Cognac and cigars: The golden age of inflight meals

[El Presidente]

 

Good piece and worth a read. 

 

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/golden-age-inflight-meals-cmd/index.html

 

Cognac and cigars: The golden age of inflight meals

 

[Nino]

That is the B-747-100/200 upper deck Bar pictured there.

Ours ( Lufthansa ) had the Bar right hand side providing draught beers and all kinds of cocktails for pre/after meal service to the guests coming upstairs for a drink and a smoke.

We provided Lufthansa own cigars, named Senator after our First Class service, came in tins and boxes in Tubos, and it was allowed to smoke them on board until about mid 80's.

Very happy to be retired but I believe the best time of my life was flying in the 70's and 80's - then it all went downhill after mass transport set in.

Mass transport certainly ended the travel era ...

[Nino]

Todays First Class ...

[SpecialK]

1 hour ago, Nino said:

That is the B-747-100/200 upper deck Bar pictured there.

Ours ( Lufthansa ) had the Bar right hand side providing draught beers and all kinds of cocktails for pre/after meal service to the guests coming upstairs for a drink and a smoke.

We provided Lufthansa own cigars, named Senator after our First Class service, came in tins and boxes in Tubos, and it was allowed to smoke them on board until about mid 80's.

Very happy to be retired but I believe the best time of my life was flying in the 70's and 80's - then it all went downhill after mass transport set in.

Mass transport certainly ended the travel era ...

Nino, were the Senators Cuban ? 

[Nino]

@SpecialK - No. DomRep...

[Chibearsv]

1 hour ago, Nino said:

That is the B-747-100/200 upper deck Bar pictured there.

Ours ( Lufthansa ) had the Bar right hand side providing draught beers and all kinds of cocktails for pre/after meal service to the guests coming upstairs for a drink and a smoke.

We provided Lufthansa own cigars, named Senator after our First Class service, came in tins and boxes in Tubos, and it was allowed to smoke them on board until about mid 80's.

Very happy to be retired but I believe the best time of my life was flying in the 70's and 80's - then it all went downhill after mass transport set in.

Mass transport certainly ended the travel era ...

 

This is a great memory.  When I was a kid, my favorite toy was a large model of a Lufthansa 747.  My dad was the top VW salesman in the US and got all kinds of bling from the factory reps and my plane was one of them.  I was completely enamored with flying machines and I thought that was the coolest of them all.  We took our first ski trip to Colorado and flew on a 747 to Denver (it was connecting to Oahu after that).  A stewardess took me up the spiral staircase through the lounge (people smoking, drinking, and playing cards).  And I got to see the cockpit and meet the pilots.  Very cool.

[Nino]

@Chibearsv - Love to read that !

Guess I would have the perfect 747 model for your childhood memories here.

Got it from LH back in the 90's, a cast metal -400 model with working jet blades, landing gear, official LH model for collectors, cost a fortune back then and I would happily pass it on to you as I have no kids !

 

[Chibearsv]

2 minutes ago, Nino said:

Wow!  That looks very familiar.  Bringing a tear to my eye.  Thank you!

[Nino]

27 minutes ago, Chibearsv said:

Wow!  That looks very familiar.  Bringing a tear to my eye.  Thank you!

Thank you !!

Brings a couple of tears to mine - I had 703 flights on that one, 348 on the -200, 5 on the -800 and 1 on the SP ( the baby 747 ), that one was across the Pacific from Auckland to LAX .... Barbra Streisand was on board, took 14,5 hrs IIRC.

Here is my Flight Log of 35 years at LH

http://flyingcigar.de/flight-log/

[MrBirdman]

AA is permanently eliminating hot food on domestic First. Another instance where COVID gave corporate bean counters a convenient excuse to cut service.

Remember free breakfasts at business travel accomodations? Soon to be a distant memory at some places, mark my word. 

[Meesterjojo]

I was definitely too young to smoke back then, but this all reminds me how smart folks dressed to fly.

I'd fly 6-8 times a year for vacations and school breaks. Everyone dressed nice. Not like these days. Maybe that's part of the reason I no longer fly. 

I wished I had gotten in on the smoking lounge days. All I recall is the back of the planes were smoking.

[Corylax18]

9 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

AA is permanently eliminating hot food on domestic First. Another instance where COVID gave corporate bean counters a convenient excuse to cut service.

Remember free breakfasts at business travel accomodations? Soon to be a distant memory at some places, mark my word. 

The people who will suffer aren't paying for the majority of those tickets. The bean counters at AA will be happy, the bean counters at all the large corporations will be happy and only the business traveler suffers. 

I flew United's Flagship "Polaris" Business class on their 777-200 on Monday, I loved having 3 windows to myself, the complete privacy of the seat was amazing, but the service was economy class standard. Cold, robotic, just not up to the standards it should be. Despite that, the entire plane, all 364 seats, was completely full. The service wasn't any better in the 10 seat across economy section either, I'm sure of that. It was a complimentary upgrade from the "Economy Plus" seat that I paid points to upgrade too. 

Granted, I flew a 2 1/2 hour hop from Denver to Chicago, so I wasn't expecting a 5 course meal. But no alcohol was available, not even for a fee. That's just not ok when your paying the prices they get for these seats. LCC's and ULCC's have unlocked travel for millions of people, which is awesome. But they've also triggered a race to the bottom. For 20-30% of the price, you can get 80% of what the mainline carriers offer. I've flown Spirit, Southwest, Frontier and I will again. On flights under 2 hours, they are bearable, especially for 1/3rd the price of a main line carrier. 

Despite the fact that its become a cattle call, I still enjoy flying/travelling. Flying was wonderful during the pandemic, the worst part of the equation was greatly minimized. I'll wear a mask on planes/in the airport for the rest of my life if it means I get three rows to myself on every flight. Haha

 

4 hours ago, Meesterjojo said:

I was definitely too young to smoke back then, but this all reminds me how smart folks dressed to fly.

I'd fly 6-8 times a year for vacations and school breaks. Everyone dressed nice. Not like these days. Maybe that's part of the reason I no longer fly. 

I wished I had gotten in on the smoking lounge days. All I recall is the back of the planes were smoking.

Its amazing, people literally wear what they woke up in. Personal Pride is a thing of the past. 

[MrBirdman]

16 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Flying was wonderful during the pandemic, the worst part of the equation was greatly minimized. I'll wear a mask on planes/in the airport for the rest of my life if it means I get three rows to myself on every flight

Hear hear, I hadn’t been on a flight with more than one or two empty seats in years prior to COVID. 

While you’re of course correct that most people in First domestic don’t pay for it anyway, AA‘s decision still represents a degradation of one of the top perks of rewards status. Of course currently if you want to drink alcohol on AA you have to be in first. It wouldn’t shock me if they eliminate it permanently in coach for domestic flights under 3 hours.

Elite status is a shadow of its former self. Even the top tier in Aadvantage doesn’t get you lounge access anymore, just a $200 discount. Why reward loyalty when consolidation has left consumers in a many markets with no choice anyway? FTC and Justice have been asleep at the wheel for well over a decade now, and not just with respect to airlines.

Compared to most international major carriers like Lufthansa and Qantas, US airlines are increasingly glorified low budget carriers. 

[El Presidente]

4 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

Compared to most international major carriers like Lufthansa and Qantas, US airlines are increasingly glorified low budget carriers. 

US carriers are more like buses. 

Lufthansa and Qantas are very good international airlines. Emirates, Etihad, Singapore are next level again. 

I look forward to jumping on one of those soon!

[Bijan]

8 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Its amazing, people literally wear what they woke up in. Personal Pride is a thing of the past. 

If it was good enough for Jesus, it's probably good enough for me.

https://theconversation.com/what-did-jesus-wear-90783

I imagine him as a man in relatively shabby clothes tending to lepers. Why should the ideal of civilization be a suit and a tie?

All that said the pandemic and work from home has taken my dress down a couple of pegs, from the already casual (generally jeans and a t-shirt) it was when I did go into the office.

[Corylax18]

6 hours ago, Bijan said:

If it was good enough for Jesus, it's probably good enough for me.

https://theconversation.com/what-did-jesus-wear-90783

I imagine him as a man in relatively shabby clothes tending to lepers. Why should the ideal of civilization be a suit and a tie?

All that said the pandemic and work from home has taken my dress down a couple of pegs, from the already casual (generally jeans and a t-shirt) it was when I did go into the office.

I'm not big on the religious stuff, but I completely understand the point you're making. 

I haven't worn a suit on a plane in probably 5 years, I sure don't want that to be the norm again. On this recent flight in a very fancy 'international" business class I was wearing Levi's, a Carhartt polo shirt and some fancy Redwings. I certainly wasn't "dressed to impress" but all parts of the outfit were clean, fit me, and not full of holes. I didn't leave trash and crumbs everywhere, etc. An airplane cabin isn't your living room, people shouldn't treat it as such. Its not the clothes themselves, its more the general lack of care/pride in oneself. People don't even comb there hair, I don't want to smell their unwashed body/clothes for several hours either. It was happening before the pandemic and its accelerated since, people just refuse to be participating/contributing members of society. 

 

[Fuzz]

6 hours ago, Bijan said:

If it was good enough for Jesus, it's probably good enough for me.

https://theconversation.com/what-did-jesus-wear-90783

I imagine him as a man in relatively shabby clothes tending to lepers. Why should the ideal of civilization be a suit and a tie?

All that said the pandemic and work from home has taken my dress down a couple of pegs, from the already casual (generally jeans and a t-shirt) it was when I did go into the office.

19 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

I'm not big on the religious stuff, but I completely understand the point you're making. 

I haven't worn a suit on a plane in probably 5 years, I sure don't want that to be the norm again. On this recent flight in a very fancy 'international" business class I was wearing Levi's, a Carhartt polo shirt and some fancy Redwings. I certainly wasn't "dressed to impress" but all parts of the outfit were clean, fit me, and not full of holes. I didn't leave trash and crumbs everywhere, etc. An airplane cabin isn't your living room, people shouldn't treat it as such. Its not the clothes themselves, its more the general lack of care/pride in oneself. People don't even comb there hair, I don't want to smell their unwashed body/clothes for several hours either. It was happening before the pandemic and its accelerated since, people just refuse to be participating/contributing members of society. 

 

About 10 yrs ago I was flying MAS Business Class KL to Syd. The guy next to me was a Brit, the type some would call a "chav". After plopping himself on his seat, the first thing he did was start hitting on the stewardess. Then after takeoff, he planted his dirty, bare foot on the side bulkhead, leaned across into my space and started telling me about how great the movie I was watching. The guy was pretty much a slob during meal service too.  That kind of behaviour is bad enough in cattle class, but in business?!

 

[Cairo]

8 hours ago, El Presidente said:

US carriers are more like buses. 

I took a commuter bus to work for years, and it was _much_ roomier and a much more pleasant experience than flying on US carriers.

I remember some six hour bus rides in blizzards, and it _still_ was a better experience than flying anywhere in the US.

I am retired now and have managed to come up with dozens of excuses not to fly anywhere.

I used to fly decades ago when it was a lot of fun.  I actually looked forward to it--in the US those days are long gone.

[Nino]

While watching @El Presidente Cars of of the future 1948 on YT, I came upon this highly interesting video of the Pan Am Clipper boats, the Boeing 314.

Incredible trip and so fantastic to watch ! Highly recommended for any aviation enthusiast.

It reminded me of an accidental flight around the world I had while at LH on the DC-10 where we took off from FRA for Karachi via Athens, supposed to be a 3 day round-trip and due to KHI airport's runway being flooded with rain we had to divert to New Delhi.

Instead of flying back to FRA our company told us to continue to HKG via BKK where we had 4 hrs engine check delay.

In HKG we had minimum crew rest and were told to continue to Tokýo/Haneda.

In Tokyo again we had minimum rest and were put on a Japan Air Lines B-747 to dead-head back to FRA via Anchorage and Hamburg.

We landed back in FRA after 7 days - around the world on 2 changes of underwear 🙂