United Airlines Had Men-Only Flights Until 1970. Here’s the Manly Services They Offered.

[brooklynite]

View From The Wing:

From 1953 through 1970, United offered men-only ‘Executive flights’ between New York and Chicago and between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

These flights were operated by DC-6B aircraft and later Caravelles. Flights mostly operated at 5pm in each direction between the two cities(generally six days a week excluding Saturdays). They didn’t just ban women, but children also, and flight attendants catered to these business flights with special meals and offered complimentary cigars.

They offered ‘last minute message service’ (to make a call on behalf of the passenger back to the office) and the flights also had a teletype business news update with closing market prices. This was co-branded with the Wall Street Journal at one point.

The "good old days".....

[KarenS]

1. Goodness,,, I had no idea. n/t

[SheilaT]

2. United wasn't the only one.

Mohawk Airlines had their "Gaslight Service" in the early 1960's. They were getting ready to phase out their DC-3s, and wanted to give them a final workout, so they repainted them in a Victorian style livery, dressed the stewardesses in a tight satin gown, served beer and cigars to the men who were the only passengers.





I worked for Mohawk Airlines from 1969 to 1979, and I have to say I was completely unaware of their "Men only" flights in 1969. Plus, the information says they were using their DC-6 for those flights, and checking their history on Wikipedia, I see those planes weren't retired until 1970. I'd thought they were gone several years earlier.

Mohawk had to discontinue their men-only service simply because there was enough demand from passengers who weren't men (meaning women and children) to be able to fly on those flights. I just find it astonishing that United could keep up a men-only service for so very long.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. When Mohawk airlines was talked about on Mad Men

I did not realize it was a real airline.

Wiki sez:
Mohawk Airlines operated in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, primarily the states of New York and Pennsylvania, from the mid-1940s until its acquisition by Allegheny Airlines in 1972. At its height, it employed over 2,200 personnel and pioneered several aspects of regional airline operations,[2] including being the first airline in the United States to hire an African American flight attendant.

[SheilaT]

4. Yep. Real airline.

And by far the best of the Regionals, as the smaller airlines (which then included Piedmont, Lake Central, Allegheny, Bonanza, and a bunch of others) were known. Their president, Robert Peach, was a genuine visionary. He brought Mohawk into the jet age by being the first regional to purchase pure jets, the BAC 111, at a time when Boeing and Douglas sniffed their noses at the prospect of building jets for smaller airports and shorter routes.

I did find the Mad Men references to Mohawk to be somewhat amusing, as whatever executive they were in touch with was a fictional person. I suppose, even all these years later, they couldn't use real names, or only could if permission were obtained. I was very sorry that Mad Men didn't actually put a couple of their people on Mohawk flights to Utica, the company headquarters. It wouldn't have been all that hard to replicate the interior of the equipment flown then, probably the Convair 240 and the Martin 404. Or, they could even have shown Don Draper on one of the Gaslight flights. That would have been a hoot.

[SoCalDem]

11. and Ozark airlines too

I was a travel consultant in the 70's & we always called them Mozark

There used to be air service to lots of places that don't have it anymore..

Defunct US airlines click on the alphabetical letters for a full list.. You will be amazed

[Carewfan]

14. Interestingly enough..

Eastern Airlines is making a comeback.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_(2015)

[SoCalDem]

16. I immediately flashed back to Lance (our Eastern rep)

He was always trying to hit on us (he WAS a cutie) and was always offering us free trips

[Carewfan]

17. And of course, it started flying to Cuba from Miami...

Service started Thursday...

[SheilaT]

45. Air service to a lot of places that don't have it anymore.

That's so true.

When Deregulation first came about all of us employees kept saying, "Pretty soon it's just going to be Greyhound Bus of the Skies." We were right, of course. Service slashed. The cities that no longer have airline service is distressingly long. The lack of competition on so many routes is likewise distressing. The worst thing, in my very humble opinion, is the way most people have been trained to go for the cheapest fare, regardless of any other consideration.

I have learned that if you can book far enough ahead of time, you can often score a first class seat at a reasonable price. Which I do, every chance I get.

[zappaman]

9. My dad flew for Mohawk in the 70s.

I had no idea about this!

[Jefferson23]

15. Is that for real?? The flight attendant is wearing a gown, or something?

That is nuts.

[SoCalDem]

24. Attendants used to wear hot-pants too ,,and on Air Jamaica

they had a swimsuit "fashion show" enroute..

and there were piano bars on 747's.. My son did not believe me until I showed him my pictures

and once on a Pan Am flight to San Juan We all took turns sitting in the co-pilot seat ( a travel agents' trip).. we were up in the firstclass upstairs lounge.. the pilots' door was a cloth curtain

those were the good old days when you got real food on real plates and had real silverware too

[Jefferson23]

26. That sounds like an entirely different planet...amazing., thank you. n/t

[SheilaT]

44. A whole bunch of airlines had hot pants on their

stewardesses in the 1970's.

I remember piano bars. The very best thing on the 747s when they first came into service was that the entire upper deck was a first class lounge. Sigh. As an airline employee I almost always flew first class, and it was truly wonderful.

[KMOD]

20. I was never aware of men only flights.

I recognize the Mohawk Airlines name, because there was a crash in a residential neighborhood in Albany, NY, in the early 70s.

I was quite young then, but it's still talked about by many to this day.

[SheilaT]

43. Mohawk flight 405.

It happened right before the merger with Allegheny, so it more or less disappeared from public awareness. Other than those nearby, of course.

[Tipperary]

22. Wow.

I had no idea about this and I'm kind of an airline/airplane buff.

[Logical]

5. Wow, smoking on airlines was disgusting. Thank god those days are over. nt

[zappaman]

10. I remember when it was only the back rows where is was permitted.

I guess the smoke magically stayed back there!

[Logical]

21. LOL, so true. Made no sense. nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. The planes went so fast; all the smoke was forced to the rear. n/t

[zappaman]

32. Thank you for bringing science into the discussion!

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Glad I could help. I would add that on long flights, the smoke starts to creep forward...

as the smoke starts to catch up with the speed of the aircraft. The pilot corrects for this phenomenon by pitching the nose up slightly every now and then, allowing the smoke to slosh back to the rear.

[ManiacJoe]

19. Smoking did have one good side effect.

It made finding hairline cracks in the fuselage much easier for the maintenance crews.

[jberryhill]

27. It also sealed them

[Owl]

38. Amen! The smoke was disgusting.

[FLPanhandle]

6. Airlines need to implement "No Children" Flights

Those I would sign up for.

[hifiguy]

7. I always thought that they should have put the screaming kids

and the smokers in the same section of the plane isolated from the rest of the passengers. :evil grin: I remember when there were smoking sections on planes. It was pretty intolerable.

[RebelOne]

8. As a smoker, I was grateful for the smoking sections on planes,

especially on 8-to 10-hour flights to Europe. I wouldn't have minded screaming kids as long as I could light up.

[Warpy]

28. I'm old enough to remember them before the smoking sections

when the whole fuselage was crammed with smokers. Since there was little to do on a long flight, most smokers turned into chain smokers. It really was horrible.

Best thing they did was ban smoking in airplanes. It almost makes cattle class tolerable. Almost.

[pnwmom]

12. They should implement "no grumpy people" flights first.

Children are humans entitled to the same consideration as other humans.

[DrDan]

25. have to agree with you - I fly a lot - and out of Orlando

so flights with lots of children are the norm. Always neat to watch them as we get close to Orlando, and Disney. They get soooooo excited.

Don't understand these folks that want no-children flights. Your "grumpy people" description is spot-on.

[PasadenaTrudy]

42. Amen! n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

13. in a pressurized DC-6 ....main, er- MANLINER!

Good thing it's pressurized. And a DC-6. Better than a de Havilland Comet, because then the windows could blow out, and next thing you know, yeah....


it's raining men.

[PeteSelman]

18. Sounds pretty cool actually.

Cigars, cocktails, steak.

Sounds like a pretty good deal if you could afford it.

[Logical]

23. Sure, nothing like smoking a cigar in a enclosed tube. nt

[PeteSelman]

29. That's an amenity you're paying for.

The rules are pretty upfront.

Don't go on the flight that is no longer available if you don't like it.

[Warren DeMontague]

36. Smoking a cigar, not so bad.

Not smoking a cigar but sitting next to the guy who is? Bad.

[Nye Bevan]

31. I know guys who would *love* this.

Not me though, I find cigar smoke disgusting.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. Me too.

Might as well be smoking a big dried turd.

[SheilaT]

46. Smoking a big dried turd.

A while back, while turning the pages of a magazine, I came across a picture of a man smoking a big cigar. Honest to God, my first thought was, "Why does this man have a turd in his mouth?"

[Scurrilous]

33. "Cigars, cocktails, steak..."

In retrospect, considering the health risks of all three, it have been more accurate to name it "The Chicago Executioner."

[Historic NY]

34. Wow then you should have seen the Hooters flights...

[1939]

39. Wasn't there an airline with "Pacific" in its name

that had "executive flights" from SF to LA and maybe some other destinations on the west coast?

The stewardesses were rather skimpily dressed on that one as well.

[mainer]

41. Pacific southwest airlines

Flew that many a time. Skimpy flight attendant dresses, psychedelic colors.

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. lol