很
多旅客都在哀叹：曾几何时，乘飞机出行是多么地美妙啊，准时、没有恼人的安检、一路心旷神怡好心情，如今这好日子怎么就一去不复返了呢？啊，50年代真是航空业的辉煌岁月啊，霍华德•休斯（Howard Hughes）的环球航空（TWA）和胡安•特里普（Juan Trippe）的泛美航空（Pan American）的航班搭载着好莱坞明星和商业巨头们穿梭于大洲甚而大洋之间，为乘客提供上流社会水准的高级服务。人们买一张机票，便可挑战地心引力，在数小时之内而不是数天之后便可到达另一个城市，飞机上有充裕的伸腿空间，没有恼人的安检，一路顺心顺意。
Everett Collection
20世纪60年代，乘客们在乘飞机时看电影。
过去的好时光对乘客而言充满了魅惑，不过记忆是很容易有偏差的。事实上，黄金时代并不是那么美妙，过去乘飞机出游的经历被描绘得那么神乎其神，其实是被人为地浪漫化了，而舒适度和安全方面的问题则被掩盖。
前弗吉尼亚州长杰拉尔德•巴莱尔斯（Gerald Baliles）在20世纪90年代初带领过一个旨在复兴美国航空业的总统委员会，他希望自己当年的建议如今还能得到采用，他表示，“从来没有过黄金时代。航空行业总是风水轮流转的，不管是对航空公司还是对乘客而言，一直都会存在这样那样的挑战。”
那个年代诸如“洛克希德星座”和“道格拉斯DC-7”之类的活塞引擎式飞机都很噪音很大而且颠簸非常厉害，也不能够像喷气式飞机那样穿越风暴和气流。发动机故障以及坠机事件都更为频繁。而且票价高昂，只有少数的精英人士才坐得起。
根据航空运输协会（Air Transport Association）的数据，1958年从纽约到洛杉矶的经济舱往返机票是208美元，如今你有时候也还能买到208美元的往返票。要知道，1958年的208美元可是相当于今天的1570美元啊。
LECG航空咨询公司的董事总经理丹尼尔•卡斯珀（Daniel Kasper）表示，“多数认为存在黄金时代的人其实并没有在那个时候坐过飞机。好莱坞的描述从来不会去关注有多少人因为无法承受高额费用而被拒之门外。”
Southwest Airlines
美国西南航空20世纪70年代的一张宣传照片。
还有一点与现在不同的是：那时候航空公司能提供的服务很受局限。那时候乘飞机穿越美国通常都要停靠好几次，而且中间很可能必须换乘别家航空公司的飞机。卡斯珀说，“你没法从起点直接到达目的地。”
这一现状在上世纪60时代末70年代初有所改观，这一时期被誉为航空业的又一个黄金时代，喷气式飞机大量涌现，取代了活塞引擎式飞机。两相比较，前者更可靠也更安全。
喷气式飞机可以搭载更多的乘客，速度也快了很多，因此航空公司就有了大量的座位可以出售。他们在机舱内安排了非常宽裕的伸腿空间──比如今经济舱每排之间的空间多了3至6英寸。此外还有很多空位置可以让旅客自由舒展身体。飞机的载荷系数或者说乘坐率，在1968年是45.9%，2009年则是80.4%。
为了吸引新乘客、笼络常旅客，航空公司各出高招相互竞争：可口的饭菜啦，穿着热裤和迷你裙的空姐提供无微不至的机上服务啦，极富挑逗意味的“跟我一起飞”的广告啦，等等。
波音747飞机于1969年投入航线运营，为普罗大众开启了国际飞行之门，在当年，其头等舱里设有钢琴酒吧，即便是经济舱，通常也会有三种套餐可供乘客选择。
航空业顾问斯坦利•普罗格（Stanley Plog）曾主持过多项针对乘客舒适度的调查，他表示，“当时的航空公司竞争的是服务而不是价格，真的非常好。这不仅仅是旧日好时光留给我们的回忆──那的确是非常好的服务。” 至今他还对环球公司航班上的烤大牛排念念不忘。
当然，问题也是有的。在各地拥挤的机场（尤以纽约、华盛顿和芝加哥为甚），喷气式飞机排成了康加舞队形，导致了长时间的误机，美国空中交通管制系统急需改进。听起来感觉很熟悉是吧？1969年，联邦政府采取了一项“临时”措施，这项措施至今仍然有效──在最拥挤的机场实施起飞和着陆限制。
劫机事件也越发频繁。根据联邦航空管理局（Federal Aviation Administration）的数据，仅1969年1月这一个月，便有八架航班被劫持至古巴。当年的10月份，东方航空公司（Eastern Air Lines）开始使用磁力仪对乘客进行扫描检查。1970年9月，解放巴勒斯坦人民阵线组织（Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine）劫持了三架原定飞往纽约的航班，并在所有人员离机后炸毁了飞机。此后，尼克松总统要求空警上飞机以及使用X射线扫描机进行安全检查。
安全也是一个问题。从1964年到1973年，美国航空业平均每年发生七起致命性事件。1969年的航空事故死亡率比2009年高出了整整13倍。
而且，那个时候，即便航空公司推出了提前购票经济舱票价，坐飞机也还是非常之昂贵的。
乘飞机的费用对于很多人来说还是可望而不可及，1978年，国会和卡特政府撤销了对航空业的管制规定。此举为新成立的各家州际航空公司打开了市场，航空公司可以自行决定何时起飞、飞往何处、机票售价几何。
其结果是戏剧性的。根据航空运输协会的数据，1977年，飞行一英里的平均价格是8.42美分，考虑到通货膨胀的因素，这个价格在如今相当于30多美分。去年，旅客乘坐飞机所支付的费用平均为每英里13.5美分。1978年，有2.75亿旅客乘坐飞机出行，30年之后这个数字为7.41亿。大致说来，如今人们乘飞机出行的费用是从前的一半不到，而如今的乘客人数则是过去的近三倍。
撤销管制在航空业界掀起了大风暴，至今仍有余波。部分航空公司多次破产重组，还有些航空公司则忍痛倒闭。1978年全美航空公司二十强中，如今硕果仅存的只有六家，这些倒闭的公司包括东方航空（Eastern）、环球航空、亚利根尼航空（Allegheny）、布兰尼夫航空（Braniff）、西部航空（Western）和泛美航空。
如今的航空业面临的是疯狂的票价竞争、恼人的安检、粗暴的服务、长时间的晚点以及混乱的票务规则，没人会认为这是一个黄金时代。航空公司没有利润可言，自然也就很难投钱开发更好的产品。
对于乘客而言，选择的确多了很多。只要他们愿意掏腰包，他们尽可去买头等舱机票，享受如今的国际公务舱中的平躺床和高档美食，以及未来新型喷气式飞机上堪与昔日媲美的高尚服务。捷蓝航空（JetBlue）、西南航空（Southwest）、穿越航空（AirTran）等“廉价”航空公司以大众负担得起的价格──这是优质航空旅行体系的首要之事──提供高速的公共交通服务。
巴莱尔斯州长带领的委员会早在1993年便提出了针对空中交通管制系统及其他系统的诸多改进建议，如果这些建议能够最终得到采纳，那么他认为航空公司的盈利能力就有望得到提升，乘客也有望享受到更高质量的服务。
他表示，“这样也许就能使我们久违的黄金时代再度降临。”
不过普罗格表示，那种认为飞机就是空中巴士的心态会很难改变。航空公司一次又一次地发现，乘客想要的就是最低的价格，多数人不会愿意为了一些细微的改进而支付额外的费用。
普罗格说，“我喜欢坐飞机。但是现在，我尽量能不坐就不坐。”
Scott McCartney
这一现状在上世纪60时代末70年代初有所改观，这一时期被誉为航空业的又一个黄金时代，喷气式飞机大量涌现，取代了活塞引擎式飞机。两相比较，前者更可靠也更安全。
喷气式飞机可以搭载更多的乘客，速度也快了很多，因此航空公司就有了大量的座位可以出售。他们在机舱内安排了非常宽裕的伸腿空间──比如今经济舱每排之间的空间多了3至6英寸。此外还有很多空位置可以让旅客自由舒展身体。飞机的载荷系数或者说乘坐率，在1968年是45.9%，2009年则是80.4%。
为了吸引新乘客、笼络常旅客，航空公司各出高招相互竞争：可口的饭菜啦，穿着热裤和迷你裙的空姐提供无微不至的机上服务啦，极富挑逗意味的“跟我一起飞”的广告啦，等等。
波音747飞机于1969年投入航线运营，为普罗大众开启了国际飞行之门，在当年，其头等舱里设有钢琴酒吧，即便是经济舱，通常也会有三种套餐可供乘客选择。
航空业顾问斯坦利•普罗格（Stanley Plog）曾主持过多项针对乘客舒适度的调查，他表示，“当时的航空公司竞争的是服务而不是价格，真的非常好。这不仅仅是旧日好时光留给我们的回忆──那的确是非常好的服务。” 至今他还对环球公司航班上的烤大牛排念念不忘。
当然，问题也是有的。在各地拥挤的机场（尤以纽约、华盛顿和芝加哥为甚），喷气式飞机排成了康加舞队形，导致了长时间的误机，美国空中交通管制系统急需改进。听起来感觉很熟悉是吧？1969年，联邦政府采取了一项“临时”措施，这项措施至今仍然有效──在最拥挤的机场实施起飞和着陆限制。
劫机事件也越发频繁。根据联邦航空管理局（Federal Aviation Administration）的数据，仅1969年1月这一个月，便有八架航班被劫持至古巴。当年的10月份，东方航空公司（Eastern Air Lines）开始使用磁力仪对乘客进行扫描检查。1970年9月，解放巴勒斯坦人民阵线组织（Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine）劫持了三架原定飞往纽约的航班，并在所有人员离机后炸毁了飞机。此后，尼克松总统要求空警上飞机以及使用X射线扫描机进行安全检查。
安全也是一个问题。从1964年到1973年，美国航空业平均每年发生七起致命性事件。1969年的航空事故死亡率比2009年高出了整整13倍。
而且，那个时候，即便航空公司推出了提前购票经济舱票价，坐飞机也还是非常之昂贵的。
乘飞机的费用对于很多人来说还是可望而不可及，1978年，国会和卡特政府撤销了对航空业的管制规定。此举为新成立的各家州际航空公司打开了市场，航空公司可以自行决定何时起飞、飞往何处、机票售价几何。
其结果是戏剧性的。根据航空运输协会的数据，1977年，飞行一英里的平均价格是8.42美分，考虑到通货膨胀的因素，这个价格在如今相当于30多美分。去年，旅客乘坐飞机所支付的费用平均为每英里13.5美分。1978年，有2.75亿旅客乘坐飞机出行，30年之后这个数字为7.41亿。大致说来，如今人们乘飞机出行的费用是从前的一半不到，而如今的乘客人数则是过去的近三倍。
撤销管制在航空业界掀起了大风暴，至今仍有余波。部分航空公司多次破产重组，还有些航空公司则忍痛倒闭。1978年全美航空公司二十强中，如今硕果仅存的只有六家，这些倒闭的公司包括东方航空（Eastern）、环球航空、亚利根尼航空（Allegheny）、布兰尼夫航空（Braniff）、西部航空（Western）和泛美航空。
如今的航空业面临的是疯狂的票价竞争、恼人的安检、粗暴的服务、长时间的晚点以及混乱的票务规则，没人会认为这是一个黄金时代。航空公司没有利润可言，自然也就很难投钱开发更好的产品。
对于乘客而言，选择的确多了很多。只要他们愿意掏腰包，他们尽可去买头等舱机票，享受如今的国际公务舱中的平躺床和高档美食，以及未来新型喷气式飞机上堪与昔日媲美的高尚服务。捷蓝航空（JetBlue）、西南航空（Southwest）、穿越航空（AirTran）等“廉价”航空公司以大众负担得起的价格──这是优质航空旅行体系的首要之事──提供高速的公共交通服务。
巴莱尔斯州长带领的委员会早在1993年便提出了针对空中交通管制系统及其他系统的诸多改进建议，如果这些建议能够最终得到采纳，那么他认为航空公司的盈利能力就有望得到提升，乘客也有望享受到更高质量的服务。
他表示，“这样也许就能使我们久违的黄金时代再度降临。”
不过普罗格表示，那种认为飞机就是空中巴士的心态会很难改变。航空公司一次又一次地发现，乘客想要的就是最低的价格，多数人不会愿意为了一些细微的改进而支付额外的费用。
普罗格说，“我喜欢坐飞机。但是现在，我尽量能不坐就不坐。”
Scott McCartney
It's a common travelers' lament: Why can't airline service be like the good old days, when plane travel was glamorous, on-time, hassle-free and exciting?
Ah, the glory days of air travel in the 1950s, when Howard Hughes's TWA and Juan Trippe's Pan American lifted Hollywood stars and business titans across continents and even oceans in white-glove style. There was plenty of legroom, nary a security hassle and planeloads of excitement when people could buy a ticket to defy gravity and arrive in new cities in hours instead of days.
Some in Congress are behind a back-to-the-future legislative move to re-regulate the airline industry. Changes such as policing airline schedules, controlling fees, curbing overbooking and even imposing minimum service standards could help tidy up the current bus-in-the-sky mentality. The Department of Transportation has been writing new rules to protect passengers' rights.
The past has allure for travelers, of course, but with a common caveat with memories. Truth is, the good old days weren't all that good, with air travel of the past romanticized and comfort and safety issues glossed over. 'The Golden Age has never existed,'' said former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles, who led a presidential commission in the early 1990s to revitalize the U.S. airline industry and hopes his recommendations may still be enacted. 'The cyclical world of aviation travel has always had its challenges, for the carriers as well as the travelers.'
The piston-driven planes of those days, like the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7, were noisy and often ferociously bumpy. They couldn't fly over storms and turbulence the way jet-powered airplanes can. Engine failures were more frequent. So were crashes. And the cost of a ticket was affordable for only an elite few.
A round-trip coach ticket between New York and Los Angeles was $208 in 1958, according to the Air Transport Association. You can still sometimes find a $208 ticket today, but that 1958 price is $1,570 in today's dollars.
'Most people who think of the Golden Age age of air travel probably didn't fly then,' said Daniel Kasper, a managing director at LECG, an aviation consulting company. 'The Hollywood image never focuses on how many people were left outside the gate because they couldn't afford it.'
Another difference: Limited flight service. Getting across the country often required multiple stops. And making connections might mean changing airlines. 'You couldn't get there from here,' Mr. Kasper said.
Things changed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, held up as another Golden Age of air travel when jets were proliferating. Jets were more reliable and safer than the piston-engine planes they replaced.
With jets able to carry more people and move them far faster than ever before, airlines found themselves with lots of seats to sell. They laid out cabins with generous legroom -- three to six inches more than today per row in coach. Travelers enjoyed lots of empty seats to spread out into, too. The load factor, or percentage of seats filled, was 45.9% in 1968, compared to 80.4% in 2009.
To entice new fliers and build business with frequent travelers, airlines tried to one-up each other with scrumptious meals, attentive on-board service by stewardesses in hot pants and miniskirts and provocative 'Fly Me' ads.
Boeing 747s, which started airline service in 1969 and opened international travel to the masses, had piano bars in first class. Even coach passengers were routinely offered three choices of meals.
'Airlines competed on the basis of service and not on the basis of price. And it was good. It's not just the memory of good ol' times -- it was really good service,' said Stanley Plog, an airline consultant who conducted studies on passenger comfort. He still recalls how tasty the Chateaubriand was on TWA.
Still, there were problems. Conga lines of jets at crowded airports, particularly in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, led to long delays and calls to modernize the nation's air-traffic-control system. Sound familiar? In 1969, the government imposed a 'temporary' measure that remains in effect today -- takeoff and landing slot restrictions at the most-crowded airports.
Hijackings became common. In one month alone -- January 1969 -- eight airliners were hijacked to Cuba, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In October that year, Eastern Air Lines began using magnetometers to screen passengers. In September 1970, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked three planes bound for New York and blew up the empty jets. President Richard Nixon ordered air marshals aboard jets and the use of X-rays to screen for weapons.
And safety was still an issue. From 1964 to 1973, there was an average of seven fatal accidents a year on U.S. airlines. The fatal accident rate per departure in 1969 was 13 times higher than in 2009.
And all that service and style was expensive, even with airlines offering advance-purchase economy fares.
With the cost still prohibitive for many, Congress and the Carter administration deregulated the industry in 1978. That opened the market to new interstate airlines and let carriers fly wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and at whatever prices they wanted.
The results were dramatic. In 1977, the average price paid to fly one mile was 8.42 cents, according to the ATA. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than 30 cents a mile. Last year, travelers paid an average of 13.5 cents. In 1978, airlines carried 275 million passengers. Thirty years later, they carried 741 million. Roughly speaking, it costs less than half as much to travel today and nearly three times as many people are traveling.
Deregulation brought turmoil that continues today, including multiple bankruptcy reorganizations for some carriers, painful shutdowns for others. Among the names of the top 20 U.S. airlines in 1978, only six of them are still in use today. Grounded names include Eastern, TWA, Allegheny, Braniff, Western and Pan Am.
These days, no one is suggesting that fee frenzies, security hassles, surly service, long delays and confounding ticket rules mark any sort of Golden Age of air travel. When airlines don't have profits, it's hard to invest in a better product.
Travelers do have a lot more choices. They can buy first-class service if they are willing to pay for it, and the lie-flat beds and fancy meals of today's international business class and tomorrow's new jets compare well to the elegance of old. 'Value' carriers like JetBlue, Southwest and AirTran provide rapid mass transportation at affordable prices -- the bottom line to a good-quality air-travel system.
If the nation makes long-delayed improvements in the air-traffic control system and other systems that his commission recommended in 1993, Gov. Baliles sees hope for improved profitability for airlines and thus better quality service for travelers.
'That might approach a Golden Age that so far has eluded all of us,' he said.
But Mr. Plog says it will be hard to overcome the bus-in-the-sky mentality. Airlines have found time after time that customers focus on the lowest price and most won't pay extra for niceties.
'I love to fly,' Mr. Plog said. 'But today, I avoid it when I can.'
Scott McCartney
Ah, the glory days of air travel in the 1950s, when Howard Hughes's TWA and Juan Trippe's Pan American lifted Hollywood stars and business titans across continents and even oceans in white-glove style. There was plenty of legroom, nary a security hassle and planeloads of excitement when people could buy a ticket to defy gravity and arrive in new cities in hours instead of days.
Some in Congress are behind a back-to-the-future legislative move to re-regulate the airline industry. Changes such as policing airline schedules, controlling fees, curbing overbooking and even imposing minimum service standards could help tidy up the current bus-in-the-sky mentality. The Department of Transportation has been writing new rules to protect passengers' rights.
The past has allure for travelers, of course, but with a common caveat with memories. Truth is, the good old days weren't all that good, with air travel of the past romanticized and comfort and safety issues glossed over. 'The Golden Age has never existed,'' said former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles, who led a presidential commission in the early 1990s to revitalize the U.S. airline industry and hopes his recommendations may still be enacted. 'The cyclical world of aviation travel has always had its challenges, for the carriers as well as the travelers.'
The piston-driven planes of those days, like the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7, were noisy and often ferociously bumpy. They couldn't fly over storms and turbulence the way jet-powered airplanes can. Engine failures were more frequent. So were crashes. And the cost of a ticket was affordable for only an elite few.
A round-trip coach ticket between New York and Los Angeles was $208 in 1958, according to the Air Transport Association. You can still sometimes find a $208 ticket today, but that 1958 price is $1,570 in today's dollars.
'Most people who think of the Golden Age age of air travel probably didn't fly then,' said Daniel Kasper, a managing director at LECG, an aviation consulting company. 'The Hollywood image never focuses on how many people were left outside the gate because they couldn't afford it.'
Another difference: Limited flight service. Getting across the country often required multiple stops. And making connections might mean changing airlines. 'You couldn't get there from here,' Mr. Kasper said.
Things changed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, held up as another Golden Age of air travel when jets were proliferating. Jets were more reliable and safer than the piston-engine planes they replaced.
With jets able to carry more people and move them far faster than ever before, airlines found themselves with lots of seats to sell. They laid out cabins with generous legroom -- three to six inches more than today per row in coach. Travelers enjoyed lots of empty seats to spread out into, too. The load factor, or percentage of seats filled, was 45.9% in 1968, compared to 80.4% in 2009.
To entice new fliers and build business with frequent travelers, airlines tried to one-up each other with scrumptious meals, attentive on-board service by stewardesses in hot pants and miniskirts and provocative 'Fly Me' ads.
Boeing 747s, which started airline service in 1969 and opened international travel to the masses, had piano bars in first class. Even coach passengers were routinely offered three choices of meals.
'Airlines competed on the basis of service and not on the basis of price. And it was good. It's not just the memory of good ol' times -- it was really good service,' said Stanley Plog, an airline consultant who conducted studies on passenger comfort. He still recalls how tasty the Chateaubriand was on TWA.
Still, there were problems. Conga lines of jets at crowded airports, particularly in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, led to long delays and calls to modernize the nation's air-traffic-control system. Sound familiar? In 1969, the government imposed a 'temporary' measure that remains in effect today -- takeoff and landing slot restrictions at the most-crowded airports.
Hijackings became common. In one month alone -- January 1969 -- eight airliners were hijacked to Cuba, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In October that year, Eastern Air Lines began using magnetometers to screen passengers. In September 1970, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked three planes bound for New York and blew up the empty jets. President Richard Nixon ordered air marshals aboard jets and the use of X-rays to screen for weapons.
And safety was still an issue. From 1964 to 1973, there was an average of seven fatal accidents a year on U.S. airlines. The fatal accident rate per departure in 1969 was 13 times higher than in 2009.
And all that service and style was expensive, even with airlines offering advance-purchase economy fares.
With the cost still prohibitive for many, Congress and the Carter administration deregulated the industry in 1978. That opened the market to new interstate airlines and let carriers fly wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and at whatever prices they wanted.
The results were dramatic. In 1977, the average price paid to fly one mile was 8.42 cents, according to the ATA. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than 30 cents a mile. Last year, travelers paid an average of 13.5 cents. In 1978, airlines carried 275 million passengers. Thirty years later, they carried 741 million. Roughly speaking, it costs less than half as much to travel today and nearly three times as many people are traveling.
Deregulation brought turmoil that continues today, including multiple bankruptcy reorganizations for some carriers, painful shutdowns for others. Among the names of the top 20 U.S. airlines in 1978, only six of them are still in use today. Grounded names include Eastern, TWA, Allegheny, Braniff, Western and Pan Am.
These days, no one is suggesting that fee frenzies, security hassles, surly service, long delays and confounding ticket rules mark any sort of Golden Age of air travel. When airlines don't have profits, it's hard to invest in a better product.
Travelers do have a lot more choices. They can buy first-class service if they are willing to pay for it, and the lie-flat beds and fancy meals of today's international business class and tomorrow's new jets compare well to the elegance of old. 'Value' carriers like JetBlue, Southwest and AirTran provide rapid mass transportation at affordable prices -- the bottom line to a good-quality air-travel system.
If the nation makes long-delayed improvements in the air-traffic control system and other systems that his commission recommended in 1993, Gov. Baliles sees hope for improved profitability for airlines and thus better quality service for travelers.
'That might approach a Golden Age that so far has eluded all of us,' he said.
But Mr. Plog says it will be hard to overcome the bus-in-the-sky mentality. Airlines have found time after time that customers focus on the lowest price and most won't pay extra for niceties.
'I love to fly,' Mr. Plog said. 'But today, I avoid it when I can.'
Scott McCartney
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