United Airlines offered men-only “Executive” flights with luxurious amenities from 1953 to 1970, excluding women and children. Other airlines have made changes such as removing olives from salads and requiring different meals for pilots and co-pilots.
Airlines like to point out their particular amenities, like extra legroom or in-flight movies, but nothing today compares to what a few men enjoyed on select United Airlines flights between 1953 and 1970. For anyone looking to travel relaxing from New York or Chicago to Los Angeles or San Francisco, United offered its men-only “Executive” service, at 5pm every day except Saturdays. The flights included meat dinners, cigars (yes, smoking was allowed on planes back then), slippers and other comforts, but did not allow women or children to board. Other perks included a teletype service for catching up on the latest business news and a messenger service that enabled businessmen to send a last-minute note to the office.
A change in the air:
The Wright brothers flew approximately 120 feet (37 m) in 1903; today, a Boeing 787 can fly 10,000 miles (16,093 km) without stopping to refuel.
American Airlines removed a single olive from all First Class dinner salads in 1987, saving $40,000 USD.
Most airlines require pilots and co-pilots to have different meals to minimize the risk of food poisoning.
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