How Air Travel Has Changed Over the Years

Air travel has changed significantly over the years. Not only is it safer, but it is a shorter experience as well. In today’s world, we’re used to heavy security and long waiting times, but that wasn’t always the case for air travel. Here’s how air travel has changed over the years and become the flying experience we know today.

Security

Before 9/11 happened 15 years ago, security in airports was much less strict. According to Claim Compass, the restrictions now are much more strict than they used to be. Lines were shorter and you didn’t have to arrive at the airport hours in advance as you do now. But the time spent at the airport isn’t the only thing that has changed.

Before 9/11, you were allowed to take almost anything aboard a plane. Blades up to 4 inches long were allowed on a plane as well as things like baseball bats, box cutters, darts, knitting needles, scissors, and other larger objects.  What you wore or looked like was of little concern to security at airports and most passengers and flight crews didn’t look twice. Now, TSA has lists of behaviors and traits that they look out for.

In-Flight Experience

If you look at pictures of planes from 70 years ago compared to now, there are some noticeable differences, but the real differences are on the inside of planes. Did you know that many planes used to have bars, pianos, and socializing areas in the plane itself? You could roam the plane throughout the entire flight and visit the cockpit, too. Now, we know that you need to stay in your seat as much as possible and have your seatbelt on for most, if not all, of the flight.

Smoking was also incredibly popular on airplane flights, but part of that is due to the lack of knowledge about the danger of tobacco. Cigarettes could cause fires on the planes and are also deadly for you. According to VapeRanger, tobacco is still responsible for 7 million deaths worldwide every year.

Length of Flight

Flights now are much, much shorter than they used to be. For example, in 1935, a flight from the UK to Australia lasted 12 days, including multiple stops. Now, you can get to Australia in under 20 hours from the UK, which is a major improvement. Flights that lasted days 70 years ago now only take a few hours. However, just because the flights were long doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t entertaining. Now, we have individual screens. But according to Fly, the whole plane used to watch a movie together on a single screen. You could even sleep in full-sized beds on many flights.

Safety

Nowadays, according to StaffTraveler, flying is known to be much safer with very few crashes each year. But that wasn’t always the case. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, there were many major crashes a year in the United States and even more, scattered across the globe. But what about now? The odds of dying in an airplane crash in both the United States and Europe are around 29 million to one. You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to die in an airplane crash. Air safety is improving more and more each decade and will continue to improve over time. Technology and science have helped to decrease the number of fatal accidents and have helped us to learn how to keep improving safety as time goes on.

There have been many changes to air travel over the last 100 years, and these are just a few of those changes. Not only has the look of flights and passengers changed, but the safety and experience as a whole have changed, too.

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