Question for old timers

What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?

My first flight was in 1991.

I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding
and had them handed back at the end of the flight.

My guess is maybe metal detectors in the '70s.

In article ,
Mr. DBG wrote:
What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?

There was nothing at all until the Palestinian hijackings in 1970 and
DB Cooper in 1971. The FAA mandated searches starting in 1973, which
were mostly just magnetometers.

I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding
and had them handed back at the end of the flight.

Yeah. Ah, for the good old days.

R's,
John

"John Levine" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mr. DBG wrote:
What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?

There was nothing at all until the Palestinian hijackings in 1970 and
DB Cooper in 1971.

I think it was mainly those Cuban hijackings of the period
that caused the changes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...aft_hijackings

I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding
and had them handed back at the end of the flight.

Yeah. Ah, for the good old days.

Yeah, ain't modern life wunnerful...



R's,
John

In article ,
"Mr. DBG" wrote:


Yeah. Ah, for the good old days.

Yeah, ain't modern life wunnerful...


No formal security procedures at all when you board European inter-city
trains (which you can routinely do just minutes before they depart) ---
along with no seating problems, a _much_ more comfortable trip, laptop
power and broadband wireless often available on board --- and about the
same total travel time door-to-door.

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:55:14 -0700, AES
wrote:

In article ,
"Mr. DBG" wrote:


Yeah. Ah, for the good old days.

Yeah, ain't modern life wunnerful...


No formal security procedures at all when you board European inter-city
trains (which you can routinely do just minutes before they depart) ---
along with no seating problems, a _much_ more comfortable trip, laptop
power and broadband wireless often available on board --- and about the
same total travel time door-to-door.

Depending on where you are traveling. We took the ICE from Munich
to Berlin once and the ride was long enough I finally decided we
should have flown. There are cut-rate airlines we could have
used. On the other hand, my BahnCard50 probably meant the airfare
couldn't beat the train fare for the three of us.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

"Mr. DBG" wrote:
What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?
My first flight was in 1991.
I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding
and had them handed back at the end of the flight.

No ID checks. You could give or sell a ticket to anyone.
As long as it had the correct origin+destination, gate agents
assumed it was your ticket. And yeah, gates did not close
until 10 minutes B4 departure. Before deregulation, flights
were more web-like than hub+spoke, which made it easier
to get to smaller airports.

"Rog'" wrote in message
. ..
"Mr. DBG" wrote:
What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?
My first flight was in 1991.
I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding
and had them handed back at the end of the flight.

No ID checks. You could give or sell a ticket to anyone.
As long as it had the correct origin+destination, gate agents
assumed it was your ticket.

Yep, even I remember those days. Our local paper would
have huge numbers of ads for people selling airline tickets.
These new rules blew that practice right out of the water!
I think that several years before it became law, most of
the airlines lied to customers, saying it was an FAA regulation
to verify I.D.

And yeah, gates did not close
until 10 minutes B4 departure. Before deregulation, flights
were more web-like than hub+spoke, which made it easier
to get to smaller airports.

Rog' wrote:

"Mr. DBG" wrote:

What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?
My first flight was in 1991.
I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding
and had them handed back at the end of the flight.


No ID checks. You could give or sell a ticket to anyone.

OF course, prices were regulated

No formal security procedures at all when you board European inter-city
trains (which you can routinely do just minutes before they depart) ---
along with no seating problems, a _much_ more comfortable trip, and about
the
same total travel time door-to-door.

Not travelled much on the trains in the UK then i take it :-)

In article ,
"Stephen Chaplin" wrote:

No formal security procedures at all when you board European inter-city
trains (which you can routinely do just minutes before they depart) ---
along with no seating problems, a _much_ more comfortable trip, and about
the
same total travel time door-to-door.

Not travelled much on the trains in the UK then i take it :-)

Nope, fortunately I haven't had to. Maybe some day your social system
will catch up to those in Germany and other parts of Europe. :-)