5khours

Regarding pitch, I look at it this way.

In general, you can get the same (or more) pitch now than in past for less money in real dollars, and..,

You now have the option of saving additional money by choosing a seat with less pitch.

To me that seems like an improvement....especially since most people seem to overwhelmingly prefer a less expensive seat with less pitch.

HNLbasedFlyer

Besides the 900 seat McDonald's opened in Moscow in 1990?

IMissThe747

It was after the early 80s, and it wasn't UA, but the discussion of paper tickets and 747s reminds me of a OneWorld RTW ticket I flew in late 2005 into early 2006. VLI-BNE on NF, SYD-BKK on QF, BKK-BOM on CX (my memory could be wrong, as I'm not sure why CX would fly BKK-BOM, but I'm pretty sure that was what it was), BOM-LHR on BA, LHR-JFK on BA, NYC-DEN on AA (can't remember if JFK or LGA), DEN-LAX-HNL on AA, and the ticket carried onwards to NAD and VLI, but I didn't finish flying the whole ticket, instead going to GUA from HNL via LAX.

Even in 2005, the tickets I had for that itinerary were paper tickets in a booklet with carbon copies. They were handwritten by the travel agency where I purchased the ticket. I kept it folded in half in the money belt I used at the time, and I had photocopies stored in my backpack in case something happened.

I remember being so pleasantly surprised by the food and service on that CX flight, which was my first time on CX. In Y I was offered a dinner choice of steak or fish. I asked if both were possible (I was younger then), and they smiled and said of course. Two hours later we were offered french dip sandwiches as a snack. And this flight was only 4:30 long!

Many 747s I flew in that era had a wonderful exit row window seat with no seat in front of it, but protected by a middle and aisle in the row in front. That meant you could still get up and walk right out to the lavatory if needed, but also had a window seat with tons of leg room and no reason for lurkers to bump your legs. Seemed to be around row 27 on the airlines I flew. Advanced seat assignments weren't a thing in those days, and back then I had a lot more time than money, so my strategy was always to show up 4ish hours early for any flight with a 747 so I could be first in the check-in line to request one of those seats. It worked every time I remember.

I was the same height I am today, but it sure felt like there was more legrooom in Y in those days than we have in E+ today. My memory could certainly be wrong. My shoulders sure don't fit as nicely in Y today as I remember they did back then.

I might still have that little booklet of tickets in a travel journal somewhere.

vaguba

Found this united catering operations video from the 90s:

Bonus Smisek cameo

seat38a

I think I remember as a kid that many of the airline catering trucks had Marriott on the sides of them. Whatever happened to Marriott's Airline Catering business.

Who says that. "I think the food was exceptional tonight" for inflight catering. I think its always been its OK or its Terrible.

rustykettel

Sold off, went bust, and now part of LSG Sky Chefs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterair

seat38a

Looks like leveraged buyout strikes again.

GrayAnderson

IMissThe747 Just taking a guess on the CX flight, but fifth freedom routings were a lot more common at the time (often as a legacy of having planes that couldn't go A-C and so had to stop at B).

As to in-flight catering (and food in general), I've noticed a broader trend towards "wackier" items pretty much everywhere. It was quaint and enjoyable at VX, but it's actually getting to be tiresome. There are more than a few times I'd prefer to have someone just sort out the seasoning on the meatloaf, veggies, and potatoes (not an airline example, but Amtrak did a nice meatloaf a few years back) and chuck the quinoa.

seat38a

I agree, way too much quinoa these days. Bring back the rice and potatoes please!

uanj

Yes, that's Colombo. It's actually quite logical, you get a duty free allowance when coming (back) in the country so you can buy an appliance duty free and take it home.

Back on topic... Going back to the 80s, I still feel the food was better, In Y you actually got a decent meal which is no longer the case. In first and the old "Connoisseur" class, I still feel the food was better than with the exception of fish. The fish dishes today are really good, they used to be pretty awful.

It's hard to explain to someone who just started flying, maybe to the point of being inconceivable. In International FC United started the meal service with caviar. Transcontinental FC had two meal services, the second being a deli cart that featured jumbo boiled shrimp, smoked salmon, cold roast beef. I think if anyone saw that kind of meal on a United flight today they would keel over from the shock.

spin88

I don't have to go that far back. I recall - perhaps erroneously - that PS service when it first started (c2000) gave a decent cold plate upon arrival. Again, perhaps I am confusing the time frame and or flights...

dilanesp

One thing that perhaps makes me an outlier on FT is I don't think serving more food than one can eat is better service. A transcontinental west-to-east flight might run 5 hours. So we are talking about a gigantic 80's style first class meal that takes an hour to serve, including dessert and caviar, and then at the end of the flight, probably 3 hours after that meal service, we are going to be getting a whole bunch of deli meats? No thanks! The object of flying, even in F, is not to overeat as much as possible.

I think modern p.s. service serves more than enough food for the length of flight. They serve you a full meal complete with appetizer, salad, main course, bread, and dessert, and they serve it faster because nothing has to be carved off the cart, and then they offer you sandwiches or wraps at the end of the flight if you are still hungry. The only critique I would have is they should probably offer a breakfast before landing on the redeyes. But even that's kind of minor- you land at 6 or 7am and it's easy enough to go to an airport restaurant or even a UC for some breakfast.

Bear96

The deli cart second service was only on flights that had breakfast as the main / first meal, not the (multi-course) lunch and dinner flights.

vaguba

And to think, if you were planning on taking the boeing stratocruiser to Hawaii you could have your own stateroom:

dliesse

Almost right. PA was strictly international (and, as pointed out, AK and HI were treated as international flights in all respects except Customs). TW and NW were both hybrids, even back in the 60s.