The 1950s and 1960s are often referred to as the “Golden Age” of air travel.
The perception is that back then it was more glamorous – passengers dressed for flights, now in tracksuits and pajamas – more sexy and more exclusive.
But the airline’s former captain, Ian Frow, whose career began in 1958 with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), offered a different view of that view. He recorded his memories of that era for posterity in a blog post for Palpa Pilots Associationrevealing that the experience of flying in the 1950s and 1960s had a lot of downsides – “to remember those early days when the old travel handbook appears would be a miss.”
Read on for his reasons…
the cost
The 1950s and 1960s are often referred to as the “Golden Age” of air travel. The photo above was taken in 1955 and shows the cabin of a Douglas DC-7
Ian writes: ‘For Golden Age passengers, expense was a major hurdle. I remember an item in one of the Qantas on-board magazines which suggested that in the 1960s a worker on the average Australian wage would need to work three months to pay for a flight from Sydney to London. Today’s equivalent time will be measured in a week or two.
A characteristic of aviation in the 1950s and 1960s was boredom. The trips took a long time, often with many stops en route. Once admiring the view from the window there wasn’t much to do
It was an era before mass holidays and the rise of low-cost airlines. The airline ticket was too expensive for most people.
Onboard activities
Ian writes: ‘Boredom is another characteristic of flying in the 1950s and 1960s. The trips took a long time, often with many stops en route. Once admiring the view from the window there wasn’t much to do. Time can pass slowly but snooze and the on-board meal service provides welcome respites. Magazines and newspapers were provided for the passengers, and a good long book was useful. The lucky one found himself sitting next to someone having an interesting conversation.
Smoking was allowed on the flight deck as well as in the cabin – cigarettes, pipes and even cigars were allowed on board. After an eight hour flight, with not much for the passengers to do but snooze, read, chat, drink and smoke, the atmosphere became rather rich.
safety
‘Today’s travelers can rest assured that air travel on an established airline is the safest form of public transport,’ Ian writes. Modern safety levels far exceed those of the 1950s and 1960s, when landing accidents, structural failures, and injuries from turbulence and mid-air collisions were common. At current safety levels, you would need to have been airborne continuously for two and a half years with an average age of 75, to be statistically liable for being involved in an accident.
Learning from the bitter lessons of past accidents, the cabins were redesigned with safety in mind. In the ’50s and ’60s, luxury and elegance were the priority—there were hard, sharp edges, flammable seats and upholstery, and even split-glass screens. Modern cabins have improved seating standards, seat belts, overhead lockers, lighting, etc., making the cabin a safer place in the event of an accident.
How was the joy for the crew?
One of the United Airlines DC-7, an aircraft that entered service in the 1950s
‘Under the rules of the 19th century Railway Act, Ian wrote, airlines were required to provide free accommodation and maintenance for crew when away from base. Some of the accommodations were fairly basic, like the BOAC rest house in Karachi, which was a converted barracks for the British Indian Army in the 19th century. But later, in Singapore we stayed at Raffles, then ran instead, but still great. In most places, meals were free but eaten on the property. Because of this, the cohesion of the crew is actually improved by eating together. At first, only on North Atlantic routes were crews given cash allowances – in the 1950s this was US$10 a day.
Another BOAC oddity was the policy at some destinations of having cabin crew and cabin crew reside in different hotels. In fact, elsewhere, the captain was staying at another (superior) hotel, although the more sociable captains would travel across town to join their crews.
Was it the golden age?
“Modern safety levels far exceed those of the 1950s and 1960s, when crash landings, structural failures, injuries from turbulence and mid-air collisions were common,” wrote former airline captain Ian Frow. Above, a Swiss DC-7C flies along the Southern California coast
Ian wrote: It was not a mass transit industry. There used to be more time, attention, space, and magic than there is today. Some would say of passengers that unless you were a chain-smoking bookworm and snagged on alcohol, then flying in a closed plane breathing secondhand smoke wasn’t the most pleasant way to travel. But that would be unfair, passengers were very much treated as individuals and properly considered with all that this meant. They probably got off in a better state of mind than the tightly bound people of today.
In this so-called golden age, the crews were also treated as individuals and taken care of, in all respects. The monetary rewards in the cabin and junior ranks on the flight deck were not enormous, although the senior commanders were relatively well off. But all were part of a relatively new and exciting travel industry. Above all it was fun.
Was it the golden age? In general probably not – maybe only silver.
Unfortunately, Captain Frou passed away recently. His career as a commercial pilot began in 1958 with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and lasted for 44 years until 2002. He learned to fly while at school and gained RAF ‘wings’ during his two years of national service.
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