Airline travel has always been an evolving business, from the first commercial flight in 1914 to the thousands of passenger flights in the air at any given moment in 2026. Those of us who lived through 9/11 as adults remember a very different time in air travel.
On Reddit, someone asked Gen Xers and Baby Boomers what airline travel was like in the ’80s and ’90s, with specific questions like: “What was security like? What was the actual process of getting plane tickets before the internet? Was it hard to arrange rides with pay phones only? Did people smoke on planes? Did you use pay phones to call your loved ones back home and let them know you landed safe?”
The folks on the r/AskOldPeople subreddit delivered answers, and it’s a trip down memory lane for those who lived it.
Buying flights was a whole process before the Internet
Today, we hop on Google Flights to compare ticket prices and book flights on airline websites right from the comfort of our couches in a matter of minutes. Back in the day, we didn’t have that luxury. Booking a flight meant making a long phone call or hoofing it to an office or kiosk, then receiving a paper ticket you had to keep track of.
“You could either call and buy a ticket over the phone or buy it at the airport.”
“Got a paper ticket. Mailed or picked up at airport or airline kiosks/offices at various locations (shopping malls, etc).”
“Tickets were really precious things and you had to take care of them. They were hand-written even.”
“Tickets were purchased directly from the airline or through a travel agent. Prior to the internet, it was much harder to research and book trips, so you hired an agency to help you.”
“We would use travel agents in our town. You would tell them where and when and they would give you your options. You. Would pick up your tickets at their office. They could set up your hotel and car rental.”
Airport security was much less of a process
It’s hard to imagine a time when you didn’t even have to show your ID to hop on a plane, but it happened. Many security measures were implemented after 9/11, though they had already been increasing incrementally before then.
“Airport security was just a metal detector that you walked through that anyone could walk through and go to the gate to send off or greet the departing/arriving passengers. No need to be a ticked passenger, no ID check, or anything.”
“I travelled a lot for work from about 1993 onwards. I remember flying Sydney to Chicago with a full tool case as hand luggage, a Gerber pocket knife in my pocket, no scanners hardly any security, just turn up and get on the plane.”
“Security was easy. Just toss your stuff in a basket and go through a metal detector. I used to fly with a swiss army knife and it was no problem at all.”
“Security was basic and relaxed. You really could run madly through the airport to catch a flight and nobody cared. You passed through a metal detector arch that was tuned way down to avoid false positives. It wouldn’t notice car keys, pens, or even small pocket knives (I once realized I had accidentally tested that).”
“In about 1988, I bought a round trip airline ticket from NY to San Francisco off of Craigslist from a Chinese guy with a very Chinese name. Now I am as white as Wonder Bread, but I used that ticket and no one batted an eye. No ID. No questions. Nothing.”
Smoking on airplanes was allowed through the ’80s
Kids today can’t fathom how ubiquitous smoking was before the mid-’90s. Smoking wasn’t banned on domestic flights until 1990, and it wasn’t banned on international flights until 2000. Before that, planes had “smoking sections” with nothing separating them from the rest of the cabin. Ridiculous in hindsight, but that’s how it was.
“Yes you could smoke on a plane…there was smoking and non smoking sections.”
“The first time I went on a plane (mid 80s) was with my mom to go visit family, I don’t remember how old I was, but I distinctly remember there were still ashtrays in the arm rests.”
“They used to put a complimentary four-pack of cigarettes on every meal tray. My father had at some point allowed me a puff of his cigarette through my bubble pipe, which I did not enjoy at all. So shortly after my meal tray arrived, my 4-year-old self yelled, ‘Stewardess, you can take these cigarettes away, because I quit smoking three weeks ago!’”
“First international flight in 1997 I smoked all the way over. Pity the poor non-smokers, because even with a smoking section the smoke was all through the plane.”
No luggage fees (but no luggage wheels, either)
Ah, the good old days of free checked luggage. (Paying for checked luggage is actually pretty new. All airlines let you have one free checked bag prior to 2008.) But luggage was also a whole different animal. We used to have to carry suitcases. And people didn’t generally carry on suitcases with clothing in them because they’d end up smelling like smoke by the end of the flight.
“Nobody was dragging their carry-on baggage throughout the terminal – checking bags was always free and everybody checked their bags. But the downside of no baggage security checks was that stuff sometimes got stolen from your bags by baggage handlers – so you always locked your bags. that is why those hard-sided Samsonite suitcases with the combination lock latches were popular.”
“Luggage didn’t even have wheels back then!”
“I remember the early wheeled suitcases were so awkward and top-heavy like an elephant riding on the top of a London bus. They had wheels on the bottom and a ‘leash’ attached to the top front. It was better than carrying, but if you went anything other than perfectly straight, it would topple over.”
People dressed up to fly
It’s not at all unusual to see people boarding flights in sweats or other uber-casual attire. On a redeye, you’ll see people basically in their pajamas. Comfort has definitely overridden traditional airplane-attire etiquette, which some people love and some people hate.
“People dressed well, not fancy but nice. I once flew ‘standby’ (my sweet Dad was an aircraft mechanic) and I had to wear my ‘nicest’ dress just in case I got bumped to first class! And I did! It was very nice. One way, the other way i was in coach, but everyone was still dressed nicely, including me. :)”
“Can confirm. I flew to Germany as a kid in the 80’s and my parents made me wear my ‘Church clothes’ on the plane.”
“Night and day. It was a privilege to fly, people got dressed nice to fly, now flying like taking a bus. It’s a zoo in the air and people crazy.”
Pick-up and drop-off happened right at the gate
Gen Xers and Boomers who flew remember saying goodbye right before boarding the plane and greeting loved ones just after exiting the jetway. That can’t happen now. Security increases after 9/11 meant that only ticketed passengers could fully enter the terminal. At least it makes terminals less crowded?
“Everyone could go to the gate and hang out. We used to go to the airport and watch the planes taking off and landing.”
“Some time in the late 90s, I went to pick up my mother from the airport, and I brought a friend with me. They let us both go wait at the gate with no issues. We probably had to go through a metal detector but it was pretty easy.”
“Pick up and drop off was a ton easier. Whoever was coming to get you parked somewhere and came to the gate to wait for you. For drop offs they either pulled right up to the terminal and let you out where there was a porter waiting to take your bags (hopefully to the correct flight), or you parked in the airport short term lot and walked in together —all the way to the gate if the goodbye was a difficult one.”
“I’m glad this isn’t allowed anymore. Anytime I’ve flown, the gates have been full and I end up standing off in the walkway waiting to board. I can’t even imagine adding ‘hey, let’s all hang out with Grandma before she leaves’ into the mix.
Another thing I remember about this was trying to get OFF the plane. People would crowd around the gate to greet their arriving family just like they do around the baggage carousel. And of course when grandma walked out the door, they’d run up and do their hugs and handshakes right there with everyone else trying to get around them. It was maddening, especially at the holidays.”
You had to use a pay phone if you needed to call someone
These days, nearly all airlines allow you to text for free even when you’re up in the air. The first thing many people do when the wheels touch down is text someone to let them know they’ve landed. Gone are the days of having to find a wall of pay phones or waiting until you got to your hotel to call someone.
“Airports used to have huge banks of payphones all over, but I think most people would call from their hotel phone when they got checked in.”
“There were plenty of pay phones to call people, and plenty of shops that would make change for you if you needed.”
“Airports would have large banks of payphones, but they would also have kiosks with courtesy phones, that were basically hotline phones with no keypad that automatically dialed, this could be the shuttle bus operation, a taxi service, or your hotel that may operate their own shuttle service. Picture a kiosk near luggage pickup with a sign for Holiday Inn Airport and a phone with no number pad that directly connects you to the front desk at the nearby Holiday Inn so they could dispatch the shuttle van driver to pick you up.”
“You didn’t call anyone when you landed, people met you at the airport. You arranged in advance. If the flight was delayed, they waited. Nobody was paying for parking at airports.”
Other than the secondhand smoke, flying was more comfortable
Before 1978, the government set flight prices. Since airlines couldn’t compete on price, they competed on service and passenger experience. That focus spilled over into the ’80s, but as price competition grew, so did a desire for cheaper flights. Now we pay less, but we also get less.
“The planes were more comfortable. The seats and legroom were better in economy/coach and you got an included meal and in-flight movie on longer flights.”
“In the ’80’s it was much nicer. Larger planes, more room, bigger seats, better food, more luggage allowed. Plus few carry on restrictions. In the 90’s airlines had begun tightening up a bit but you could still expect at least a non-alcoholic drink and a snack on anything longer than a puddle jumper flight even in economy or business. Anything longer than that and you could count on a meal.”
“The planes were less full and seats had enough legroom even economy.”
“Seats had more leg room because they weren’t cramming in as many as possible on discount flights.”
Some changes in air travel have been good, and others not so great. But flying definitely isn’t what it used to be.
