Thank Jimmy Carter for cheap airfare, smartphones and FedEx

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
by Steven Greenhut

“Social media is replete with memes showing photos from the glory days of airline travel, where well-dressed travelers – think scenes from the TV show ‘Mad Men’ – reclined in comfy seats, drank wine and ate cooked meals. It’s a huge disconnect from our modern airline experiences, which are punctuated by surly crowds, automated systems and long TSA lines. The point of the social-media photos: Look at how good things were then and how awful they are now. Like all nostalgia, they contain a ring of truth but are mostly nonsense. Airline travel prior to 1978, when President Jimmy Carter spearheaded the Airline Deregulation Act, was a high-end affair. … Before deregulation, a cross-country flight could cost thousands of dollars (inflation adjusted) and would take all day.” (01/05/25)

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/01/05/thank-jimmy-carter-for-cheap-airfare-smartphones-and-fedex/