these guys used to be daring adventurers with goggles and swag and now the pilots have to wear a button down and the airlines squeeze every penny out of you and every drop of fun or joy or magic or adventure out of the experience.

in the 20s it was a great adventure! in the 60s people wore suits and got proper meals! now we just get xrayed and told we can’t bring in water! i love starting my vacation being treated as a terrorist!

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    11 months ago

    The airlines were deregulated in the late 70s. This meant they could compete on price, instead of just differentiating through features. It’s been going downhill ever since.

    • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      Flying is also dramatically cheaper and more accessible today than it used to be.

      If you want the fancy treatment from back then, pay the prices people paid back then and buy first class.

      • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        23
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        11 months ago

        I don’t. Every change in FAA safety regulations since then has been paid for in blood. The fatality rate per 100,000 flight hours was about 5x higher in 1970.

        • Funkytom467@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          11 months ago

          Does 5x higher means it’s much? Because today’s plan is the safest way to travel.

          So would multiplying the risk by 5 make it more unsafe than cars for example?

          Because we do use cars a lot, more than we should, just because we like it. And the fatality rate is pretty high.

          • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            11 months ago

            I think I actually understated how much more dangerous it was then because the chart I was looking at stopped a couple of decades ago. I found a more recent study and it’s more like 1 death per 7.9 million boardings currently, versus 1 death per 350,000 boardings (!) from 1968-1977.

            • Funkytom467@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              Nice, i’m not surprised but it’s still hella impressive. Aeronautics is truly outstanding engineering nowadays.

              Still i think i would definitively take the risk to try a 70’ plane once, for the experience. Like i said it would probably be way safer than regularly using a car. But i get your point, it really was different back then.

      • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        I simply of to point out that you of used the wrong word there. You of to realise that doing so can of the effect have making you look very ignorant