A Moment About Travel
Nov. 30th, 2010 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreFirst of all, Rick's fine. I didn't make a follow-up post, and people have been emailing me. Easier to say it here.
Now, about travel. Many of you are younger than I or may not have traveled by plane frequently when I did, so I thought I'd talk a bit about the history of air travel during my lifetime from my perspective.
When I was a teenager, I bought round-trip tickets between Orange County (SNA) and Oakland (OAK) for $58, flew with my then-boyfriend (I was 15, he was 16), never showed any form of ID. We just went there and back for the day. No metal detectors, we just walked up to the gate and went.
Later, they wanted to see some form of ID, but weren't dogmatic about it. The ID didn't have to match the name on your ticket; tickets were regularly bought and sold in the local paper classified section. I preferred to buy/sell from/to women, but that wasn't required, either.
The only time a name/ticket match was really essential was for international flights other than to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean, where everyone would have passports, of course.
At some point, best we can guess is in the late 70s, early 80s, metal detectors were added, but even then, anyone could go right up to the gate. Later, it was tightened down somewhat to people who worked at the airport or people traveling or people accompanying those who were traveling. However, even traveling standby would get you right to the gate.
After the frequent flier programs started realizing they were paying out more than they'd planned in bonuses, name/ticket matching started becoming more important, as it did with government intrusion. At first, the airlines would still let you fly, they just wouldn't give frequent flyer credit if there happened to be a name/passenger mismatch. As someone with a difficult-to-spell name, I had to argue this one more than once.
As government intrusion became more intense, fewer people were allowed at the gates. More people were subject to more intrusive checks.
Then 9/11 happened, and suddenly no one was permitted at a gate without a boarding pass. The rest, you likely know.
Update: the requirement that crews be screened was due to fallout from Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 1771 in 1987. Hat tip to a pilot for that link. It is not listed on the list of aircraft hijackings.
Now, about travel. Many of you are younger than I or may not have traveled by plane frequently when I did, so I thought I'd talk a bit about the history of air travel during my lifetime from my perspective.
When I was a teenager, I bought round-trip tickets between Orange County (SNA) and Oakland (OAK) for $58, flew with my then-boyfriend (I was 15, he was 16), never showed any form of ID. We just went there and back for the day. No metal detectors, we just walked up to the gate and went.
Later, they wanted to see some form of ID, but weren't dogmatic about it. The ID didn't have to match the name on your ticket; tickets were regularly bought and sold in the local paper classified section. I preferred to buy/sell from/to women, but that wasn't required, either.
The only time a name/ticket match was really essential was for international flights other than to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean, where everyone would have passports, of course.
At some point, best we can guess is in the late 70s, early 80s, metal detectors were added, but even then, anyone could go right up to the gate. Later, it was tightened down somewhat to people who worked at the airport or people traveling or people accompanying those who were traveling. However, even traveling standby would get you right to the gate.
After the frequent flier programs started realizing they were paying out more than they'd planned in bonuses, name/ticket matching started becoming more important, as it did with government intrusion. At first, the airlines would still let you fly, they just wouldn't give frequent flyer credit if there happened to be a name/passenger mismatch. As someone with a difficult-to-spell name, I had to argue this one more than once.
As government intrusion became more intense, fewer people were allowed at the gates. More people were subject to more intrusive checks.
Then 9/11 happened, and suddenly no one was permitted at a gate without a boarding pass. The rest, you likely know.
Update: the requirement that crews be screened was due to fallout from Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 1771 in 1987. Hat tip to a pilot for that link. It is not listed on the list of aircraft hijackings.