Tickets, Please! - How Airline Tickets Have Evolved

01/24/25 • 33 min

Airline tickets have changed dramatically over the roughly hundred years of passenger air travel, transforming from a simple paper “proof of purchase” modeled on railroad passenger tickets, to today’s digital transaction and security records.

Join me for this look at airline ticket history, and the steps along the way that have been made to ensure that the correct passenger... is on the right airplane... of the proper airline!

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Join me for this look at airline ticket history, and the steps along the way that have been made to ensure that the correct passenger... is on the right airplane... of the proper airline!

Send us a text

Previous Episode

Food Fight! The Great Transatlantic Sandwich Scuffle

Before large jet airliners accelerate air travel growth in the late 1950s, flying between continents is an exhausting experience, requiring fifteen hours or more for the flight to New York from Europe.

To help travelers pass the time, meal service is a big focus for the airlines, and the cuisine offered is an important way to distinguish an airline from its competitors in an era of tightly regulated airfares.

Then, in early 1958, a fierce food fight breaks out between the European and U.S. airlines over what constitutes a “sandwich”, and the fight involves disparagement, threats to cancel landing rights, legal actions, and a big financial penalty.

Join me for this look at the Transatlantic Sandwich Scuffle of 1958, and how it’s resolved as the airline industry moves toward defining what low cost air travel will look - and taste - like!

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Next Episode

Whatever Happened To: AirTran Airways?

One of the most successful U.S. start-up airlines of the 1990s had six airline brands, and several legal names, involved in just its first four years.
Then it settled down to become a nimble competitor, known for low fares, a quality product, cheeky advertising, and a multi-billion dollar business volume that generated a long string of profitable annual results.

With this Airline Time Machine podcast we’ll look at the early years of AirTran Airways, its predecessor ValuJet Airlines, and what ultimately became of the eighth largest airline in the U.S., its unusual fleet, and 8,500 staff.

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