From Conde Nast Traveler

1936: United opens first in-plane kitchens
1987: American cuts one olive from each salad, saving $40K annually
1999: Singapore Air stops butterflying shrimp, saving $750K annually
2002: Per passenger food spending drops 11.8% to $3.82
2005: Northwest stops serving pretzels; saves $2M annually
2008: US Airways charges $2 for a bottle of water; Continental is the only major US carrier offering free coach meals on flights over 3.5HR

1936: American's DC-3's have 14 seats that unfold into beds
1939: Boeing's 68 passenger 314 features ocean liner style staterooms and dining saloons.
1948: Boeing 377 Stratocruiser has a lounge, bar and 28 sleeping berths.
1950: Coach Class concept introduced by IATA
1957: IATA guidelines have max seat pitch at 34" in coach and 42" in 1st Class.
1979: Quantas introduces "Business Class"
1981: People Express charges passengers for meals and checked bags
2000: American introduces "More Room in Coach" by pulling two rows of seats and giving two to three more inches of legroom.
2003: American puts the two rows of seats back.
2006: American, Delta and Northwest stop providing blankets and pillows on domestic flights
2008: JetBlue charges $7 for a pillow and blanket kit.


1971: American installs 64 key Wurlitzer electric pianos in the back of their 747 coach lounge.
1976: American removes the piano lounges; their popularity makes the plane tail heavy

1929: TWA begins distributing playing cards to passengers to help pass the time.
2005: United's commuter service TED begins selling playing cards for $5

I remember hearing about the olive one....I thought they saved more then one persons salary a year...

The pretzels one is actually a bit impressive though.

__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Least they still give kids their wings.

__________________
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I remember back in 1970 when I flew to Europe on Luftansa. In the middle of the atlantic they brought out hot towells to put on your face.

Now they feed you pretzels. Its about as romantic as the greyhound!

Now when we flew to Italy in 2001 the food was really great....no hot towells though and the stews were mostly middle aged ladies and men.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I fly for work and lot, and I mean a lot! In fact, i flew from DC to CA yesterday on Jetblue. I think they may be the last to serve unlimited snacks and soft drinks. Very good experience. $219 round trip. Back in the day, air travel was a novelty so they had to have "extras" to entice people to fly. At the end of the day, it's expensive to move people cross country. I would much rather have them cut the "perks" than the pilots. When I fly the others, I just bring some water and juice and I'm fine. My main objective is to get from point A to B with minimum hassle. Just my two cents.

__________________
99 ML320
94 SL600
92 SL500
95 E320 Cabriolet
87 560SEC
86 300SDL Grease Car
80 380SLC Euro

13 Fiat Abarth
02 Maserati Spyder Cambiocorsa
00 BMW Z3
90 Rolls Royce Silver Spur
80 Ferrari 308 GTSI
88 Jaguar XJS12 H&E Edition
99 Land Rover Discovery

In '72 I flew with TWA and they gave me wings
In '76 I flew with Lufthansa, and they served filet with a side of green beans.
In '91 I flew with TWA and they gave me a Turkey sandwich (that cheap turkey too...all ground up, and made into a loaf).
In '00 I flew with Spirit and they gave me a bag of pretzels and a can of tomato juice.
In '07 I flew with Condor, and they gave me Geschnetzeltes (a version of beef tips and noodles) for dinner. Breakfast was a crunchy roll, with a few slices of smoked and cured ham, real butter, and a few other things.

Them Germans know how to feed you (they also know how to charge you)

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Isn't JetBlue the one tht went into the swamp in Florida some years ago. They were called Valuejet at the time I think. They went into CH11, changed their name and popped up again as JetBlue?

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

That wasn't Jet Blue, was it?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I just got back from Poland. arranged the flight through Lufthansa, but United flew us from ORD to MUC. They fed us well both ways. And on the plane from MUC to KRK, they even had wine for us as well as Tobler chocolate.

I ws not hungry at all. Something about the United seats to MUC sucked; I could not comfortable. On the way back, they were fine. Both were 767s.

I flew economy plus both ways.

__________________
Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

I started flying when people actually cared about what they looked like when they went out. People dressed to fly, I still do. And people finished eating breakfast, lunch and or dinner at home no dragging around the portable buffet.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I hate flying any more. I wish they would quit futzing around with complicated price structures and would provide reasonable seating arrangements in coach. Just getting rid of the stupid overhead ought to save them enough to give my knees enough room to keep from banging up against the seat in front of me.

__________________
1984 300TD

Just request to sit in the emergency isle...

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Flashbacks of an American MD80 flight I had to Denver one time. I swore that thing was set up in “cattle hauler” configuration.

__________________
1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

Me too. I remember mom laying out what we had to wear for a 707 trip out to CA to visit the Grandparents in the 70’s.
I think “...people actually cared about...” a lot of things back then that they don’t now. Sad.
“Portable buffet”, that’s a good one. Goes hand in hand with peoples average size and fitness level these days too, I guess. Also sad.

We don’t do the commercial flights much these days as you may have guessed. But when we do, I like to think we look/dress pretty good. No torn jeans, flip flops, tank tops, etc allowed. Some folks I can recall seeing in the terminal... yikes !!

One issue DJ and Shelby both have – They don’t wear shoes in our planes. Commercial flights, yes. But always barefooted when in the X or S’s 400A. Even in the cockpit. Have no idea what that’s about... silly girls.

__________________
1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

JetBlue was ValueJet.

When we traveled when I was a kid, we got the kit every time. We got playing cards and occasionally these superhero iron on/transfer type things. Plus the toothbrush/razor/sewing kit/sleeping mask/lint brush kit.

__________________
1984 300TD