There was a time when boarding a commercial flight meant dressing up, sitting down to a proper meal, and being treated like a guest rather than a unit of cargo. Deregulation in 1978 opened the skies to millions of Americans who could never have afforded a ticket before — but the price of that access was everything that once made flying feel special. Here's how air travel went from a genuine occasion to something most people dread.
Mar 13, 2026
Before a calm voice told you to turn left in 400 feet, Americans navigated with paper atlases, hand-scrawled directions on napkins, and the quiet optimism that someone at the next gas station would know where County Road 7 actually went. It was chaotic, occasionally maddening, and somehow deeply memorable. Here's what we traded away when we handed the wheel — figuratively — to our phones.
Mar 13, 2026