AIRWAYS HISTORY The Story of Airline Timetables
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YOU FIND THAT EASTERN has an 18:30 departure out of Kennedy and it ’ s non-stop . You go to the payphones in the lobby and call Eastern Air Lines by dialing their local New York number . You book your reservation , telling the agent that you ’ ll pick up your ticket at the airport .
And that ’ s the way it was done in the ‘ 60s . No laptops , no cell phones and apps , no online reservations .
The timetable was your source of information . It was the most important piece of public literature published by an airline . Since the beginning of the commercial aviation industry , the printed company timetable was considered a vital and indispensable part of public relations . Virtually every airline , large or small , publicized its schedules by issuing timetables on a regular basis . The timetable was how an airline told its prospective customers what time flights departed and arrived . It was also the company ’ s way of telling you about new services and about the most recent additions to the fleet .
1 The covers of these Eastern Air Lines timetables from 1966 illustrate how the company ’ s new advertising agency , Young & Rubicam , was updating the carrier ’ s image to more closely align with the colorful flair of the Swinging Sixties .
2 Cover art was meant to catch the eye of the prospective traveler , as evidenced by this TWA illustration of a DC-2 on the cover of the company ’ s March 1936 timetable .
3 Columnar schedules , like those used by railroads , gave a lot of information in a small space . Each column represented an individual flight . The page illustrated is from Eastern ’ s July 1 , 1957 system timetable .
Today , customers get their information from the Internet . In the modern age of loyalty programs , the cost of printing timetables has not weighed up against their perceived value as an advertising and information source .
The paper timetable became a dinosaur . It could be disposed of permanently . The timetable was destined to go the way of complimentary meal service in the coach cabin on domestic flights . Eliminate it and save money .
HOW TIMETABLES EVOLVED
The railroad timetable , which developed its form in the 19 th century , was the original template used for airline timetables . Schedules were presented in vertical columns . In airline timetables the columns were printed alongside a list of airports ( or “ stations ”). Each column represented an individual flight , and arrival and departure times were listed opposite the stations served by that particular flight . This ‘ columnar ’ format was very informative . You could see in one column what time your flight
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