The Airline Time Machine Podcast

LUX & Bucks - How An Icelandic Airline Made Luxembourg Famous!

The story of the scrappy Icelandic airline Loftleiðir, how it became a significant player in budget travel transatlantic tourism in the Jet Age, and the role it had in pr

Captain Emily: The First Female U.S. Airline Captain

United Airlines recently announced that a woman is now the airline's most senior captain, a first for a major airline. But women piloting U.S. jetliners is somethin

A Stewardess' Story

After keeping a secret for seventy years, a former stewardess shares her story of a rainy day, a DC-3, a famous journalist, and a crash landing at Yakima, Washington! Se

The Airline Name Code Episode!

Every airline in the world has a two-character designator code that represents the airline’s name identity across reservation systems, flight information displays, ticket

Let’s Have a Look! - An Airliner Window History

Have you ever found yourself looking out of a cabin window on an airliner, and wondered what was keeping you in - and the outside out - during your flight? If you ask an

Delta, Detroit, and a Little Bit of Hub History!

Delta Air Lines has a rich history in the air travel business, and this year is celebrating its one hundredth year of operations. And while a lot of Delta’s story is foc

Warren Wheeler and The First Black-owned U.S. Airline

During the first fifty years of air travel in the United States, the airline industry - as a service provider, and as an employer - is largely focused on White people. B

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 do

Tickets, Please! - How Airline Tickets Have Evolved

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

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

The U.S. Local Service Airlines - Air Service Everywhere!

The growth of the oldest U.S. Trunk or Mainline air carriers after 1945 drives demand for air travel, and new, larger airliners to meet that need.  But as the airlines a

Above It All - America’s Helicopter Airlines

In some of the largest U.S. urban areas, road traffic congestion can be one of the biggest challenges to moving between the downtown area and the airport. Imagine, thoug

America's First Black Flight Attendant

During some of the most exciting developments and innovation in a young and emerging U.S. airline industry - from the 1930s through the late 1950s - two of the most sough

Boeing 367-80: The Aerobatic Maneuver That Launches a Titan

The early 1950s is an exciting time in the airline business, and - more specifically - the airliner business. Airliner manufacturers are developing new planes that fly f

Let's go to the CTO - Airlines And Their City Ticket Offices

Beginning in the 1930s, many airlines maintain large networks of City Ticket Offices to conduct business with their customers in high-traffic shopping, office and hotel n

Concorde, Collins & Live Aid 1985

Tens of thousands of airline flights operate daily around the world, but every now and then one stands out because it helps make history, even though it was just another

Slippers, Stogies & Scotch - A Look at Men-Only Flights

The idea that some things are segregated by gender is not uncommon for many of us as we encounter washrooms, gym locker rooms, private schools and clubs, or religious fac

The Flying Mouse - When Walt Disney World Had an Airport

If you’ve visited central Florida for a Disney vacation, you may have wished there was an easier, faster, way to get from the Orlando International Airport to Walt Disney

The VERY VIPs - Head of State Air Travel

Some air travelers are more than VIPs - they’re the VERY VIPs, the heads of state or monarchs whose travel comes with unusual requirements for privacy, secrecy, and secur

When You've Gotta' Go... The Lavatory Episode

Lavatory. Water closet. Washroom. Toilet. WC. Commode... or there's many more! Whatever name you choose, an airliner’s onboard personal comfort facilities are seen