Why flying stopped being glamorous

SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
I’m sorry, but there’s simply no comparison here. Charter isn’t the Mercedes of flying, it’s the Rolls Royce. I’m usually in the top 1% or 2% of income earners, and charter is out of my reach for all but the shortest of flights. In the regulated days, middle class people could enjoy a premium product.
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Companies like Blade and JSX are beginning to fill a void that will further take airline first class and business class clientale. The charter world is beginning to go further than the 1%. Private jet travel has become more popular than ever over the last couple of years.
 
I kind of feel like like every time I see these “when did flying stop being glamorous” discussions, it’s largely dudes who were negative 5-10yrs old when deregulation happened and are just going off of marketing materials from the 60’s and 70’s.

If we had never been on a plane in the 2020’s and solely went off what was churned out by United and Delta’s marketing departments, we’d expect lay-flat seats/FA’s and pilots that look like models (male and female).
 
SeanD said:
There was a 20/20 episode some years back that followed a day-in-the-life of an AA transcon flight from BOS to LAX I believe. When all was said and done, the flight managed to profit less than $300. I think consumer entitlement has ruined it. For some wacky reason, general consumers are hardwired to believe a $400 round trip ticket is too expensive. Ugh.
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Kingairer said:
Hahaha wooops. “All I really want is no one sitting next to me, while I am a passenger in seated in the back of the plane”
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And if someone is, they're quiet and shy and I DON"T CARE THAT YOU"RE THE TOP SALES MANAGER FOR YOUR REGION! And yes, lots of kids are captain of their soccer team.
 
guywhoflies said:
I agree on the point of flying being a means to get to disney.

My point was that people are idiots for buying new cell phones every year and wasting money with never ending car payments via leases, trading a car in as soon as it is paid off, etc. They are never going to get ahead of the financial curve if they make those poor decisions. My cousin is stuck in this mentality.
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Of for sure, I don’t disagree with that at all. At least with those examples, those things at least have some persistent value.
 
derg said:
I gotta say when the Model Y and Model 3 hit the market, Tesla drivers went from a bunch of pompous tech geeks to YEET/SKRRRRRRT with catlike quickness.
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I do not understand what the bolded part means.

I mean, I have a *sense* based on context....but....I'm uncertain....
 
KLB said:
Companies like Blade and JSX are beginning to fill a void that will further take airline first class and business class clientale. The charter world is beginning to go further than the 1%. Private jet travel has become more popular than ever over the last couple of years.
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My BIL - who is a pretty successful dude - has been griping at me to go to work for JSX ever since he found out that I was typed in the same kind of airplane they use. He absolutely loves their product.

I gotta admit. If Tara and I moved back to Dallas - and there are times we consider it - that place would be on my short list.
 
killbilly said:
My BIL - who is a pretty successful dude - has been griping at me to go to work for JSX ever since he found out that I was typed in the same kind of airplane they use. He absolutely loves their product.

I gotta admit. If Tara and I moved back to Dallas - and there are times we consider it - that place would be on my short list.
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I heard that they have flow to somewhere. That's a good deal because it gives you upward mobility. So you wouldn't lose anything by going there.
 
KLB said:
I heard that they have flow to somewhere. That's a good deal because it gives you upward mobility. So you wouldn't lose anything by going there.
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Eh, the attraction is that their DAL base is almost exclusively day-trip, out and backs.
 
killbilly said:
My BIL - who is a pretty successful dude - has been griping at me to go to work for JSX ever since he found out that I was typed in the same kind of airplane they use. He absolutely loves their product.

I gotta admit. If Tara and I moved back to Dallas - and there are times we consider it - that place would be on my short list.
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I can only relate what I heard from an entry level mechanic that worked there and left at his first opportunity. I will reiterate this was someone who'd just gotten their A/P certs and this was his first aviation job. According to him it was a disorganized mess with regards to MX, planning for known upcoming inspections seemed nonexistent, getting spares to fix known issues on airplanes was an issue so extending MELs was common (there was a time it was easy to get the FAA to allow an operator to extend an MEL, at a certain point the FAA changed their stance and said it could only rarely be done by an operator if they could prove they had the required part on order and it wasn't available) and even things like fixing a leaky roof for the hangar that pretty much did nothing when it rained seemed impossible. All of this was what I was told by someone who likely had big dreams when he saw a shiny jet and maybe reality tempered his enthusiasm a bit and he might've been bitter. I've never dealt with them personally on any level, but I do like the idea. Take it with a grain of salt.
 
As a kid in the 60’s and 70’s, I flew a lot. Part of it was being in a military family, the other part was being spoiled by grandparents that loved to travel with their grandson.

I tasted a bit of the glamour flying on 707’s, 720’s, 747’s, DC-10’s, L-1011’s, and Convair 880’s. It was magical. The service was great, the planes were immaculate, and the stewardesses were young and pretty.

That said, I also remember the not so magical flights on Martin 4-0-4’s, Fokker F27’s, and YS-11’s.
 
killbilly said:
Eh, the attraction is that their DAL base is almost exclusively day-trip, out and backs.
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Same with their LAS operations. I don't believe they do overnights anywhere. That would be an awesome gig. Their 145s are all former XJT airplanes.
 
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I am no economist, but economy of scale have helped us arrive at low cost, no frills, walmart crowd...FFWD people get offended when they ask and I tell them how much our Challenger costs to run. It's late, this might not make sense I don't care, have a nice day.
 
BravoHotel said:
I am no economist, but economy of scale have helped us arrive at low cost, no frills, walmart crowd...FFWD people get offended when they ask and I tell them how much our Challenger costs to run. It's late, this might not make sense I don't care, have a nice day.
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There are a dozen good reasons why flying is affordable to the masses, efficiencies due to economies of scale isn’t one of them. Airlines aren’t factories.
 
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Pilot Fighter said:
There are a dozen good reasons why flying is affordable to the masses, efficiencies due to economies of scale isn’t one of them. Airlines aren’t factories.
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Yes it is. Economies of scale is not limited to how efficient a factory produces a widget. How efficiently an airline can put a butt in a seat certainly falls within in the economy of scale concept.
 
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