The first time you flew in a plane..Was it stressful?

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As I've said a million times, I'm a big Amtrak fan (when I have the time) but I used to love to fly, back in the day. Actually, I still love to fly, when someone is springing for first class. I love, love, love first class.

I started flying back in the 70's when I would go on trips with my Dad. He had been in the Army Air Corps in WWII, so he could explain all the things that we going on with the mechanical aspects of the plane, and turbulence and things like that.

We mostly flew American or United to New York (with stops in Chicago and DC, if I recall) but sometimes we flew Braniff, which was always special, with their crazy planes and high-fashion stewardesses and the like.

Then I flew as an unaccompanied minor on several occassions, and they would always put me up in first class, so that they could keep an eye on me. I think that's where my love for first class began, lol.

But nowadays, when the airports are as charming as a shopping mall, and every seat is a middle seat, I can't get too excited about the friendly skies. Give me a boat or train anyday.
 
What was once a quick alternative to a 12-14 hr car ride, has become a true nightmare the lines and bored crying kids, the delays. Flying WAS at one time an enjoyable experience, Im thinking those days are gone forever, I sure miss them.
 
I was a little kid the first time I flew and it wasn't stressful, I played cards with my mother and we had a grand old time. The flying isn't stressful generally unless there are children (I hate children) or the seats are too tight. I laugh every time the news prints some story about a kid getting the boot off the plane. The airport itself can be stressful or not.
 
The first time I flew was in august 1997, a holiday trip from Brindisi to London with a chartered BMI flight. The typical family summer holiday trip. Mom & dad and the two little overexcited pests. It was a beautiful experience, I remember the landing as the best part because of London at night, I never had seen such a scenery before.
Since then I started flying regulary and now (living 800km from home) I fly around 20 times a year plus all the vacation flights I take for pleasure.
Stressful flights? Yes only twice. Never ever fly again with KLM. They lost my bags twice!!! (both going & returning) and cancelled flight twice, I had to spend a day at Amsterdam and land in Venice istead of Bologna. They pretty much deleted my Swedish vacation last summer! And let's not talk about customer service quality... at least I was flying business class!
Never again... oh, btw who wants a couple of 50€ discount vocuhers for KLM flights I has as partial compensation???
 
Nervous Flight - age 19

It was just after dawn, 1969 and I was 19 and we were in an RC-130 over the Ho Chi Minh Trial when I received a secure message that a mobile SAM (surface to air missile) had been moved to our coordinates during the night. I warned the mission supervisor and the pilot. The pilot banked that old plane over (almost spilled my coffee on my equipment) and got out of there. We all sat there expecting to be blown out of the sky. Scary as heck.
P.S. But I still think flying is safer than the trip to the airport.
 
Ohh and i forgto to mention the stupid women with her little baby who wouldn't shut up. Then she started yaking on her phone and they ahad to ask her to turn it off. Hopefully the trip home will be uneventful
 
My first flight was on a 707 out of SFO. It was quite exhilerating. I loved just about everything about it. No delays, the takeoff acceleration was tremendous, even the food was great. Of course, this was around 1968; things have changed quite a bit, both aircraft and airports. Since then I flew quite a bit work related in the 90's, and grew less and less enamored of the process. I would refer to modern jets as "flying busses". It's not that I'm afraid of flying, I just don't like the cramped discomfort, the surly flight attendants (esp on United), the delays, the baggage losses, the dehydration, the excreble refreshments, etc... I actually like the thrill of turbulence, within reason. Now I have a different career and business travel is unlikely, which suits me just fine.

I much prefer train travel. The ones in Japan are fantastic.
 
As a 757 Captain for "Big Red" in MSP, I enjoyed reading about your flying experiences!
Frigilux, shame on you! If you ever have to evacuate, leave your posessions behind! During an emergency evacuation, every single second counts! The difference between two seconds could mean the difference between someone surviving or not! Do you remember about what dates this incident was? It is extremely rare for two out of three hydraulic systems to fail. In my 37 years of flying I have never experienced such a failure. But we do train for it in the simulators!
Also another note about evacuating an aircraft. Don't wear shorts and flip flops on aircraft! The emergency slides have the texture of a burlap bag. What do you think will happen to the back of your legs and heels should you need to evacuate via one of these? Usually you will be left with no skin left! Believe it or not, nice heavy denim is safe to wear. It doesn't burn very easy, either!

American never flew the Constellation, but in 1959, they flew the DC-7 and were just getting their deliveries of the turboprop Electra.

Those BAC 1-11's were one of my favorite aircraft! My Dad flew them with Braniff. American, Braniff, Bonanza and Mohawk were the only carriers to order that plane. Later on USAIR and Florida Express flew them as Braniff and American got rid of them. They were very advanced for their time, even able to land on a golf course if needed. With those Rolls-Royce Spey engines, they could really get up and go!

Exploder, I am sorry to hear that your initial flight experience wasn't the best. What you flew on is known as a "regional jet". The larger jets are referred to as "mainline" equipment. Over the past few years, airlines have been having a love affair with those small jets. We nicknamed them "Barbie Jets". Utilizing these aircraft, it allows the airlines to offer more flights per day that using the mainline equipment.
But these planes were initially designed to be used on routes that are 500 miles or less. But some airlines have been using them on 2,000 mile routes! Imagine 3 and 1/2 hours in one of those?

As for my point of view, I started my airline career with North Central airlines and then through mergers ended up with Republic and then survived the acquisition with Northwest where I am today. Even I will admit that all the fun is gone, thanks to 9-11 and the current price of oil and bottom line concerns. We have gone from staying in nice hotels for layovers to some of the crappiest Motel 6's you can imagine! Last year Northwest passed out a flier to it's flight attendants suggesting ways to cut their personal cost of living. This was shortly after getting massive pay cuts from that employee group. The pamphlet suggested that they do the following:

Buy their clothing at second hand stores
Learn how to cut coupons.
Apply for food stamps
They even suggested dumpster diving!

It's no wonder flight crews are downright surly these days!

If anyone has any questions about what goes on "up front", I would be more than happy to answer them.
 
I don't think anyone who by age or whatever and never had the chance to fly back in the pre 70's could really understand how much it has changed for the worse. Back then it was and "event", it was expensive, and people dressed for it pretty much like they would dress to go to church, suits and ties, etc. Everyone was on their best behavior. It is just as bad and sometimes worse than a city bus nowadays, worse because you can't pull the cord and get off, you're often stuck with a bunch of boors.
The worst flight I ever had was from Vancouver to Montreal with a stop in Toronto. Huge lightning storm over Toronto so the pilot said they'd circle and see if the ceiling lifted, for about 20 odd minutes, then they attempted to land. That jet shook so bad some people were screaming and some of the overhead bins popped open. They aborted the landing and the plane shot back up again. Once we were out of it I figured we'd be on our way to Montreal but no, they had to make another attempt,, and the whole scenario was repeated. I was terrified, another aborted landing and so we finally headed to Montreal.. I think the only reason they were so adamant about landing in Toronto was because I was the only person who was going on to Montreal and they didn't want to put the other 200+ passengers up in a hotel overnight. That was Air Canada and I swore I'd never fly them again..
Unfortunately they bought out CP Air etc and there's little choice now.. I flew them home to Calgary from Toronto last August after house hunting here...my first flight in years.
Alls well, get on the plane, taxi out to the runway and wait..another storm, wait for 3.5 hours at the end of the runway and then they don't have enough fuel to make it to Calgary so back to the airport where we were left to our own devices to find accomodations at midnight and told to come back later and try to get another flight.
 
One of the things we try to do is to give our passengers the smoothest ride possible. But sometimes due to other air traffic and huge weather systems, this is just not possible. It's uncomfortable to ride out a storm, but remember that even when you are in severe chop (what we call turbulence) and you feel like the aircraft is falling, just remember that it is still flying. Just think of it as a roller coaster ride.

Always keep your seat belts fastened when at your seat. You just would not believe the number of people hurt every year due to unexpected turbulence. We just had one of our 757's get bounced real hard going into DEN. On a clear blue sky day. One flight attendant ended up with a broken leg and quite a few passengers had good bumps on their heads. A lot of these incidents don't even make the news!
 
Airline Revenge

Last year I went to Vegas. Comming back, the fat fellow next to me who had hair places I didn't rightly know you could have hair (the face of his nose for one), decided to take up my space as well. Fortunately I had the window seat and could retreat into the cavity created by the curve of the aeroplane body. Anyway I got my revenge on him when they served lunch durring severe turbulance (about six feet to a transition); he began getting somewhat airsick, but I was not troubled, so I began greedily eating my sandwich. The fat guy took one look at his and put it in his seat pocket. He took one look at me, turned green, and I swear I could hear him thinking "He's not eatin' that sammich, he's not eatin' that sammich..." HAHAHA
 
The best post-60's air travel I've ever had was Virgin Atlantic from SFO to Heathrow, and back. They were truly amazing. It didn't hurt that I was flying business class and had requested the upper deck where there were only about five passengers total. Yeah, I know, upstairs it's probably a death trap in a crash but I don't dwell on such things.

Flew United to Japan a couple of times. It was OK, except for once when I really had to get there that day and they cancelled the flight due to mechanical problems before takeoff, and there was no other flight until the next morning. They wanted to put me up in some hotel at the airport. I had to wheedle with them to get them to give me a ride back home (I had been picked up by a company limo to get to the airport in the first place). It was amazing considering the ride home was probably a lot cheaper for them than the hotel stay. What really burned me is that my coworkers got my phone message wrong and started saying I'd missed my flight. LOL. But we did get there and back in one piece.

I remember flying inter-island in Hawaii in the mid 80's and experiencing very weird cabin wall behavior. The outer walls were flexing so much they would pinch my fingers if I left them on the window-side armrest. A couple years later the roof blew off one of those jets in flight. I wasn't surprised.
 
Let's see, I'm terrified of heights, I hate travelin

Yeah, I'd say my first time was stressful. And the time after that. And all of those other times since then.

My sister loves flying. I just can't figure that out. Even if it weren't for all of my personal quirks, it's still uncomfortable and annoying.

The first time I was in an airplane, I was headed to Florida for a cruise. Rather than pack my suit for the Captain's Dinner, I wore it (it was winter anyway, so I needed something warm). It was a short commuter hop, and I was wedged in a tiny 3-seat row between two men who each weighed over 300lbs, and wearing a three-piece suit.

To try and calm myself as much as possible, I decided to read the Safety Instruction Card in the seat pocket. I was mildly amused (enough to keep me from freaking out anyway, and that was the purpose of reading) to see that, according to the card, the plane I was on was comfortable, spacious, and quiet. 0 out of 3 ain't good, to coin a phrase.

It was a VERY short flight, but it was still a time when the arilines thought they should try to appear to provide service, so there were snacks and beverages.

When the amusement of the comfortable, quiet, spacious cabin in which I was being nearly crushed by my seatmates and deafened by the roar of the engines and air-conditioning had nearly worn off, I found myself laughing openly at the beverage/snack service. The entirety of the 20-minute flight was occupied by the flight attendants rushing down the aisle, doling out coffee or soda and pretzels as fast as they could, running back with the cart so that they could secure it, and then demanding the empty cups and bags so they could get them in the trash before we began descent. Hilarious.

The Chicago-Florida leg wasn't nearly as funny or memorable.

My last flight, to Las Vegas for training, was a nightmare. For a two-day work training session, I spent just about exactly 24 hours in airports and planes. My flights were delayed and canceled, and I arrived in a strange place at 1AM (scheduled at 8PM), with no way to get to my hotel, 40 miles out in the desert. Of course, all of the airport's usual Customer Service facilities had closed many hours prevoius. I'll never fly United/TED again, no matter what. I met dozens of people in various Ticket lines in three cities who said the same thing.

I would have taken the train, but they were sold out.

-kevin
 
Alan, one time I was flying with my dad, and we hit a really bad air pocket and the poor stew was thrown up to the roof, and then landed across a row of (thankfully) empty seats. She was really bruised up badly, and dislocated her shoulder.

To add insult to injury, it was in the days when the stewardesses had to wear those really short skirts, so the whole cabin got a show. The gal was a trooper though, and even got a laugh out of it.

With air pockets and turbulence being a reality, I never figured how they could have things like the first class lounge on the 747 or the "friendship rooms" in coach (as in this ad from United) Not that they lasted very long.

 
With all due respect to Whirlcool-----

American actually did operate Constellations.

Anxious to join the "Big League" of PA(and TW)at the close of WWII, AA was allowed to merge (absorb) American Export Airlines (approved by the CAB in June 1945. By November AA was offering international service between New York and London using C-54's converted to DC-4 configuration.
New York,Boston London was soon added. And of course, especially westbound in the winter (due to strong headwinds) fuel stops were often if not always made at either Shannon, Gander or both. Eventually service began between Chicago-London, New York-Shannon-Amsterdam,New York-Copenhagen-Stockholm,and Washington-Philadelphia-Shannon-London.

Since the DC-4 aircraft were neither pressurized nor speedy (for the day), by Fall 1946 Lockheed 049 Constellations, eventually totalling seven, were introduced to the fleet, to the great relief of pax and crew alike I'm sure.

The international division being known as AOA or American Overseas Airlines, eventually grew to operate eight Boeing 377 Stratocruisers as well. By 1947 AOA had introduced service to Helsinki, Glasgow,Rekjavik, Frankfurt, and Berlin.

It was a noble effort, but not a money-making one. The trans-Atlantic traffic was just not enough to sustain PA,TW and AA in the post-WWII world. Talks were quietly begun with PA about a take-over. After the usual haggling and sabre-rattling, the CAB finally approved the merger on Sepetember 25th, 1950.

And so it went, another of the great chapters in the "golden age" of commercial aviation.

My earliest memories of flying were one of my parents pulling me up the aisle of a DC-3 toward the favored front row of seats. The DC-3 being quite the tail-wagger in bad weather, it was better to brave the roar of the engines and propellers up front than have your face in a barf- bag for hours on end in the rear. (Whirlcool---did you fly "threes" at NC or 580's? Would love to hear the stories sometime. BTW, anytime you want to pick my mind for "red-tail" history feel free to let 'er rip!)

I have flown on many different types of airliners now, piston, propeller-turbine, pure-jet, fan-jet,etc. and many different airlines as well. Throughout the fifties, sixties and seventies I flew often and loved every minute of it. I am so glad I was able to experience the "golden age".
That all changed at the close of the 1970's with "de-regulation" and its been down-hill ever since.

At this point I would tend to agree with Sudsmaster's assesment. I know----- cynical of me isn't it.

My two-shekels.
 
Ah, if only I had the space to let you know half the stuff I've seen happen in the cabin.......

Where is Airway Charlie? He's an F/A. I am positive he could add some input to this thread.

Back in the early 70's the 747 and DC-10 had those lounges at the back of the plane. Most even included a stand up bar manned by a flight atendant. I know AA, CO, UA had them. On Continental, they even had a small electric piano back there, bolted down of course. The seats and sofas had seatbelts installed, but if turbulent weather was expected passengers were moved back to their assigned seats.
It wasn't too long before the airlines discovered that you could rip out those lounges and put many more seats in. The thinking is seats=dollars!
I had the opportunity to non-rev on a few flights with lounges. What fun. It sure made the travel time fly by!
 
Whirlcool-

Those old "piano-bars" were fun. Just an indicator of how lame the traffic was during the intro of the wide-bodies.

I can remember my favorite was flying DL's 747's between ATL-LAX (with a stop at DFW) or SFO. The "Early-Bird" flights were so cheap I always went first-class. The up-stairs cabin on DL's (6AM or so) departure was almost always totally empty and there were many a flight spent in solitary splendor (or with something equally young and pretty as I) in that cabin enjoying DL's then (very) "Royal Service". Fit for a queen. (Ya'll hush 'ya 'heah.)

Those were the days!
 
In the late 70's I flew on a classic DC-3 from Tikal to Guatemala City. The only modern thing about the plane was the avionics and the turbo prop engines. The passenger compartment must have been original - down to tubular chromed seat frames and green leatherette upholstery (reminded me of an old streetcar). It was a very pleasant flight, however, and because we were only flying a few thousand feet up, we got great views of the jungle trees. It was over too soon, in about an hour, but it certainly beat the all-day bus trip.
 
Sudsmaster----

I'm sure that was fun and scenic. I know my favorite view of ANY jungle is from above. A thousand feet sounds just right!

The Flights I remember so fondly on the "3's" out of ATL were usually to either MIAQ or LGA, and back in the early to mid-fifties those flights made numerous stops. It was a half-a-day affair to get there, but I loved it.

In the summer months especially in Florida, the late afternoon hours brought those severe thunderstorms a "3" could not out-climb, and without the weather-radar we now take for granted the cockpit crew usually just tried to run through and under the clouds with the lightest colors. Wow could that get rough, and most of the pax got sick. I saw plenty of sick F/A's also!

Funny thing, with the pressurized, and much heavier four-engined piston aircraft such as the DC-7's that were so popular by the mid to late fifties, I still remember wallowing and riding the up and down-draughts, along in the thick of it, when the weather would not co-operate.

The last "3" I flew on was one I hopped aboard down at the Griffin,Ga. airport one summers afternoon when we were in the grips of some minor tropical disturbance. It did have pretty good winds (gusts to 30 or so) with low-level clouds and intermitant imbedded precip. (Just my kind of day for flying on a "3"!). There were about eight of us as we boarded the aircraft----as I rememberd from my childhood years I went right to the front. We had a pretty rough sightseeing trip around the ATL area, but I was fine. I loved it. The same could not be said of those seated towards the rear. The stench told the story and when we got back to Griggin not a few of them deplanned and sat right down on the ramp to try to re-gain some composure.
I'm glad I did not have to clean up the cabin.

Ach! I could write a book!
 

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