MiloDrinker

I was cleaning out my attict and found a couple pairs of airline plastic tube headphones that I probably stole more than 20 years ago. (said Northwest Orient)

when did airlines stop using these antiques? are they worth anything on eBay?

cordelli

1979. They were pretty much all made by a company called Avid in Rhode Island.

sbm12

It can't have been that early because I remember flying on planes that had them.

MiloDrinker

the unused pair that I have are still in "Northwest Orient" bag..... probably 1983 or 1984....

on an unrelated note, I'm now officially scared of Google. I posted this thread and it appeared in Google search results within one hour?

CPRich

I'm sure I used plastic tube 'phones as late as the early '80s. if not earlier. I'm sure it was later than '79.

Your post was probably on Google much earlier than an hour later. They post real-time feeds from Twitter, news sites, etc., when you search on a breaking topic. I wouldn't be afraid of a search engine just because it's very good.

specialeffects

Lot Polish airlines still has them on the 767 operated on the ORD-WAW route. I had the great fortune to use them this year (only in Y).

alanh

The Delta 757 I flew on last week (first flight 1990) still had a pneumatic socket in addition to the two-prong electronic socket. Too bad I didn't have your set with me, I could have seen if it still worked.

Lightweight Walkman-style headphones killed them off; prior to that, all headphones were the jumbo over-the-ears type. The pneumatic system let them leave the bulky speakers in the armrest.

cordelli

1979 was the first conversion. They did not convert every plane in the sky overnight, so there was a period of time till they converted the last one. I don't know how long that took, I only know when the first electronic one was installed.

avsfan733

They still work...at least on the UA Airbus I was on last month. The person inbound in my seat must have been half deaf. The armrest was up when I got into my seat, and I could hear the speaker playing with it next to my head through the airports. I loved those things when I was a kid.

CMK10

I used them on AA DC-10s up through 1996 and am pretty sure I used them on Delta 767-200s in 1998. Those were the last I saw of them.

N965VJ

In the 80s, a catalog retailer (The Sharper Image, IIRC) sold an electronic adapter that looked like a Walkman that plugged into the sound ports so you could use "real" headphones. I really wanted one, but it was expensive!

bitburgr

I can remember using them on a UA flight around 1990.

gfunkdave

I don't think I've seen them in 7 or 8 years.

greenery-travel

I used to fly DL a lot in the early 2000s and saw the tubes as recently as then. Perhaps on a 727 or L10-11.

nkedel

Yeah; I definitely used them at some point in the 1988-1991 period, probably as late as Summer 1991, which would have been on UA. I can't remember whether or not I saw them when I was just starting to fly on my own around 93-94, although if they had them then, they disappeared swiftly after that - I do not remember seeing them in the 95+ period when I was flying very regularly.

In use, or just remaining outlets for them?