Originally Posted by
findark
This is definitely the one thing that gets me about some of the nostalgia, especially for "when Y was a nice experience". If you want to pay regulated Economy prices and get a decent flight, you still can.. it's called today's premium cabin
That being said, one thing that really depresses me about flying these days is how almost no one thinks it's special or magical anymore. We don't need to keep dressing up in coat and tie, but it's just sad to see pax in a spectrum between a belligerent, aggressive "come at me, do your worst, United" attitude and curling up in a ball praying it will be over one minute faster. People dress
down to fly, try to sleep every second of the way, and now there is a deep-rooted cultural expectation that the flying experience is one of the most miserable times of your life rather than the excitement of a special trip. Pax used to be
happier, and in even in premium cabins it's a very transactional "let's get this done with quickly" experience (admittedly also in keeping with the ever-faster pace of modern life).
Agreed. In the 70s when I considered going to Philmont Scout Ranch from Honolulu, it would have been over $2000 for a round-trip coach fare. That's 2000 in 1979 dollars. I dropped the idea like a hot coal.
This week, I booked a round trip fare from Colorado to HNL including flying First on the red-eye leg from HNL to DEN for under $1000. That's 1000 in 2019 dollars.
I'm glad I don't have to dress up to fly coach anymore but it's still a bit of a shock seeing people in first class dressed down wearing tee shirts and shorts and flip-flops. Flying has become what the general public wanted -- a faster bus trip. When airfare was regulated, airlines had to compete based on service. Every now and then, someone still tries to up the ante on service but it invariably devolves to what they can afford to field as they compete on price.
I suppose things could be worse. The future of space travel -- if/when we ever get public space travel -- looks like people will just slip into a plastic diaper, load themselves into a pod and then get dropped in place like the rest of the cargo. On the bright side, everyone will have their own IFE and waste disposal. No waiting in lines, no one pushing their elbows into your seat.