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Six Golden Ages of Air Travel

Air-Travel Golden Ages
Air Hostesses, 1950 (Photo: Hulton Archive/Stringer/Getty Images)

A colleague emailed me a while back about a possible interview with a reporter looking for background on the golden age of air travel, which the reporter pegged as the 1950s and ’60s. I was a good choice for the interview because I actually flew during that period. Although the interview never happened, the subject piqued my interest enough to gather some thoughts. My basic conclusion is that I can’t identify a single golden age; instead, I think air travel passed through six golden ages.

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