Flying in the 1960s: West Coast Airlines

Excerpt from a 1960s movie about West Coast Airlines.... this portion highlights a DC-9-10 flight.

[@nhprman]

I didn't notice this before but EVEN THE BAGGAGE HANDLER wears a tie!! Looks like the same tie the captain wears. Amazing. What a neat era!

[@LateNightCable]

Wow, that was a pretty jive flight."West Coast Airlines - Be There, or Be Square "... Bottoms up!

[@bluegorila1]

Would love to see this stewardess now and listen to her amazing stories!

[@Christopher0312]

West Coast, Pacific and Bonanza combined to create AirWest. Later, Hughes AirWest. I remember them all very well. Seems like 50 years ago now. Great video and thanks for the reminder of how great flying used to be.

[@EdinburghGuy]

The stewardesses had the best of both worlds - the chance to be an air stewardess while having a short haul flight less than 2-3 hours going to one or more major cities. I remember what smoky double decker buses were like - you couldn't see the back of the vehicle for the haze.

[@Locker10a]

Me to its amazing to go up above the clouds a travel at such speed ! To me Flying is still a important and exciting occasion !

[@vonjuergen]

ahh the golden age in aviation & what a great film - made better than the average movie of today

[@finchman1]

Now that's the way to fly. Classy!

[@RTD3]

Groovin' to the groovy tunes.

[@chloe7829]

@MNBluestater I have to agree with you, air travel is no longer a pleasure, rather a necessity. I too remember well dressed passengers, smiling stewardesses, tasty meals. I remember Pan Am's Clipper clubs and Pan Am's first class dining room upstairs of the 747, (without a fee), sufficient legroom between the seats, a pillow and a blanket without a fee(!!!) and check in without the obnoxious security agents frisking you. It's just a dream now, those time never come back.

[@1964DB]

The flight attendants are smiling!

[@kirgiz1981]

it's really sweet. i like 60s!

[@simris2k]

during the first half of the video I was wondering if the stewardess (now flight attendant) ever worked or did she just walk through the aisle looking at people. I don't miss the days of ice on top of the carts and they had adequate staffing for a short-haul flight. Did you see the man who said "thank you very much"? When did that go out of style?

[@williamgraves2009]

My first flight on a DC-9-10 was on West Coast Airlines. This was in 1965. Spokane to Seattle Washington...

[@LateNightCable]

A point of interest - the West Coast "flight 941" route mentioned in this film flew from Seattle, WA. to San Francisco, via Portland and Eugene, in October 1966. Upon it's return to Seattle, the plane became flight 956 and crashed in Mount Hood National Forest - Alcohol and cigarettes were not believed to be a factor. Hell, I'd still fly West Coast.

[@drk9011]

Two stewardesses were killed. Carol Clark was not on that flight.

[@davewinch7677]

@@drk9011 I have been to that crash-site, sad to think of those who died there on that mountain side.

[@my1serafina]

I certainly miss those times and hardly anyone was fat then

[@philmontejano5971]

And stewardesses looked like models!

[@dboard9]

I love how it's 3:51 long and there are about two minutes of booze and cigarettes

[@WolfspringLV]

Music is by The Jazz Crusaders.

[@sushantisgreat]

the start of any new age is usually the best time ....the jet age was no exception..back then we had a strong economy and these things(booze, lavish spread) was considered trivial..after all the airlines were also forming their base of new passengers ..so they had to use these tactics..nd moreover it was the age of being free and enjoying life..

[@wazithefreak]

Beauty DC-9! Wish I could build one like dat.

[@floooky1]

People go out in public wearing things I wouldn't wear alone in the house. Attitude matches appearance as well.

[@thebjm1967]

@jettboy771 ohh me too! i would love to go back in time!

[@brkitdwn]

"this morning i started in seattle" now i'm going to walk home

[@Iluthra]

Remembering when luggage had no wheels. How did we tote them around before? Oh, yeah, with difficulty.

[@nusratjamia7953]

Amazing.

[@wunnerfulwarren]

On July 1, 1968, West Coast merged with Pacific Air Lines and Bonanza Air Lines to form Air West, which became Hughes Airwest in 1970. At the time of the merger, West Coast operated a fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Fairchild F-27 and Piper aircraft.

[@helios1912]

Nice post of vintage life--at 1:49 that DC-9 has a sporty look about it.

[@MerleOberon]

and nobody wore sweatsuits on a plane...

[@jimaroo100]

Great musical soundtrack - any idea who the group or recording is?

[@MJK1965]

And people were polite - including the crew on the airlines.

[@DanielleTinkov]

@MNBluestater what's wrong with "stewardess"?

[@OsbornTramain]

those were the days! it was a flying bar in the sky. And People dressed up.

[@chicagoman58]

That's a DC-9-10, I think.

[@Eric2221]

I would love to find this and see the whole thing.

[@Beemerboy324]

Wow, you don't get anything like that sort of service anymore!

[@fordlandau]

Nice jazzy classy film. Check the smokers in full freedom. Plenty of booze and silver coffee pots. Terrific looking stewardesses with hats and deportment. Check how perfectly she walks. Hope we can see the whole film. Thanks!!

[@SFConifer]

The drinks were flowing liberally back then as they do now

[@guywill7875]

what was that thing on her head? Jiffy Pop?

[@clutchcargo2419]

Great times !

[@drk9011]

Those engines smoke almost as much as the passengers do!

[@tonyde52]

What is CLANGING CLATTER???

[@suzupetal]

look at all the room between seats and in the aisles!

[@MarkHolzhauer_Holzy]

Orson Wells narrating

[@GeorgeVreelandHill]

Those were the days when flying was all class. Not like today where they frisk you at the airport and then give you a small bag of nuts during the flight. Give me the old days. George Vreeland Hill

[@esmort]

oh my god everyone is smoking in the plane! so 60's!

[@jeffk19]

Would like to know if this film was made before the very first crash of a DC9 by West Coast Airlines in 1966. They had only two and crashed one of them.

[@pcressma]

I would love to see the rest of this video if you have it...there-9 isn't a lot of footage of an original DC-9-10 interior....heck, there isn't a lot of the DC-9-10 footage at all. If anyone knows where the rest of this video can be seem, please send me a message or post the link here! Thanks!

[@shawntimothyli]

Does anyone really know whats the background music for the footage or at least what style of music it is It really kept stuck in my brain from the first time I have ever heard of it

[@mercedes560sel]

@GeorgeVreelandHill . .you couldn't be more right Sir . . . we have slipped a long way down hill.

[@jettboy771]

I luv this video!

[@oscarnine2]

@MNBluestater The reason why everything was "cheap" was becuase the price, in today's dollars, was much higher so the freebies were incorporated into the price. Look at the way things are today. You pay more for first class, but you get more too. Add this to the fact that de-regulation in the 1970's made air travel more accessible to us beach gear wearing rabble.

[@shawntimothyli]

Do anyone knows what are the background music used in the footage? Feel very like the futuristic 60s music

[@shawntimothyli]

i dont know but they really seems close, though the music in this video seems more mod/ bossa nova than Take 5. Anyways thanks for your reply, its really hard to track down old music pieces

[@Robin1996ify]

2:10 SMOKING?

[@MrJazMeow]

Back when cabin crew were cute and pleasant.

[@christopherhanson411]

Does anybody know the name of the longer film this clip is from?

[@montersify]

does anyone no where i can find this whole movie. please reply because i really want to no the rest

[@Northisbest]

Smoke ? That fucking crime !

[@philmontejano5971]

Classy stewardesses and pants weren't allowed. Great customer service and seat pitch. Getting rid of smoking was one of the few good ideas

[@mercedes560sel]

@Flankitto04 well said sir . . .

[@summersky77]

@scorpdan Amen

[@simpleton21j]

Tell me about it

[@HappySunshineDay]

Hey, is that stewardess a young Martha Stewart?? lol

[@pettyofficer30]

@duckylick At least they had Freedom back then as Americans!

[@ChrisCromwellHP]

Pour me another Scotch On The Rocks stewardess? Thanks!

[@aztlaxpuroazul]

tru that jeje

[@bixbyglaser]

West Coast later became part of the banana empire of Hughes Airwest......those were the days!

[@marcoavendano6593]

Is that Rod Sterling narrating?

[@JetRanger0007]

Yip- back when we could actually function as humans !

[@felngsoblu]

I don's see any laptops or ipods!

[@stratoleft]

At the time this was made, there wasn't near as many sinister minds in hollywood (including video games) as there is now. So, no. It's just a documentary or commercial with no side line malicious story to it.

[@MNBluestater]

Yes, passengers considered flying a luxury and dressed up for it. Check out the nice luggage people were flying with also. I would also add--free meal, free magazines, free newspapers, free blankets and free pillows. And no charges to check a bag or a special seat except f/c. Airline travel is crap now.

[@philmontejano5971]

Yes it is but passengers accept it so it will only get worse. The one industry where you can bump passengers, be late and have poor customer service and still make a profit

[@keithmontgomery9664]

Full video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kH20cnRjed2XfNU&ab_channel=ClassicAirliners%26VintagePopCulture

[@MerleOberon]

when people dressed up to fly....

[@nhprman]

Love the wild hats they had to wear off the plane, anyway. Not sure I'd love the smoking though. I remember smoke-filled planes. Not fun. You can tell these stewardesses really cared about their job, and for the customers. What an odd concept. LOL Let's get back to that idea!

[@tonydegiuseppe9484]

The music us so overly dramatic, and the entire story almost seems CLINICAL.

[@alienhuman]

WoW ... someone OLD and BITTER was here a month ago. LOL

[@roachtoasties]

Non-locking overhead storage and people smoking up a storm as nobody cares. Then half the passengers are all getting themselves drunk with the complimentary booze on a commuter flight. How things have changed.

[@eduardalet]

Should be a requirement to dress in a suit and tie or dress , that way the airlines keep the riff raff off the plane.

[@psgman41]

Umm nowadays, we dont need to take a plane to smoke, fly and get high. We just need cannabis :-)

[@virginbluedude]

yer. uh huh. thats right. you better run WCA, Qantas V-jet;s are gonna ram ur arse

[@Ben-xe8ps]

On the subject of passenger dress, the differences today are a problem of society not of the airlines making. The passengers in this video seem quite normally dressed for people of that era. The fact that it is now socially acceptable, for example, for men to wear shorts on an aircraft is not the fault of the airline but of society. Please remember that at this time alcoholic drinks were charged for aboard aircraft in coach. All this alcohol being consumed was not free. If the stewardess is smiling and chatting to the single male passengers it is to get them to purchase another drink. Of course alcohol consumption was more socially acceptable with different attitudes to drink driving, drinking at lunchtime then returning to the office for an afternoon of work etc. The airlines would create an environment where buying a drink or two was the norm. Not applicable in this video, but on a longer flight the service of a nice restaurant quality meal in coach almost guaranteed alcohol sales. In the 60's smoking was seen as glamorous and most of the population smoked. It was therefore permitted and contributed to the creation of a relaxed environment. I have noticed that since smoking was banned on aircraft the atmosphere on board had become more tense, less relaxed. As for the quality of the cabin crew, you get what you pay for. You pay decent salaries and give good working conditions, you get this type of crew. You do the opposite and end up with cabin crew who would be more suited to a fast food restaurant.

[@MNBluestater]

CRIMINY, WE'RE LANDING ! (Give me your ###** leftover bottle and glass, and are you too stupid to know how to latch a tray table ?) Signed-- Mary Poppins Flight Attendant

[@cidness85]

Why does she talk to softly?

[@Gabster1990]

9/11 happened.

[@ImperialRetrovision]

@scorpdan Yes I am offended when men wearing only sweatpants and tshirts get on the plane, and then the endless farting begins. I sit on the aisle to monitor outfits as people enter the plane.

[@vallartaisheaven]

smoking and lots of booze - c'mon, on a short flight?

[@laviaslavic1]

I agree with you and if this may sound sinister forgive me but the narrator sounds like narrators of porn from the 60's & 70's :-X

[@duckylick]

I bet miss hostess died from lung cancer! WOW look at all that free flowing liquor... Part of me thinks it's gross to have all that smoke on a plane and part of me (the smoker in me) thinks how FUN it would be!

[@tonyde52]

Overly dramatic soundtrack.

[@Brenda1371]

That hat looks stupid. And it looks just as cramped. But freedom for some was much nicer. Now all you get is rude.

[@vladilenkalatschev4915]

... compare with stewardesses nowadays...

[@xr6lad]

Flying when it was all class.......now its all ass.......