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Flying Is Better Than in the Good Old Days, No Matter How Those Old Photos Look (reason.com)
3 points by mhb 1 day ago | hide | past | favorite | 9 comments




Flying is much worse in pretty much every way, not just from the '60s, but even from a couple of decades ago (and it wasn't that great then). Flying is so unpleasant now that I go to great lengths to avoid having to do it.

Yes, it's cheaper, but that doesn't make the experience better.


The point is that if you spend as much as you would have spent then, you can have that same or better experience.

Except that you can't. Yes, you can have a substantially better experience by paying more, but it's still not a great one.

When was it "great"?

The Libertarian Party asks you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It is their final, most essential command.

I first flew as an adult in 1984. Air travel was better in the good old days. Seats were wider, and legroom longer. Airports have always been horrendous, but that hasn't kept them from becoming worse, either. But at least we no longer suffer terrible death tolls from underwear, shoe and shampoo bottle bombers.


It was more pleasant back then because people who flew were paying 10× more for the privilege. If you want that level of service today then simply buy a first–class ticket. You too can pay 10× as much for a marginal increase in quality.

Ok, I will reject the evidence of my eyes and ears.

No, use your eyes to look at _all_ the evidence. Yes, there was more leg room in the sixties, but the prices were a lot higher too. If you ignore the prices then you are ignoring evidence. If you fail to notice that most people could not afford to fly then you are also ignoring evidence.

What is that? You're flying first class and being disappointed because it's not like flying back in the day?



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