The Airline Time Machine Podcast

The story of the scrappy Icelandic airline Loftleiðir, how it became a significant player in budget travel transatlantic tourism in the Jet Age, and the role it had in promoting tiny Luxembourg as a noted Europe travel hub! Send us Fan Mail

United Airlines recently announced that a woman is now the airline's most senior captain, a first for a major airline. But women piloting U.S. jetliners is something that only began to occur in the 1970s, and today just over 5% of all U.S. Airline Transport Pilot rating holders are women. Join me for the story of the first U.S. airline captain, Emily Howell Warner of Colorado, and the challen...

After keeping a secret for seventy years, a former stewardess shares her story of a rainy day, a DC-3, a famous journalist, and a crash landing at Yakima, Washington! Send us Fan Mail

Every airline in the world has a two-character designator code that represents the airline’s name identity across reservation systems, flight information displays, ticketing details, luggage tags, and all of the other places where showing an airline’s full name can be simplified by substituting that recognized designator code. The development of those codes evolves as the early airline industry ex...

Have you ever found yourself looking out of a cabin window on an airliner, and wondered what was keeping you in - and the outside out - during your flight? If you ask an aerospace engineer what their ideal airliner cabin window size and shape is, they might just tell you that the ideal airliner has no cabin windows. They’re a hassle to design and build, and they add to the maintenance and cleaning...

Delta Air Lines has a rich history in the air travel business, and this year is celebrating its one hundredth year of operations. And while a lot of Delta’s story is focused on the southern United States where Delta was founded in Macon, Georgia - a state where Delta is headquartered today - there's another large Delta hub in the eastern half of the U.S. at Detroit. Join me for the story of h...

During the first fifty years of air travel in the United States, the airline industry - as a service provider, and as an employer - is largely focused on White people. Black Americans are usually locked out of many airline jobs until long after the 1940s, and Black households have little exposure to air travel, both because of the high cost, and the segregated nature of many airport facilities. In...

One of the most successful U.S. start-up airlines of the 1990s had six airline brands, and several legal names, involved in just its first four years. Then it settled down to become a nimble competitor, known for low fares, a quality product, cheeky advertising, and a multi-billion dollar business volume that generated a long string of profitable annual results. With this Airline Time Machine podc...

Airline tickets have changed dramatically over the roughly hundred years of passenger air travel, transforming from a simple paper “proof of purchase” modeled on railroad passenger tickets, to today’s digital transaction and security records. Join me for this look at airline ticket history, and the steps along the way that have been made to ensure that the correct passenger… is on the right airpla...

Before large jet airliners accelerate air travel growth in the late 1950s, flying between continents is an exhausting experience, requiring fifteen hours or more for the flight to New York from Europe. To help travelers pass the time, meal service is a big focus for the airlines, and the cuisine offered is an important way to distinguish an airline from its competitors in an era of tightly regulat...

The growth of the oldest U.S. Trunk or Mainline air carriers after 1945 drives demand for air travel, and new, larger airliners to meet that need.  But as the airlines and their aircraft grow, many smaller U.S. cities are in danger of losing their air service because they don't generate enough passenger volume to match the larger and costlier airliners coming on line. The solution is a new ca...

In some of the largest U.S. urban areas, road traffic congestion can be one of the biggest challenges to moving between the downtown area and the airport. Imagine, though, being able to get from Manhattan to La Guardia Airport in New York in just 6 minutes, or from Oakland to the San Francisco Airport in 7 minutes.  For many years, scheduled service helicopter airlines made fast airport travel tim...

During some of the most exciting developments and innovation in a young and emerging U.S. airline industry - from the 1930s through the late 1950s - two of the most sought-after airline career paths are unavailable to black Americans. They’re denied positions as airline pilots or flight attendants, no matter what their relevant experience or technical qualifications. With this Airline Time Machine...

The early 1950s is an exciting time in the airline business, and - more specifically - the airliner business. Airliner manufacturers are developing new planes that fly faster, farther, and with more passengers and cargo, but from England a new airliner sound is being heard - the high, shrill scream of jet engines. Most airlines are reluctant to embrace the new jet technology, both because it’s unl...

Beginning in the 1930s, many airlines maintain large networks of City Ticket Offices to conduct business with their customers in high-traffic shopping, office and hotel neighborhoods, far removed from their own airport operations. These in-town facilities become known as a City Ticket Office (or by the airline staff acronym “CTO”), to differentiate them from the Airport Ticket Office (or ATO) in e...

Tens of thousands of airline flights operate daily around the world, but every now and then one stands out because it helps make history, even though it was just another flight, on just another day. From 1976 until 2003, the supersonic Concorde airliner was frequently in the news, either for the noise it created, or the often famous people it carried. Join me for a look at how a normally scheduled...

The idea that some things are segregated by gender is not uncommon for many of us as we encounter washrooms, gym locker rooms, private schools and clubs, or religious facilities with restricted access based on gender. But starting in the 1950s, one United States airline introduces “Men Only” flights on one of its most popular business travel routes. Join me for a look at the exclusion of female pa...

If you’ve visited central Florida for a Disney vacation, you may have wished there was an easier, faster, way to get from the Orlando International Airport to Walt Disney World. Before that resort opens in October of 1971, planning for Walt Disney World includes a large jet airport within the resort’s grounds, to make it easy for visitors to start and end their visit.  Join me for a look at how ai...

Some air travelers are more than VIPs - they’re the VERY VIPs, the heads of state or monarchs whose travel comes with unusual requirements for privacy, secrecy, and security that just can’t typically be met by a scheduled airline service. Join me for an exploration of how air travel by heads of state began, has been intertwined with airline flying for a century, and will keep evolving past the 202...

Lavatory. Water closet. Washroom. Toilet. WC. Commode... or there's many more! Whatever name you choose, an airliner’s onboard personal comfort facilities are seen by a lot of travelers as an essential resource to have on their flight. Join me for this exploration of the history of airliner toilet facilities, and their evolution from the most basic equipment to meet flyer’s bodily needs, to t...

There’s a long history behind the “mile high club” lore, dating back to the 1780s. Stories of romantic interludes while at altitude hit the news pretty regularly over the years, but usually because of police involvement, and legal charges being filed. With this episode of the Airline Time Machine podcast, I’ll look at how people “getting romantic” in the air came about, the challenges that are cre...

Not too long ago, cigarette smoking was widespread, and permitted, onboard most passenger airliners worldwide.  A lot of travelers boarding flights today who don’t remember that era would likely be surprised by how prevalent inflight smoking was, by the way the process was managed, and by the smell of aircraft cabins and the damage that lit cigarettes caused to airliner cabin furnishings. With thi...

It's OK - this doesn't involve some sort of domestic pet violence. But this episode title highlights that assigned airport codes can sometimes appear to be something very different than their original intended purpose! Three-character codes that identify individual airports are critical for managing air travel safely and accurately, but the code an airport ends up with may not make sense...

In February of 1995, one of the busiest airports in the U.S. - Denver's Stapleton International Airport - closes, replaced by the new Denver International Airport several miles to the east. Over the next few years, the massive infrastructure of Stapleton Airport, including its terminal building, hangars, parking facilities, support structures, and miles of runways would disappear, largely era...

In 1985, more than 200 airlines provide scheduled passenger service on U.S. domestic routes under their own names and branding, and the country's airports are busy, crowded centers of activity. But four decades later, only fifty airlines remain serving U.S. internal routes, and only fifteen of those operate airliners with 100 or more passenger seats. This is the story of how the number of U.S...