HGG Community Forums

I flew overseas a lot from 1974 to 1995. I recall that security measures were much more lenient.

Tickets: There were paper tickets, which you had to buy through a travel agent. They didn't have online check in in 1998. The tickets were long and thin and kind of flimsy - made of multiple copies on carbon paper. Each flight was a copy. So if you had four flights, you had four little sheets. The sheets were all glued together in a little booklet.

When you checked in you had to take your ticket and passport to the airport check in counter - just like today. Check -n luggage was free, below a weight limit of about 44 pounds per bag. The bags were weighed carefully at the counter, and the fees for having overweight bags were high. The counters haven't changed much at all. the Skycaps were also there. You could check in at the curb at larger airports. The airports weren't nearly so upset about you parking at the terminal entrance for a few minutes. You know how they have those automated announcements telling you not to leave a car unattended? Those are post 9-11.

Security: There was a security check before the gate hallways as there Is now. But there was no TSA - it was only metal-detector gate you walked through. They did put your hand luggage through an x-ray, but they didn't care about liquids, shoes, or any of that stuff. I remember once I flew with a plastic container with some gerbils and litter. The security people allowed me to skip the x-ray with them.

The other big difference was that non-passengers going to meet people arriving on flights could go through security and go right up to the gate to meet their family and friends. We would get off the plane and eagerly start looking for people we knew.

I don't know if luggage was x-rayed. It wasn't done anywhere where the passengers could see, if it was. Overseas, security could be tighter. Once, in Zurich in the late 70's/early 80's, our airplane was several hundred yards from the terminal. (That was often the case in Europe at that time.) So they had these busses that would pick up the passengers at the gate and drive them out to the plane. On this occasion, our bus was followed by an amoured personnel carrier with soldiers in it. When we got to the plane, all our checked luggage was lined up on the tarmac. We had to point to our luggage on the way to the plane. A staff member would pull it and put it on a cart to go on the plane. That way you couldn't ship luggage with a bomb in it without getting on the plane yourself. this may have been around the time of that Pan Am flight being blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland. I remember, because I took that flight on occasion, and missed being on that one by only a few days.


I remember going through Heathrow in London one Christmas. There was a security checkpoint in the hallway on the way to the airplane gates, and they were carefully going through hand luggage. They even made passengers open wrapped Christmas presents to see what was inside.

Airport food: I don't recall the food cour/ fast food thing in airports then. I think that came later. The only food was the restaurant/bar thing they still have. (I never went there). Though they did have the candy and popcorn stalls, and the little book/drug stores. You could buy a book or news paper and a snack, or some Excedrin, just like today.

Airplanes:
The planes are pretty similar. In 1998 they still had free meals, though they weren't very good. They had free snacks like peanuts and pretzels. Like today, beer and wine you had to pay for - cash- and pop and water were free. ("With the Captain's compliments", was the phrase.) On INTL flights, they would tell you what currencies the attendants could accept. Each seat had head phones that the attendants could pass out. There were about six music channels, and the playlists would be listed in the in-light magazine. Longer flights showed movies on the screen on the bulkhead in front of the cabin. Super long flights had two. (I flew between New York and Dhahran Saudi Arabia fairly often, which was 13 hours).

No one had cell phones, let alone smart phones or tables. Even laptops then were pretty clunky and very expensive. Passengers would read or actually chat with each other. Most seats had a pillow and a blanket, even longer domestic flights.

There wasn't the multi-tiered service you see everywhere now. There was first class, business class, and economy. You didn't have to pay more to sit in the front of the cabin or have more legroom. All the seats had a few inches more legroom. But the planes were pretty similar. Sometimes you would see the pilots walking through the cabin, which you never do now, because they are locked in the cockpit.

Getting off the plane and baggage claim are virtually unchanged, as far as I can recall.

It has been a nice little trip down memory lane!

I don't want anything, but I just thought this was interesting so I wanted to jump in :D

Im almost 17, so I was never able to fly before 9/11. I did find one or two videos, though, that might help you somewhat :) (I swear, Youtube has a video for everything!)


If you're willing to, could you tell me the plot? Id also love to help you guys out in any way I can. I absoloutley love to write, (English and history have always been my favorite classes!!) so id love to give some input. :)

I would love to read this sometime! It sounds amazing!

Just realized- I didn't even post the links xD

https://youtu.be/xD8xRgBu_TM

https://youtu.be/CFHPCmB30CM

Thank you both! :D

Oh yes, the security demonstrations given by the flight attendants before take-off have been there since i first flew in the 70's. On overseas flights, sometimes they do it twice... onve in English and once in the language of the country the airline is from.
Now you warch a video sometimes. Before then the attendants would always demonstrate it. The real purpose of flight attendents is safety... not slinging coffee. Passengers tend to forget that.

I didn’t fly internationally but I did fly within the US. The latest being in 1997...tickets were basically enough ID, I don’t recall being asked for a driver license or anything. Checked luggage was weighed and xrayed. Parents were able to go all the way back to the gates with minors, we could could carry food and drink through security, no restrictions on things like shampoo/lotions etc. shoes didn’t have to come off, had to empty pockets, computers and cell phones could stay in carry ons. There was always a preflight safety demonstration, I don’t recall it being any different than it is now to be honest.

Ahhhhh you've done more on the story Lally?!

@levesel2 Thank you!
@Riata Thank you so much! That would be awesome! I'll PM you. :D
@CeffylDwr Yes! We had our 80k word celebration on the 30th and still going strong! :D
@NewRiverFarm Awesome, thank you!

Y'all can all PM me with which straws you want as thanks :)