50 Ways Air Travel Has Changed Over the Last 100 Years
Fox Photos / Hulton Archive via Getty Images 1934: First female airline co-pilot (official) A. Hudson / Hulton Archive via Getty Images 1935: First air traffic control tower Stevenson / Hulton Archive via Getty Images 1939: First airport lounge Arthur…
Over the 113 years since the first airplane passenger, Leon Delagrange, climbed aboard with French pilot Henri Farman, air travel has gone through drastic changes. Commercial aircraft have seen incredible technological developments. Many airlines have come and gone. And the procedures passengers go through, including the way they board jets, are almost nothing like they were back in the day.
But a few of the things airline customers have come to expect had their beginnings a century ago. The first flight attendant was aboard a zeppelin in 1912. The first onboard meal, a cold one, was served on a flight from London to Paris in 1919, according to Fortune magazine. Aeromarine Airways showed the first in-flight movie, a film called “Howdy Chicago,” in 1921 as its amphibious airplane flew passengers over Chicago, CNN said.
Passengers didn’t get their first frequent-flyer program until 1979, but they were allowed to smoke on domestic flights until 1990. (This is the world’s busiest air route.)
Check out the list of changes in air travel below.
Click here to see 50 ways air travel has changed over the last 100 years
1908: First airplane passenger
1912: First flight attendant (on a zeppelin)
1914: First scheduled passenger service
1919: First on-board (cold) meal served
1921: First in-flight film
1922: First airplane flight attendant
1928: First hot in-flight meal served
1928: First female airline co-pilot (volunteer)
1930: First female flight attendant (“stewardess”)
1933: First modern airliner built
1934: First female airline co-pilot (official)
1935: First air traffic control tower
1939: First airport lounge
1939: First nonstop trans-Atlantic flight
1940: First pressured cabin
1948: Coach fares introduced
1949: First domestic “no frills” airline
1951: First commercial jet airliner
1953: First nonstop transcontinental flight
1958: First covered airport jet bridge
1958: First Black flight attendant
1960: First automated reservation system
1965: Overlapping nationwide radar system completed
1965: First Black commercial airline pilot
1966: First trans-Atlantic “no frills” airline
1968: Mandatory flight attendant retirement age lifted
1969: Wide-body jet introduced
1972: Passenger screening begins
1975: First in-flight video games
1976: First female airline captain
1978: Airline industry deregulated
1979: First frequent-flyer program
1988: First seat-back video screens
1990: Smoking banned on all domestic flights
1994: First e-ticket issued
1995: First self-service check-in kiosk installed
1996: First independent flight reservation service
2000: First in-flight wifi
2001: Transportation Security Administration (TSA) formed
2001: Food service stops on most major airlines
2003: Reinforced cockpit doors installed on major U.S. airlines
2005: Superjumbo jets introduced
2006: Limits on carry-on liquids introduced
2007: Smartphone boarding passes accepted for first time
2008: Checked baggage charges introduced
2008: Global Entry begins at some airports
2011: TSA PreCheck introduced
2018: Airlines begin charging for seat assignments
2021: U.S. requires passengers and crews to wear masks
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