Letters to the Editor: A reader shares a fond memory of the more formal days of air travel

To the editor: So, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy thinks that wearing a tie when you fly will restore civility to airline travel (“Trump’s transit chief longs for ‘golden age’ of flying. Banning sweats won’t cut it, experts say,” Nov. 25). Hmm, I think I just saw another flying pig go by.

But he did prompt me to recall my first experience with air travel in the summer of 1955. I was 9 years old and traveling, unaccompanied, from Cleveland to Philadelphia to spend time with my uncle’s family. My parents took me to the airport after making sure I was properly attired in a sport jacket and tie. It wasn’t because we were part of some elite social class (both sets of my grandparents would be considered “working class”), it was just good manners.

After I was led to my seat on a sparkling silver United Airlines DC-4, the engines roared as we rolled down the runway at a speed I had before only imagined. At altitude, the view from my window was truly magnificent. And then, the stewardess approached me and pinned a set of metal wings on the lapel of my sport coat. I was officially an air traveler.

Over the years, I gradually shifted from suit and tie while air traveling to a more relaxed form of dress as the seats became smaller and the cabins more crowded. More than once, I have thought that the airport lounges of my childhood now more closely resembled bus terminals.

One thing was for certain, however. Whenever I went to the airport to meet my father, he was always easy to spot. He was the old guy in the suit and tie.

David R. Coffman, Desert Hot Springs

..

To the editor: Duffy has enacted a “civility campaign” aimed at airline passengers. Based on the idea of “monkey see, monkey do,” this campaign would be broadly effective and welcomed if it was instead aimed at the current occupant of the Oval Office.

Babette Wilk, Valley Village