Pretty interesting to see the costs of First Class vs. Coach are not that different.
Regular transcontinental 707 service began around 1959 so adjusted for inflation, a first class fare of $160 equals close to $1300 in 2017 dollars - so not too far off what is charged today. However, the $145 coach fare is close to $1200 in 2017- and that’s ONE WAY. No wonder regular people couldn’t afford air travel back then.
Edit: Noticed the schedule date in the video is from 1968 so first class would be $1139 in 2017 dollars and coach is just over $1000. Still a lot of money considering economy fares JFK-LAX today run about $200.
I am amazed the thing could land at Dulles. Of every trip to VA/DC, only once has the landing been less than pretty rough. Always strong crosswinds on a short runway. I recall one time the plane landing what felt like diagonally.
The 707 had a significantly faster cruising speed than modern jets. That pretty much explains things. Burned a hell of a lot more fuel per passenger mile too.
Fifty years ago I could have skimmed this article in a couple of minutes (possibly less). Now it has to be a video, which is much harder to glean salient points from without viewing the whole thing.
You know when you see something that’s an error and it makes you doubt the whole of the rest of the presentation?
Yeah, that.
When he starts talking about turboprops, he talks about the being used on ‘most propellor aircraft’, which considering the number of piston driven single and twin engine light aircraft, seems a bit dubious to me. However, he then makes it worse by illustrating turboprops with some footage of a twin piston-engined aircraft, and then really rubs it in by concluding “they’re not as fast” while showing three WWI-era biplanes.
Also, he seems to be confusing ‘drag’ with ‘coefficient of drag’. I suspect that some of his conclusions are correct, but I also think he doesn’t have very much in-depth knowledge of the subject.
PBS today has a show called “Traveling in the 70’s” . .
"Journey back to a simpler time-before the Internet, GPS or airline security lines. In this nostalgic special, host Dean Cycon explores how travel has changed over the past 50 years. A remembrance of how people traveled during the 1970s, when maps were paper and airline security was much less thorough; and road trips and hitchhiking were commonplace. "
I just tried watching it: It only covered the past 40 years ! (or at least in the first 15 minutes I saw… The host was just too obnoxious / trying to be cute and funny that I couldn’t continue.)
