Despite being known as the golden age of air travel, flying in the '50s was not cheap. In fact, a roundtrip flight from Chicago to Phoenix could cost today's equivalent of $1,168 when adjusted for inflation.
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Of course, back in the 1950s, plane tickets could cost as much as three times (or more) than tickets do today, with prices adjusted for inflation. In that regard, modern air travel's lack of amenities seems to make sense.
But people didn't take flying for granted in the 1950s, when air travel was still new and exciting. In that era, flight attendants served in-flight meals on fine china plates with proper cutlery, passengers could stretch their legs in lounges on the plane, and even sleep in seats that converted into beds.
During the '50s, a huge portion of the American population purchased a set of wheels, giving them the opportunity to hit the open road and live the American dream. Come 1960, airports had expanded globally to provide both international and domestic flights to passengers.
Flights in the 1970s may well have been a lot more expensive, but passengers also got much more in terms of service. As airlines didn't set their own rates, they were guaranteed profits. As a result, with the money travelers paid, airlines were able to offer crystal glasses, complimentary champagne, and real cutlery.
But falling fares in the 1970s allowed many more people to fly and undermined the exclusivity of jet travel. Sweeping cultural changes in the 1960s and 1970s reshaped the airline industry. More people began to fly, and air travel became less exclusive. Between 1955 and 1972, passenger numbers more than quadrupled.
October 2, 1957: Trans World Airlines' L-1649A, set the record for the longest-duration, non-stop passenger flight aboard a piston-powered airliner on the inaugural London–Heathrow to San Francisco Flight 801 where the aircraft, having encountered strong headwinds, stayed aloft for 23 hours and 19 minutes covering ...
In the 1980s you could smoke cigarettes on flights, meals were included, and you could check as many bags as you wanted. Flying saw some fun arrangements in the '80s.
This was the Golden Age of Flight. Specifically, the interwar years between 1918 and 1939 saw a breakthrough in aviation that revolutionized the way people fly and changed twentieth-century history .