Air Travel In The 60's Essay

Air travel in the 60’s was a thing of glamour and it was for the privileged few. It has come a long way since the “Jet set” days of the 60’s. Though air travel has considerably changed in terms of people who fly, airport infrastructure and inflight services, what with the economic downturn, cost cuts and never ending terrorism, flying is not what it used to be. Because of the exclusivity of air travel in the 60’s, tickets were very expensive, so only the rich and famous could afford it. In other words air travel was for people who had the big bucks. Flying back then was really an expensive way to travel, so it was like an occasion or an event for people. Air travel today can only be described as an everyday occurrence. It is part of human life. Anyone and everyone can fly today. Any person with a couple hundred bucks can buy a ticket and hop on an
Airports back then were basically a building or two with ticket counters and a runway. People would come to the airport, buy a ticket and get on the plane without any delay whatsoever because back then security was non-existent. The airport tarmac was open to just about everyone. The people who came to drop you off or pick you up could stand just outside the aircraft until you boarded or exited the aircraft. That has completely changed. Airports today are extremely complex structures of many interconnected terminals, hangars and runways. They are almost like independent cities complete with hotels, malls and fire and police stations. Once you walk into an airport today there seem to be endless lines of ticketing, baggage screening, security checks and almost everything between the airport entrance to the aircraft. Security at airports is a very big issue today. With enough security to form an army, you will encounter security from the moment you get out of the car to the moment you step in to the aircraft and that’s not the end of