Yesterday evening, I boarded a plane from New York to California.
I sat in a totally average $200 seat, scrunched in the very back row — 44 — in coach. I wasn't allowed to pick my seat before the flight.
Flying didn't always used to be such a drag. There were cheery flight attendants, steak dinners, and lounges on board. A lot of it has been documented by EverythingPanAm.com, an online museum for Pan American. Pan American was the largest international airline from 1927 until 1991 when it went out of business.
Here's what flying used to be like, and what we suffer through now.
There used to be no security at airports. You just showed up and boarded the flight. Some parts of the world still do that. But not many anymore. I waited in security for 45 minutes and barely made my gate in time to board.
Airplane seats used to be wide and comfy.
Some planes had lounges in the coach section for flights. This picture is from the 1950s.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider