more pilot error crashes like Air Florida 90 and Delta 1141. Nowadays computers do more and fail less, there is better equipment for avoiding collisions with other aircraft or terrain, and better materials are being used. Domestic crashes of large commercial airliners are much more rare, and survivable incidents are becoming the norm.