DavidDTW

I flew them a few times, and always got a kick out of the cash register coming down the aisle for ticket payments. And yes, that EWR terminal was nothing but a dump!

idriveuride

The only thing I did not like was that I met my ex-wife on a EWR-HOU flight

BearX220

Lorenzo didn't kill PE; he rescued what was left of it and folded it into CO/EA/Texas Air before it could expire altogether. Don Burr at PE cooked his own goose with over-expansion. He once bought a whole mini-fleet of old 747s to fly $99 transcons with no more business case than, "Everyone likes to fly on 747s, don't they?" He also merged up the old Frontier and PBA in the northeast without any idea of how to combine operations. American Airlines and Bob Crandall administered the coup de grace with sophisticated yield management. PE charged only two kinds of fares, peak and off-peak; AA matched them but also charged more for higher-class fare buckets. PE had nothing to match AA's computer systems, the public fled PE's operational madness and everyday meltdowns, and the rest was history.

Those $149 flights to England were great while they lasted though.

SFWanderer

When I was just 21 years old I could hardly rub two nickels together but somehow managed to jump on their 747 EWR-SFO flight for a weekend jaunt for just under $200rt on a single day's notice.

You can't help but chuckle at the memory of handing over a credit card when you were already in your seat.

nerd

Dropping just under $400 (in today's dollars) for a weekend jaunt as a 21-year old actually does not fall into the "hardly had two nickels to rub together" category.

ND76

The Eastern Air Shuttle had pay on board (I first flew that in 1977).

I remember my first People Express flight well. It was March, 1982; a client of ours had invited my wife and I down to Florida--he provided the hotel if we could get down there. In those days, PE had their hub at the once abandoned north terminal at EWR, and their spoke airports were BUF, BTV, BWI, ORF, PBI and SRQ. The aircraft was a 727 (possibly a 727-100); it was equipped with airstairs, so they didn't need to use jetways or equipment at the airports they landed at.

They actually flew BWI-PBI non-stop (I think the flight might have been a triangle route, EWR-BWI-PBI). The fare was $75 per person, which one paid on board. All food and drinks were for sale. I can't remember whether we paid to check our bags. One of the pax on board claimed that he had lost his wallet and couldn't (or wouldn't) pay his fare--the FA walked up to the flight deck, told the captain, and he radioed ahead for the police to meet the flight when we got to PBI (we were sitting close to the flight deck and I overheard this). The police did arrest the guy when he set foot on the tarmac. When we got to PBI, our gate was literally a gate in the chain link fence that separated the street from the field (I think that the current PBI terminal was constructed subsequent to 1982). Baggage claim was a two level metal rack.

As I remember that trip, we flew home on PanAm, MIA-DCA (in those days, there was an express bus to BWI that left from the Capital Hilton hotel on K Street; we left our car at the garage in my office building in downtown DC). Their airfare was not much more than PE.

Where things went pear-shaped for PE was when they got away from the North Terminal and had a custom built terminal at EWR (which is the one that CO uses today). They grew too much, too fast, and Frank Lorenzo took them over.

tonywestsider

Speaking of Frank Lorenzo and pre PE/CO/TT/EA big buyout, Eastern Airlines also had buy on board ticketing on the Eastern Air Shuttle, long before PE did. And using Connies and Electras on the Shuttle's schedule and as "back up" extra sections, thank you.

nkedel

Someone at the TSA would have an aneurysm. Probably worth it just for that

Global_Hi_Flyer

As did The Flying Nosh (a/k/a New York Air).

I remember those days.... flew all three between DCA/IAD and LGA/EWR/HPN

Everydog

I have a very fond memory of a $25 trip out of the "industrial" EWR terminal during the first months of PE. Although I was a poor grad student at the time, I had early on learned to enjoy the journey as much as the destination and thought it was all great fun. While the fares were being collected, the captain came on to ask, "Raise your hand if this is your first flight" and at least half the passengers sheepishly obliged. He immediately responded, "Cool! Mine too!"

AllanJ

I remember the North terminal at EWR and also the Imperial terminal at LAX that People Express used. These I believe were the original main terminals of those airports and had a definite antiquated flavor compared with today's terminals as of that time.

Ancien Maestro

What kind of cash register was it? Was it one of those big archaic ones rolling up and down the aisle on a cart?

buckeyefanflyer

Another reason to miss People Express. They are offering CLE-LGA this weekend but the $119.00 roundtrip fare is only avalaible on the 6:00PM departure Saturday. I have to be in NYC by the afternoon. If I want to take the 8:20AM flight it would cost $965.00 roundtrip. So I guess I will have to use 20,000 miles to EWR.

idriveuride

My first flight to Europe was in "Business" on the EWR-BRU B747. I think it was $299 and I recall that all the meals were served cold; but, I had an absolutely delicious (obviosuly if I still recall fondly) seared beef tenderloin with a mustard glaze . . . . .

Way ahead of their time and unfortunately too many pretenders have come and gone since. The concept was brilliant, if they only had capped their ambitions and not exceeded the IT capabilities of the era.

idriveuride

" . . a hankering to start something like this with say a TTN as a base, and had a K.I.S.S. strategy, it could be scary good"

Nailed IT! Hello Frontier and welcome to Trenton.