The Airline Time Machine Podcast
Tim Haskin has hung around airlines and airports since he was a little kid, and that led to a career with airlines, then in travel technology, time as a private pilot and aircraft owner, an obsession with collecting airline memorabilia, and a deep knowledge of the airline industry and its history.
Those many experiences filled his head with a lot of airline stories, but the people around him are tired of hearing about it.
That led to Airline Time Machine and a website, social media presence, and now podcast to provide an outlet for the stories of the airlines, the people, the aircraft, and the airports that contributed to our air travel experience today, with new episodes across a wide range of topics each week!
Podcast Season 2, Episode 4: 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.
Podcast Season 2, Episode 3: 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 passenger tickets, to today’s digital transaction and security records.
Join me for this look at airline ticket history, the documents that have accompanied air tickets, 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!
Podcast Season 2, Episode 2: 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!
Podcast Season 2, Episode 1: 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 and their aircraft grow, many smaller U.S. cities are in danger of losing their air service because they don't generate enough passenger volume to match the larger and costlier airliners coming on line.
The solution is a new category of airline - the Local Service Carriers - licensed by the federal government in the late '40s, and assigned to strictly controlled geographic areas to provide reliable air service for hundreds of small airports.
Join me for this look at those special airlines, the role they played in the U.S. air transportation system, and the impacts still seen today from their operations.
Podcast Season 1, Episode 17: 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, though, being able to get from Manhattan to La Guardia Airport in New York in just 6 minutes, or from Oakland to the San Francisco Airport in 7 minutes.
For many years, scheduled service helicopter airlines made fast airport travel times like those possible, but they’ve all failed to stay in business.
Join me for their story, and a look at what may be ahead for close-in urban air service.
Podcast Season 1, Episode 16: 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 sought-after airline career paths are unavailable to black Americans.
They’re denied positions as airline pilots or flight attendants, no matter what their relevant experience or technical qualifications. With this Airline Time Machine podcast, let’s look at how the first Black stewardess in the U.S. changed that narrative, and what it took for her to break through that highly visible barrier in our airline history.
Podcast Season 1, Episode 15: 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 faster, farther, and with more passengers and cargo, but from England a new airliner sound is being heard - the high, shrill scream of jet engines.
Most airlines are reluctant to embrace the new jet technology, both because it’s unlike the proven airliners they’re currently flying, but also because they’ve spent enormous sums of money buying those older planes, and are years away from paying them off.
But U.S. aircraft companies are gaining experience with jet engine technology through military programs, and are seeking ways to apply that learning to a new generation of airliners powered by jets.
Let's look at how one of those companies - Boeing of Seattle - makes the decision to move into a technologically advanced jet airliner family, and the role that a dramatic aerobatics maneuver in a very public setting has on that work.
Podcast Season 1, Episode 14: 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 neighborhoods, far removed from their own airport operations.
These in-town facilities become known as a City Ticket Office (or by the airline staff acronym “CTO”), to differentiate them from the Airport Ticket Office (or ATO) in each area.
Join me for this look at the rise of the once common airline City Ticket Office as a high visibility, splashy promotion of the airline, reflecting the carrier’s style and personality, while also becoming an important link to many of the airline’s most important customers. [20 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 13: 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 flight, on just another day.
From 1976 until 2003, the supersonic Concorde airliner was frequently in the news, either for the noise it created, or the often famous people it carried.
Join me for a look at how a normally scheduled British Airways flight in July of 1985, operated by Concorde, played a crucial role in one of the largest rock concerts ever organized. [18 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 12: 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 facilities with restricted access based on gender.
But starting in the 1950s, one United States airline introduces “Men Only” flights on one of its most popular business travel routes.
Join me for a look at the exclusion of female passengers from the airline's Executive Club service, the rationale behind that exclusion, and how it all turned out. [16 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 11: 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 World.
Before that resort opens in October of 1971, planning for Walt Disney World includes a large jet airport within the resort’s grounds, to make it easy for visitors to start and end their visit.
Join me for a look at how air travel influenced the plans for the development of Walt Disney World, and a special period of time when it was possible to buy an airline ticket that would land you within the resort itself! [21 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 10: 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 security that just can’t typically be met by a scheduled airline service.
Join me for an exploration of how air travel by heads of state began, has been intertwined with airline flying for a century, and will keep evolving past the 2020s. [22.5 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 9: 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 by a lot of travelers as an essential resource to have on their flight.
Join me for this exploration of the history of airliner toilet facilities, and their evolution from the most basic equipment to meet flyer’s bodily needs, to the sophisticated hygiene systems installed in new airliners today. [19 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 8: Love Is In The Air: The Mile High Club
There’s a long history behind the “mile high club” lore, dating back to the 1780s. Stories of romantic interludes while at altitude hit the news pretty regularly over the years, but usually because of police involvement, and legal charges being filed.
With this episode of the Airline Time Machine podcast, I’ll look at how people “getting romantic” in the air came about, the challenges that are created for airline crews and other passengers, and notable incidents that likely resulted from “love aloft.” [15 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 7: When Smoking Met Its Match
Not too long ago, cigarette smoking was widespread, and permitted, onboard most passenger airliners worldwide.
A lot of travelers boarding flights today who don’t remember that era would likely be surprised by how prevalent inflight smoking was, by the way the process was managed, and by the smell of aircraft cabins and the damage that lit cigarettes caused to airliner cabin furnishings.
With this podcast episode, let’s take a look at the history of smoking onboard airliners, how that smoking was gradually regulated out of existence, and a few traces of that smoking past you can still find on your next flight. [18 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 6: TOP DOG EAT FAT CAT - The Airport Code Episode!
It's OK - this doesn't involve some sort of domestic pet violence. But this episode title highlights that assigned airport codes can sometimes appear to be something very different than their original intended purpose!
Three-character codes that identify individual airports are critical for managing air travel safely and accurately, but the code an airport ends up with may not make sense when you first come across it, and often reflects much more than the airport's name.
This is a look at how the airport codes we use today - as passengers, travel planners, airline staff, or airport managers - first came about, and we’ll explore a few of the more unusual examples! [14.5 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 5: Whatever Happened To: Denver's Stapleton Airport?
In February of 1995, one of the busiest airports in the U.S. - Denver's Stapleton International Airport - closes, replaced by the new Denver International Airport several miles to the east.
Over the next few years, the massive infrastructure of Stapleton Airport, including its terminal building, hangars, parking facilities, support structures, and miles of runways would disappear, largely erasing more than 60 years of aviation activity.
This is the story of how a busy international airport was entirely replaced in just one night, then was erased from the landscape to become something entirely new! [13 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 4: Where Did All The Airlines Go?!
In 1985, more than 200 airlines provide scheduled passenger service on U.S. domestic routes under their own names and branding, and the country's airports are busy, crowded centers of activity.
But four decades later, only fifty airlines remain serving U.S. internal routes, and only fifteen of those operate airliners with 100 or more passenger seats. This is the story of how the number of U.S. airlines soared by the early 1980s, then hit a 20-year period of intense consolidation - and we'll learn where all the airlines went! [20 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 3: Airbus and The Astronaut
In mid-1977, a small European airliner company had been in business for about ten years, but had only one aircraft type on offer, that had sold less than thirty units to four airlines, without a single sale in the past 18 months.
Here's the story of how a struggling U.S. airline headed by a former astronaut put together an unconventional deal that strengthened the airline, opened the giant U.S. market to the young airplane maker, and created a pathway for that company - Airbus - to become the world's largest airliner manufacturer. [29 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 2: The Airship Era - Hindenburg
In 1936, most airline passengers are flying in small, loud, and uncomfortable airplanes, limited to short distance routes. But for a few travelers, long distance flights on the German airship "Hindenburg" mean sleeping cabins, gourmet meals, an onboard bar and promenade deck, all while comfortably crossing the Atlantic to New York or Rio de Janiero.
We know the "Hindenburg" had a disastrous end in 1937, but for a magical six months a year earlier, there was no finer way to fly - here's the story of what life was like for passengers and crew onboard the largest flying machine ever built. [26 minutes]
Podcast Season 1, Episode 1: The Airship Era - Graf Zeppelin
From the 1920s until 1939, there's only one way to fly as a passenger between Europe and The Americas... and the trip doesn't involve an airplane!
Here's the story of the giant German airship "Graf Zeppelin" that pioneered airline travel across the Atlantic between the World Wars, before airplanes were capable of safely crossing the ocean. [25 minutes]
