Old Passenger Lists Go Viral, Internet Discovers Startling Detail
Photo Credit (Freepik)
The once-common habit of smoking on airplanes has changed significantly over the years, marking one notable shift in the evolution of air travel. Similar to selecting a window or aisle seat nowadays, customers were once asked if they chose a “smoking” or “non-smoking” seat. But as the health effects of smoking became more apparent, governments and airlines outlawed the habit.
A social media user published an old boarding card image that revealed a time when “non-smoking cabins” were a unique distinction, which recently caused a wave of nostalgia and surprise online.
The image, which was uploaded on the well-known “r/AskUK” thread on Reddit, featured a few boarding cards that had tumbled out of an old book. These tickets were for a flight from London Heathrow to Casablanca, Morocco, in a “non-smoking cabin.” The Reddit user, who was intrigued by the discovery, posted on Reddit, “I’ve tried looking online for similar ones to figure out how old they could be but haven’t had any luck!” asking for assistance in dating the passes.
Based on the “non-smoking” mark on the tickets—a term that has long since been phased out of airline tickets—they conjectured that the tickets may date back before the 1980s. Thousands of people were astonished and amused by the artifact from a bygone period in the thousands of replies that swiftly followed the initial simple question.
A Flashback to the Past
It’s difficult to comprehend that smoking on airplanes was ever accepted, as one user put it. Furthermore, as recently as 2000!”” Another commenter assisted in refining the timeline by pointing out that, since the tickets were for Heathrow’s Terminal 2, which Air France no longer operates, they had to be dated between 1955 and 2009. They also conjectured that since Air France prohibited smoking in 2000 and its subsidiary, Air France Services Limited (AFSL), operated from 1996 to 2009, the boarding cards most likely originated from that period.
An intriguing twist was provided by a different user, though: “I recall purchasing airline tickets that stated “non-smoking” even after smoking was outlawed. Although there was no smoking anywhere on the aircraft, the airline had not upgraded its ticketing system in years.””
The tickets’ design also sparked discussion; based just on look, some users surmised that they date back to the mid-to-late 1990s.
A Captivating Reminder of The Times We Live In
This viral tweet served as a helpful reminder to many of the ways that plane travel and social standards have evolved in a short amount of time. For younger generations, this aspect of flying that was once commonplace now seems strange. These vintage boarding permits evoke nostalgia while providing an intriguing look back at the times and a reminder of how far aviation-related comfort, safety, and health have come.
