Flying: Then and Now

Ask anyone who has had to travel by air in the last dozen years what they thought of the experience, and you’re probably going to hear language that you can’t use on television. Between the annoying and insulting security measures (that are mostly futile), passenger discomfort (which gets worse every year) and flight delays most people already hate the entire process before you even get to issues like endless new fees or the time you waste getting to the airport two hours early. But if you ask anybody who has been traveling by air for a while, they’ll probably tell you that things didn’t used to be like this; that air travel used to be a more formal, dignified and enjoyable experience. They usually won’t mention that it was also far more expensive, or that you were more than five times more likely to die in a plane crash…

An article that ran this week on the Huffington Post UK site compares a number of factors between the 1950s – when the advent of jet airliners and international carriers began making the airlines over – to the current state of the industry. And while I wouldn’t say there were a lot of surprises in the article, it was a bit odd to realize just how much cheaper and safer air travel has become just in my lifetime. For example, in 1952 the industry average was listed as 5.2 deaths per 100,000 hours of flying – about five times the current average. This isn’t really that surprising, when you consider advancements in navigation, automation, radar, electronics, and power systems (especially engine reliability), but even for an admitted airplane wonk like me a 500% difference is kind of amazing. Then there’s price – everyone knows that airfare had dropped since the U.S. deregulated our airline industry in 1978, but according to the Huffington people we’re talking about an 83% drop in fares on the New York to London run. And while it is true that the food, drink and service were all better, there really wasn’t much to do – in-flight movies did not appear until the late 1960s, and even into the 1970s the picture and sound were nothing to write home about…

This week also brought with it news about a potentially brighter future for all of us who get stuck in the Economy section of the aircraft; at least in terms of on-board comfort. An article off the Daily Mail website details several new changes in cabin and seating design that have the potential to create a more comfortable passenger environment without adding weight or taking up extra space (both of which would lower the profitability of the flight). None of this is exactly surprising either; the inclusion of cup holders that are separate from the meal tray, footrests usable in the Economy cabin, or seats that can recline without getting any closer to the passenger sitting behind you are all common-sense upgrades that people have been asking for almost from the beginning of modern air travel. The amazing part, at least to me, is that no one has made any particular effort to upgrade this aspect of the experience before now…

Airline seats are theoretically safer now – thanks to advanced construction materials and the like – but they haven’t really changed in design over the past two generations. And while air travel is essentially a commodity product these day (in that competition is mainly based on price) on a route with heavy traffic and significant competition any material advantage that makes one company’s service more attractive than the alternatives could major implications for the success of that firm. It’s early days as yet, but it might just be possible that we could start seeing change for the better in the airline industry…

Unless the new developments in rail transportation render the whole question moot, of course…