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(upbeat music)

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Have you ever wondered how many people

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are in the sky right now?

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Um.

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Probably more than I imagine.

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Are we including trapeze artists

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and people launched from catapults?

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50,000.

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Half a million.

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A million people.

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{\an8}On any given day, you're likely to find

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{\an8}about 1.2 million people in the air.

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Now, that is a lot of airplanes.

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Okay, that's a lot of people (laughs).

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2019 Was the busiest year

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in the history of air travel.

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If you've ever seen any of the flight charts

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that show all the planes in the air at the same time,

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there's thousands and thousands.

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How did we go from one brave passenger?

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{\an8}It's hard to understand how insane

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{\an8}you would have to be (man screams)

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to go on the first scheduled commercial airline flight.

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To 40 million annual flights.

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[Flight Attendant] Here we go.

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It's almost time to fly.

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It takes wanderlust.

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I don't think there are any human beings

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who haven't dreamt of flying.

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Innovation.

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The jet engine changes the whole game.

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Risque marketing.

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Each airline was kind of trying to outcompete each other

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with these really beautiful stewardesses.

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The idea was that air travel is the fulfillment

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of a fantasy, and a part of that fantasy was sex.

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And the rise of coach class.

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The fact you only get 30 inches of leg room.

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It's a lot more democratic.

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This is a story of firsts,

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{\an8}of millions, of billions.

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The 2010 Iceland volcano explosion

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cost airlines $1.7 billion.

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And the lucky number seven.

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This is air travel.

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Please fasten your seatbelt.

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Buckle up.

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(upbeat music)

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(plane engine roaring)

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Air travel has connected people, culture, societies,

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has allowed people to travel quicker, faster,

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{\an8}more efficiently than we've ever would've expected.

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Air travel has revolutionized everything.

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{\an8}We need numbers to help us imagine air travel.

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What is the volume of luggage getting moved every day?

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What is the longest flight?

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How many people are getting onto an airplane every day?

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(upbeat music)

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To grasp the true scope and reach

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of air travel today, look no further

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than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

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{\an8}Atlanta is the world's busiest passenger airport.

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More than 110 million passengers

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come through its doors every year.

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There's always a running joke that no matter

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where you are traveling in the world,

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that if there's a layover, it's Atlanta.

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But ATL would never have taken off

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without an obscure risk-taking druggist

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{\an8}and the magic of number nine.

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(upbeat music)

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In 1888, Atlanta pharmacist Asa Candler

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buys the secret recipe to a new soft drink

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with nine mysterious ingredients.

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He successfully markets the syrupy tonic

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and founds the Cola-Cola Company.

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Within two decades, it's America's favorite soda.

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Yum.

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But Asa's got a thirst for a new venture.

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With the profits of his soda empire,

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he gambles $77,674, or two million in today's money,

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on 287 acres of marshland.

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It's a fixer-upper.

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Then drains the whole thing dry.

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In 1909, Asa Candler opens up a raceway in Atlanta.

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Thousands flock to see car races and air shows.

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But after two seasons, the novelty wears off.

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The raceway in Atlanta is way ahead of its time

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because the car is just being introduced

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to modern America and middle-class America.

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The speedway is a flop.

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Asa's big idea is as flat as stale soda pop.

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The track sits abandoned till 1919

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when Asa lets pilots use it as a landing strip.

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A few years later, the city officially takes it over.

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If Asa Candler could see what happened to his vision,

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his mind would explode.

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(plane engine roars)

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So, the land is now home to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport.

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It's a tiny portion of what is the sprawling system

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of runways and taxiways.

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In less than a century, Asa's original airfield

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multiplied by 16 to now cover 7.3 square miles.

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(upbeat music)

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The Atlanta airport is absolutely huge.

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Every time I've flown through it,

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{\an8}my connection is in a different terminal

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{\an8}on the other side of the airport,

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{\an8}and you have to ride a tram

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to get from one place to the other.

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Hartsfield-Jackson airport covers 4,700 acres,

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and an average of 2,700 planes take off

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and land here every single day.

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(upbeat music)

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The airport itself is an experience.

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I mean, literally, you can do everything at the terminal.

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It's like a fully-formed city in itself.

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I mean, you've got restaurants,

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hotels, transportation hubs.

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They have little churches.

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They have their own police force.

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They have public transit that moves you

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from one end to the other.

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And it's all behind a security wall.

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63,000 people are needed

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to run Atlanta's airport,

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making it the number one employer in the state.

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(film reel clicking)
(whimsical music)

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All airports owe a debt to the pioneers of aviation,

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but you'd be surprised to discover some

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aren't the usual suspects from our textbooks.

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Aviation always starts with the Wright brothers in 1903,

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but people were trying, experimenting,

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learning to fly long before that.

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{\an8}From Leonard da Vinci's 500 visions

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{\an8}of flying machines, to the study of aerodynamics

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by mathematicians like Huygens or Newton.

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Come on, come on.

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Humans have been attempting flight

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for centuries.

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Oh, no.

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If it works, it ain't stupid.

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I know nothing of aerodynamics.

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I don't know how somebody figured it out in the first place.

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The wheels come up and then it's autopilot, isn't it?

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I should know this as an engineer.

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Air that flows faster has less lift

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than air that flows slower, so the design of the wing

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causes air to flow over the wing faster

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and under the wing slower,

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and that's what gives the plane lift.

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You're floating.

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The wings don't move like a bird.

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It might just be magic.

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There's a reason why it took human beings so long

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to figure out how to fly.

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You have to have two characteristics.

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{\an8}One is you have to be very logical

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{\an8}and rigorous in your engineering designs.

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At the same time, you have to be incredibly reckless.

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You have to be a lunatic to put yourself

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in one of these flimsy contraptions.

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Aw, just like Icarus.

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{\an8}The very idea of flight, it was fascinating to everybody,

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{\an8}but most people would say it can't be done.

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Those who were prepared to give it a try

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couldn't wait to get into the air.

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We're used to cruising at 30,000 feet.

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But it's the much lower altitude of 50 feet

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that makes commercial aviation history.

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Taking us on that seminal ride is a motley duo

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you've probably never heard of.

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Let's head to the beach.

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New Year's Day, 1914,

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3,000 people gather on a beach in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Everyone there, I mean, regardless whether

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they were hungover or sober, had to be aware

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that they're either gonna witness the greatest thing ever,

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or one of the biggest tragedies ever.

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They've come to see the Birdman, Tony Jannus.

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A 24-year-old playboy and showman,

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he's promised to wow the crowds,

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flying a Benoist XIV across the bay to Tampa.

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(bright music)

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Well, a Benoist airplane is a boat with a set of wings,

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and then a propeller driven by

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an early internal combustion engine,

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and a tail which enabled you

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to keep the whole thing stabilized.

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The model XIV was one of 17 flying machines

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built by aircraft parts manufacturer

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and designer, Thomas Benoist.

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This Benoist fellow liked to brag about how he used

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the best materials and he just used the best math.

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It was all bluster, I mean,

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these people did not know what they were doing.

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St. Petersburg Mayor Abraham C. Pheil

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shells out $400 for the only seat on board

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and the bragging rights to being the very first

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paying airplane passenger in the world.

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It's hard to understand how insane you would have to be

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to go on the first scheduled commercial airline flight.

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It was an experimental, almost a toy,

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I would say, this flying boat.

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(bright music)

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An airboat?

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Oh, it's a sea plane.

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That doesn't look particularly safe.

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(laughs) No, thank you.

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I would definitely fly in this thing just to try it.

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Watch and learn, mortal.

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After takeoff, the Benoist reaches

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a maximum cruising altitude of 50 feet,

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but soon, the engine sputters

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and the boat plane splashes down.

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Not about to disappoint the crowd,

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Tony tinkers with the engine and lifts off once more.

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It goes faster and faster and faster, and like the,

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the chickly chicken chickly of the engine, and, you know,

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finally it's in the air and, you know, there's birds,

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you know, whipping past, and 22 minutes of flight time,

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you're all the way across the bay.

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Once that airboat takes its first paying passenger,

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that's really the catalyst for commercial airfare.

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The flight service runs twice a day,

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six days a week.

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{\an8}In four months, it takes 1,200 paying passengers

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{\an8}across Tampa Bay.

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Commercial aviation was getting started,

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but the machines were not very powerful, not very fast,

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and you couldn't carry much weight.

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(mischievous music)

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Early planes made of wood and fabric

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are used mainly for transporting mail.

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But when military aircraft from the First World War

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repurposed, commercial flight gets a big boost.

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After this very sort of experimental era,

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we moved into the 30s.

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By then, airplanes were getting quite

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a lot bigger and a lot more sophisticated.

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So, in the 1930s,

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there's a major leap in aircraft technology.

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Aircraft designers have at their disposal

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considerably better internal combustion engines.

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Metal airframes combined with power engines

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enable planes to fly faster, farther,

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and through different climates.

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As the engines get better and better,

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you have aircraft that really leapfrog

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in their performance capabilities.

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The industry takes off.

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In 1930, 6,000 Americans travel by plane.

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Four years later, that number multiplies by 75

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to reach 450,000 passengers.

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Yet, despite the technological advancements,

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air travel is strictly for the 1%.

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Ordinary people couldn't hope to buy

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an airline ticket to anywhere,

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not short haul, and certainly not long haul.

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A coast-to-coast return flight

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in depression-era America

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would cost the equivalent of $4,270 today.

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And we're not talking flying

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in first-class conditions either.

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The airplane was incredibly noisy

266
00:11:52,670 --> 00:11:55,360
and there was no pressurization.

267
00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,400
And by the time you landed there,

268
00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,240
the drumming sound in your ears

269
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,420
didn't stop for a week after that.

270
00:12:02,420 --> 00:12:03,860
For the super rich,

271
00:12:03,860 --> 00:12:06,210
there was another more comfortable option

272
00:12:06,210 --> 00:12:07,463
to cruise the skies.

273
00:12:08,730 --> 00:12:12,760
In the 1930s, the really established and reliable,

274
00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,000
and frankly, luxurious way to do air travel

275
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:17,590
was by Zeppelin.

276
00:12:17,590 --> 00:12:19,050
You had plenty of space.

277
00:12:19,050 --> 00:12:22,060
You didn't have this crazy vibrations and noise.

278
00:12:22,060 --> 00:12:23,590
Replicating the exclusive

279
00:12:23,590 --> 00:12:25,300
ocean liner experience,

280
00:12:25,300 --> 00:12:28,220
a one-way ticket across the Atlantic on an airship,

281
00:12:28,220 --> 00:12:32,633
sets you back $400, or more than $7,000 today.

282
00:12:33,770 --> 00:12:37,480
It was faster than surface ships could go.

283
00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,070
It's very stable.

284
00:12:39,070 --> 00:12:41,250
An airship takes three to five days

285
00:12:41,250 --> 00:12:44,170
to float from Europe to the United States.

286
00:12:44,170 --> 00:12:45,820
And that seemed like a much better bet

287
00:12:45,820 --> 00:12:47,363
{\an8}for the future of air travel.

288
00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:50,720
{\an8}Until a catastrophe

289
00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:52,743
{\an8}spells the end of airship travel.

290
00:12:53,925 --> 00:12:55,342
(water splashing)

291
00:12:55,342 --> 00:12:57,890
Oh, the humanity and all the (indistinct)

292
00:12:57,890 --> 00:12:59,453
feeding around here.

293
00:12:59,453 --> 00:13:02,020
I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen.

294
00:13:02,900 --> 00:13:06,110
35 Of 97 people aboard the Hindenburg perish

295
00:13:06,110 --> 00:13:07,870
when the Zeppelin catches fire

296
00:13:07,870 --> 00:13:10,773
attempting to land in May 1937.

297
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,700
It was such a tragic, tragic event

298
00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:16,430
and was so covered in the news

299
00:13:16,430 --> 00:13:20,593
that we still associate the word Hindenburg with disasters.

300
00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,520
Planes are decidedly the future of air travel.

301
00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,760
And once the revolutionary method of propulsion

302
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,995
comes on the scene, there's no turning back.

303
00:13:30,995 --> 00:13:33,578
(upbeat music)

304
00:13:35,150 --> 00:13:37,050
When you look at the history of aviation,

305
00:13:37,050 --> 00:13:38,933
there's before the jet engine and after the jet engine.

306
00:13:40,058 --> 00:13:43,410
(engine roars)
(upbeat music)

307
00:13:43,410 --> 00:13:44,450
Jet engine airplanes

308
00:13:44,450 --> 00:13:46,920
are developed in the 30s and early 40s.

309
00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,170
They first take to the skies in World War II.

310
00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,503
(upbeat music)

311
00:13:54,500 --> 00:13:58,700
Instead of using blades to push the air,

312
00:13:58,700 --> 00:14:01,690
they ingest the air at the front,

313
00:14:01,690 --> 00:14:05,900
drive it through sets of whirling thin blades,

314
00:14:05,900 --> 00:14:10,290
heat it up by injecting and burning fuel,

315
00:14:10,290 --> 00:14:12,880
and then propel it out the back,

316
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,560
so driving the plane forward on pure thrust.

317
00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,220
Jets fly faster, farther, higher,

318
00:14:19,220 --> 00:14:22,720
and more efficiently than all airplanes previously built.

319
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,460
After the war, a little-known military aircraft manufacturer

320
00:14:26,460 --> 00:14:30,040
called Boeing sees just how commercial air travel

321
00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,610
and company profits could soar to new heights.

322
00:14:33,610 --> 00:14:37,255
To make it happen, they bet on number seven.

323
00:14:37,255 --> 00:14:39,030
{\an8}(upbeat music)

324
00:14:39,030 --> 00:14:39,900
{\an8}Nearing completion

325
00:14:39,900 --> 00:14:41,150
{\an8}in the Boeing planet, Seattle,

326
00:14:41,150 --> 00:14:42,760
{\an8}America's first jet transport

327
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,230
is a unit of glistening beauty.

328
00:14:45,230 --> 00:14:49,500
{\an8}Boeing, thanks to working on these jet-powered bombers,

329
00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:53,160
had experience working with these really

330
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,410
technologically sophisticated engines

331
00:14:55,410 --> 00:14:57,083
that were reliable and powerful.

332
00:14:58,050 --> 00:15:00,310
Boeing risks a quarter of its net worth

333
00:15:00,310 --> 00:15:02,800
on the 100 plus passenger jet.

334
00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,010
That's a major leap from a flying boat

335
00:15:05,010 --> 00:15:06,593
with one traveler on board.

336
00:15:07,530 --> 00:15:09,670
Representing $15 million investment,

337
00:15:09,670 --> 00:15:11,880
the jet giant is 128 feet long

338
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,300
with a wing spread of 130 feet.

339
00:15:14,300 --> 00:15:17,511
The pressure is on to sell the new fleet.

340
00:15:17,511 --> 00:15:19,343
The marketing department at Boeing

341
00:15:19,343 --> 00:15:21,820
started to develop an idea.

342
00:15:21,820 --> 00:15:23,480
Boeing's divisions are classified

343
00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,860
by blocks of 100, so the new jet will be model 700,

344
00:15:27,860 --> 00:15:30,200
but there's nothing catchy about that name,

345
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,233
so the mad men in marketing gamble on another seven.

346
00:15:34,705 --> 00:15:38,038
(plane engine whirring)

347
00:15:39,512 --> 00:15:40,597
We're taking you aboard

348
00:15:40,597 --> 00:15:44,759
the Boeing jet Stratoliner, the 707,

349
00:15:44,759 --> 00:15:46,120
to give you a preview

350
00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,053
of airliner travel of the future.

351
00:15:49,130 --> 00:15:50,510
The move will give rise

352
00:15:50,510 --> 00:15:53,260
to one of the most successful brands in history,

353
00:15:53,260 --> 00:15:55,513
and turn out to be Boeing's lucky number.

354
00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,840
The future is bright, and a real epitome

355
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,850
of that brightness is the Boeing 707,

356
00:16:03,850 --> 00:16:06,773
this wonderful machine that is gonna transform everything.

357
00:16:08,030 --> 00:16:09,730
But it's still early days.

358
00:16:09,730 --> 00:16:12,190
Boeing doesn't know yet how lucky number seven

359
00:16:12,190 --> 00:16:14,670
will be for company fortunes.

360
00:16:14,670 --> 00:16:17,020
Right now, it needs an entire industry

361
00:16:17,020 --> 00:16:18,343
to buy into its dream.

362
00:16:19,484 --> 00:16:21,710
(belt swooshing)
(engine roaring)

363
00:16:21,710 --> 00:16:25,630
It happens to be August 7th and somebody's lucky day.

364
00:16:25,630 --> 00:16:29,720
Tex Johnston climbs into the prototype for the Boeing 707.

365
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,310
Once a barnstormer, now Boeing ship test pilot,

366
00:16:33,310 --> 00:16:36,372
Tex is known for a love of all things cowboy.

367
00:16:36,372 --> 00:16:38,260
(mid-tempo music)

368
00:16:38,260 --> 00:16:42,960
He had the great mustache and the nerves of steel,

369
00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,230
ice water in his veins, demeanor.

370
00:16:45,230 --> 00:16:50,230
And he, you know, was given this really sturdy,

371
00:16:50,660 --> 00:16:53,783
straight-flying, reliable aircraft.

372
00:16:55,250 --> 00:16:57,450
Today's mission is a no-nonsense fly

373
00:16:57,450 --> 00:16:59,070
over Lake Washington.

374
00:16:59,070 --> 00:17:01,920
The goal is to impress the air industry execs

375
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,070
aboard Boeing President Bill Allen's yacht.

376
00:17:05,449 --> 00:17:08,032
(upbeat music)

377
00:17:11,427 --> 00:17:15,360
250,000 onlookers are also in attendance,

378
00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:17,850
but they've come for the speedboat races.

379
00:17:17,850 --> 00:17:20,920
Only Tex is planning to upstage the spectacle

380
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,160
on the water with his number one move.

381
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,570
He just could not resist the opportunity

382
00:17:27,570 --> 00:17:30,190
to show the people on the ground what this thing could do.

383
00:17:30,190 --> 00:17:32,870
Powering up to 490 miles an hour,

384
00:17:32,870 --> 00:17:36,610
Tex throws the 280,000-pound passenger plane

385
00:17:36,610 --> 00:17:38,000
into a barrel roll.

386
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:39,320
He's a mad man.

387
00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:40,680
I like it.

388
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,320
He takes the plane upside down and everyone was shocked.

389
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,580
He wasn't authorized to do that.

390
00:17:46,580 --> 00:17:48,340
It was not part of the flight plan.

391
00:17:48,340 --> 00:17:50,460
He just knew he could do it,

392
00:17:50,460 --> 00:17:51,840
so he did it.

393
00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:53,090
Yeehah!

394
00:17:54,580 --> 00:17:57,300
How confident was Tex Johnston

395
00:17:57,300 --> 00:17:59,810
to do a barrel roll in front of his boss?

396
00:17:59,810 --> 00:18:01,170
{\an8}What better way to sell a plane

397
00:18:01,170 --> 00:18:03,120
{\an8}than to make it stand out from other planes?

398
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:04,630
{\an8}Boeing 707,

399
00:18:04,630 --> 00:18:06,900
{\an8}powered by Pratt and Whitney jet engines,

400
00:18:06,900 --> 00:18:09,580
and operated by Pan American World Airways.

401
00:18:09,580 --> 00:18:11,163
Its destination, Paris.

402
00:18:12,130 --> 00:18:14,960
Pan Am orders 20 707s.

403
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,613
TWA, Qantas and other airlines quickly follow suit.

404
00:18:20,340 --> 00:18:24,400
The Boeing 707 really did kick off the jet age.

405
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,310
Carrying over 100 passengers

406
00:18:26,310 --> 00:18:28,340
at up to 600 miles per hour,

407
00:18:28,340 --> 00:18:32,970
the 707 cuts trans-Atlantic flight times in half.

408
00:18:32,970 --> 00:18:34,610
So now we could go anywhere.

409
00:18:34,610 --> 00:18:36,470
We could literally go around the world

410
00:18:36,470 --> 00:18:38,800
in roughly 23 or 24 hours.

411
00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:40,753
All of a sudden, the world opens up.

412
00:18:41,882 --> 00:18:44,363
(tires screeching)

413
00:18:44,363 --> 00:18:47,560
Historians of aviation jokingly call this

414
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,690
the era of the Mach 1 movie theater

415
00:18:50,690 --> 00:18:52,653
and the supersonic whisky's hour.

416
00:18:54,137 --> 00:18:57,400
The 50s and 60s were really the golden age of travel.

417
00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,480
There's plenty of leg room, plenty of comfort,

418
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,030
everyone's relaxed.

419
00:19:01,030 --> 00:19:02,540
It just seems like the equivalent

420
00:19:02,540 --> 00:19:04,580
of first-class traveling today.

421
00:19:04,580 --> 00:19:06,010
You had to be able to afford it.

422
00:19:06,010 --> 00:19:08,770
Air travel in the 50s, adjusted for inflation,

423
00:19:08,770 --> 00:19:11,388
was five times what it is today.

424
00:19:11,388 --> 00:19:13,950
(engine roars)

425
00:19:13,950 --> 00:19:16,170
Today, you'd pay about $800

426
00:19:16,170 --> 00:19:19,580
for a round trip ticket from New York to Paris.

427
00:19:19,580 --> 00:19:22,450
Adjusted for inflation, back in the 50s,

428
00:19:22,450 --> 00:19:26,250
you'd be shelling out some $4,000 for the same flight.

429
00:19:26,250 --> 00:19:28,730
It was expensive enough that 64%

430
00:19:28,730 --> 00:19:32,370
{\an8}of airline passengers were repeat passengers.

431
00:19:32,370 --> 00:19:34,000
Good afternoon, welcome aboard.

432
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,310
Thanks very much.
<v ->You're welcome.

433
00:19:36,310 --> 00:19:38,240
So airlines looked for creative ways

434
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,963
to lure the 64% with deep pockets.

435
00:19:42,220 --> 00:19:44,597
Glamor was what was going to sell it.

436
00:19:44,597 --> 00:19:47,470
(upbeat music)

437
00:19:47,470 --> 00:19:50,060
No carrier pulled off luxury in the skies

438
00:19:50,060 --> 00:19:51,513
better than Pan American.

439
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,180
The genius of Pan Am was to create

440
00:19:56,180 --> 00:19:59,010
a powerful association with freedom

441
00:19:59,010 --> 00:20:00,980
and glamor and exoticism.

442
00:20:00,980 --> 00:20:03,969
When you fly out into the world with Pan Am,

443
00:20:03,969 --> 00:20:06,970
you're not going with an airline (indistinct) country best

444
00:20:06,970 --> 00:20:08,020
then visits the rest.

445
00:20:09,567 --> 00:20:12,520
{\an8}Pan Am had a really charismatic leader,

446
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,870
Juan Trippe, who had endless imagination.

447
00:20:15,870 --> 00:20:18,860
He was a good businessman, but he was a dreamer, too.

448
00:20:18,860 --> 00:20:20,720
A former naval aviator,

449
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,673
Juan Trippe launches Pan Am in 1927.

450
00:20:25,130 --> 00:20:27,190
Laser-focused on the number one,

451
00:20:27,190 --> 00:20:29,500
he takes only three years to turn Pan Am

452
00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:31,423
into the world's biggest airline.

453
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,000
Pan Am was an airline of firsts,

454
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:35,920
both cultural and technical.

455
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:37,707
It was the first to serve food in the air,

456
00:20:37,707 --> 00:20:39,110
and it was the first to offer

457
00:20:39,110 --> 00:20:40,780
trans-Atlantic passenger service.

458
00:20:40,780 --> 00:20:44,073
It was the first airline to bring the Beatles to the US.

459
00:20:45,950 --> 00:20:49,660
Pan Am as a brand pervaded culture, both high and low.

460
00:20:49,660 --> 00:20:51,270
Pan Am was the first carrier

461
00:20:51,270 --> 00:20:53,510
to sell all-expense air tours

462
00:20:53,510 --> 00:20:57,320
and create the tourist class on international flights.

463
00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,810
To lure passengers of every income level,

464
00:20:59,810 --> 00:21:02,683
all the air carriers lean heavily on their staff.

465
00:21:03,947 --> 00:21:05,330
(upbeat music)

466
00:21:05,330 --> 00:21:07,770
Each airline was kind of trying to outcompete each other

467
00:21:07,770 --> 00:21:10,770
with these really beautiful, glamorous,

468
00:21:10,770 --> 00:21:13,650
and at some point in time as the sexual revolution happened,

469
00:21:13,650 --> 00:21:15,543
overtly sexy stewardesses.

470
00:21:16,570 --> 00:21:17,420
Here's what it takes

471
00:21:17,420 --> 00:21:19,533
to be a stewardess in the 1960s.

472
00:21:20,870 --> 00:21:24,143
{\an8}Be at least 20 years old, but not older than 27;

473
00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:27,340
{\an8}a height somewhere between 5-foot-two,

474
00:21:27,340 --> 00:21:29,950
{\an8}but not above 5-foot-nine;

475
00:21:29,950 --> 00:21:32,810
{\an8}weigh less than 140 pounds;

476
00:21:32,810 --> 00:21:35,310
{\an8}must retire by age 32,

477
00:21:35,310 --> 00:21:38,143
be unmarried and definitely not pregnant.

478
00:21:39,340 --> 00:21:41,160
The idea was that air travel

479
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,400
is the fulfillment of a fantasy.

480
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,613
And a part of that fantasy was sex.

481
00:21:47,613 --> 00:21:50,196
(mellow music)

482
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,540
Braniff Airlines had something they called the AirStrip.

483
00:21:54,540 --> 00:21:56,780
The stewardess would begin the flight

484
00:21:56,780 --> 00:21:59,440
wearing a jacket and a dress.

485
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,000
And with every meal course that she served,

486
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,300
she took off one layer of clothing until at the end,

487
00:22:04,300 --> 00:22:06,793
she was wearing a leotard with a sheer overlay.

488
00:22:07,870 --> 00:22:10,370
After dinner on those long flights,

489
00:22:10,370 --> 00:22:14,980
she'll slip into something a little more comfortable.

490
00:22:15,860 --> 00:22:17,750
This looks like you're hiring an escort.

491
00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:19,130
It's like mad man.

492
00:22:19,130 --> 00:22:20,330
Oh, she's stripping more?

493
00:22:20,330 --> 00:22:22,160
We get it, you're hot.

494
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:23,847
She took out her skirt (chuckles).

495
00:22:25,260 --> 00:22:28,060
That told me nothing about being on a plane.

496
00:22:28,060 --> 00:22:29,690
They don't make flight attendants like that anymore.

497
00:22:29,690 --> 00:22:32,180
They're actually overworked and underpaid.

498
00:22:32,180 --> 00:22:34,750
There's no mention of flying in the ad,

499
00:22:34,750 --> 00:22:37,260
and something like this would never work today.

500
00:22:37,260 --> 00:22:39,530
But back in the 60s,

501
00:22:39,530 --> 00:22:43,200
the innuendo-laden campaign is a huge success.

502
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,199
Within a year, business is up 50%.

503
00:22:46,199 --> 00:22:48,060
(mellow music)

504
00:22:48,060 --> 00:22:50,840
And that kind of wink and nod sexism

505
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,360
became much more overt over the course

506
00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:55,930
of the late 60s and early 70s,

507
00:22:55,930 --> 00:23:00,133
culminating in the National Airlines Fly Me campaign.

508
00:23:01,030 --> 00:23:02,110
Everything you've heard about us

509
00:23:02,110 --> 00:23:03,955
Miami girls is true.

510
00:23:03,955 --> 00:23:05,610
We're always on the move.

511
00:23:05,610 --> 00:23:08,700
I'm Judy and I was born to fly.

512
00:23:08,700 --> 00:23:11,600
In 1972, National Airlines

513
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,520
spends $ 9.5 million marketing the bodies

514
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,610
of stewardesses, rather than the flights.

515
00:23:17,610 --> 00:23:19,150
{\an8}It was unbelievably sexist.

516
00:23:19,150 --> 00:23:20,660
{\an8}Their jobs were really dependent

517
00:23:20,660 --> 00:23:24,660
on their willingness to appear as sex objects.

518
00:23:24,660 --> 00:23:27,250
The highly chauvinistic strategy works.

519
00:23:27,250 --> 00:23:31,030
Ticket sales increased 23% in just one year.

520
00:23:31,030 --> 00:23:33,433
That's more than double the industry average.

521
00:23:34,770 --> 00:23:37,820
I'm Judy and I was born to fly.

522
00:23:37,820 --> 00:23:38,660
Fly me.

523
00:23:38,660 --> 00:23:39,610
Fly Judy.

524
00:23:39,610 --> 00:23:40,890
Fly National.

525
00:23:40,890 --> 00:23:42,740
{\an8}Sexism is not limited to land.

526
00:23:42,740 --> 00:23:44,880
{\an8}They were objectified the same way in the air

527
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,580
as women were treated in the workplace.

528
00:23:47,580 --> 00:23:50,970
And yet being a stewardess was a coveted job.

529
00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:52,930
It was the number one career choice

530
00:23:52,930 --> 00:23:56,143
among female high school seniors in 1968.

531
00:23:57,270 --> 00:23:59,370
It's easy from the vantage point of today

532
00:23:59,370 --> 00:24:02,420
to forget just how constrained choices were

533
00:24:02,420 --> 00:24:05,390
for many American women in the 50s and 60s.

534
00:24:05,390 --> 00:24:07,180
There's two ways you could leave your small town.

535
00:24:07,180 --> 00:24:09,300
You could join the military or if you're a woman,

536
00:24:09,300 --> 00:24:10,590
you could become a stewardess.

537
00:24:10,590 --> 00:24:12,950
So not only can you leave, but you can travel

538
00:24:12,950 --> 00:24:15,870
to different states and different countries.

539
00:24:15,870 --> 00:24:17,210
You might think a pretty face

540
00:24:17,210 --> 00:24:19,320
is what gets you the job in the 60s,

541
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:20,710
but consider this.

542
00:24:20,710 --> 00:24:24,610
In 1968, 266,000 women applied

543
00:24:24,610 --> 00:24:27,133
for just 12,000 stewardess positions.

544
00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:30,670
With one in 22 odds,

545
00:24:30,670 --> 00:24:32,820
wow was a girl to stand out from the crowd?

546
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,840
Lynne Totten was from small town in New York state.

547
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,430
She was the first woman in her family to go to college.

548
00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:43,090
She was the student body president.

549
00:24:43,090 --> 00:24:45,960
She was incredibly, you know, bright and promising.

550
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,590
Lynne is passionate about her science studies,

551
00:24:48,590 --> 00:24:50,683
and the events gripping her country.

552
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:54,420
She was engaged in the social movements of the day,

553
00:24:54,420 --> 00:24:57,020
and she wanted to see these different places

554
00:24:57,020 --> 00:24:59,570
that she'd read the headlines about.

555
00:24:59,570 --> 00:25:02,600
So when she graduated, she appalled her parents

556
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,080
by saying that she wanted to work

557
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:05,600
as a stewardess after college.

558
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,600
They thought that she would be a teacher,

559
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:12,150
or work in a biology lab, or get married and have a family.

560
00:25:12,150 --> 00:25:14,220
But Lynne is unstoppable.

561
00:25:14,220 --> 00:25:16,830
She heads to New York City and makes a bee line

562
00:25:16,830 --> 00:25:20,343
for the 59-storey standout in the Big Apple skyline.

563
00:25:21,566 --> 00:25:23,040
(mid-tempo music)

564
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,560
The Pan Am building, which casts a huge shadow,

565
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,210
she walks through the lobby, up the stairs

566
00:25:28,210 --> 00:25:31,050
to the conference room where there were

567
00:25:31,050 --> 00:25:34,430
all of these really beautiful women in rose.

568
00:25:34,430 --> 00:25:36,490
And they were incredibly intimidating to her.

569
00:25:36,490 --> 00:25:37,900
{\an8}There was a lot of competition.

570
00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:39,400
{\an8}They were also expected to be

571
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,570
{\an8}not only attractive physically,

572
00:25:41,570 --> 00:25:43,860
but to be good conversationalists.

573
00:25:43,860 --> 00:25:45,480
Lynne's heart sinks.

574
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,070
For every hundred applicants,

575
00:25:47,070 --> 00:25:48,993
no more than five get the job.

576
00:25:49,940 --> 00:25:53,670
She almost turned right back around and walked out.

577
00:25:53,670 --> 00:25:56,750
But she went to her interview where she talked to a man,

578
00:25:56,750 --> 00:26:00,840
very frankly, about what she might be looking to do.

579
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:01,980
Lynne is clear.

580
00:26:01,980 --> 00:26:04,620
She's not interested in finding a rich husband

581
00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:07,570
or shopping in exotic locales.

582
00:26:07,570 --> 00:26:08,780
After the interview,

583
00:26:08,780 --> 00:26:11,710
Lynne is the only applicant to be offered the job.

584
00:26:11,710 --> 00:26:15,910
Her smarts, calm, and honesty are what give her the edge.

585
00:26:15,910 --> 00:26:19,310
For all of the glamor that Pan Am really projected,

586
00:26:19,310 --> 00:26:21,830
what it really needed was women who would be able

587
00:26:21,830 --> 00:26:24,893
to handle such a huge variety of situations.

588
00:26:26,350 --> 00:26:28,100
In the 1960s,

589
00:26:28,100 --> 00:26:31,290
six to 8% of US college graduates were women.

590
00:26:31,290 --> 00:26:36,050
Yet 10% of Pan Am stewardesses had gone to graduate school.

591
00:26:36,050 --> 00:26:37,349
Hi.

592
00:26:37,349 --> 00:26:39,050
(plane engine roaring)

593
00:26:39,050 --> 00:26:40,530
But the tenants don't get enough credit.

594
00:26:40,530 --> 00:26:42,860
Yes, they're serving us our wine, which is very important,

595
00:26:42,860 --> 00:26:44,400
but they're also help keeping us safe.

596
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:45,670
I mean, they should honestly give you

597
00:26:45,670 --> 00:26:46,790
an electrified (indistinct)

598
00:26:46,790 --> 00:26:48,620
because you are kind of hurt and (indistinct).

599
00:26:48,620 --> 00:26:51,050
Yeah, they should have some like self-defense training.

600
00:26:51,050 --> 00:26:53,570
You know, like people are so rude to fight attendants.

601
00:26:53,570 --> 00:26:54,403
They are heroes.

602
00:26:54,403 --> 00:26:55,868
They make sure that you live.

603
00:26:55,868 --> 00:26:56,701
United Flight 837 to Los Angeles.

604
00:26:58,573 --> 00:27:01,500
The flight is not ready for boarding.

605
00:27:01,500 --> 00:27:03,993
Passengers only beyond the (indistinct) room, please.

606
00:27:05,182 --> 00:27:07,310
(bright music)

607
00:27:07,310 --> 00:27:08,630
In the late 60s,

608
00:27:08,630 --> 00:27:11,170
all the carriers were looking for sharp candidates,

609
00:27:11,170 --> 00:27:12,270
like Lynne Totten,

610
00:27:12,270 --> 00:27:15,020
to handle the increase in passenger numbers.

611
00:27:15,020 --> 00:27:17,970
{\an8}Aviation was getting more efficient

612
00:27:17,970 --> 00:27:20,980
{\an8}and society was becoming more prosperous

613
00:27:20,980 --> 00:27:23,690
while disposable incomes were going up.

614
00:27:23,690 --> 00:27:26,820
So, they started packing the seats.

615
00:27:26,820 --> 00:27:30,350
In 1970, there were 383 million

616
00:27:30,350 --> 00:27:32,820
air passenger journeys worldwide.

617
00:27:32,820 --> 00:27:34,540
To meet increasing demand,

618
00:27:34,540 --> 00:27:37,553
Boeing introduces its most iconic plane ever.

619
00:27:39,381 --> 00:27:41,485
(mellow music)

620
00:27:41,485 --> 00:27:43,160
The mostest of everything describes

621
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,910
the new giant of commercial aviation,

622
00:27:44,910 --> 00:27:46,880
the jetliner 747.

623
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,400
Contrasted with great conventional aircraft,

624
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,437
the 747 will carry 490 passengers.

625
00:27:53,437 --> 00:27:54,680
Whoa.

626
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,870
We see a lot of very big airplanes around nowadays,

627
00:27:57,870 --> 00:28:01,430
but at that time, the leap from the 707,

628
00:28:01,430 --> 00:28:05,090
about 150 passengers, up to an aircraft

629
00:28:05,090 --> 00:28:08,850
which could have held 400 to 500 passengers,

630
00:28:08,850 --> 00:28:10,463
that was a massive leap.

631
00:28:11,740 --> 00:28:14,810
{\an8}The 747 enters service in 1970

632
00:28:14,810 --> 00:28:16,520
{\an8}to great acclaim.

633
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,200
It's the first (indistinct) commercial airliner,

634
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,690
the first to feature stairs to an upper deck,

635
00:28:21,690 --> 00:28:24,400
and the first jet with overhead bins.

636
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:29,110
With 747, Boeing hit a grand slam home run again.

637
00:28:29,110 --> 00:28:31,100
The legendary Boeing 747

638
00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:33,580
is made of six million parts,

639
00:28:33,580 --> 00:28:36,720
contains 140 miles of wire, or the distance

640
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,123
between Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

641
00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:42,890
And with a wingspan of 195 feet,

642
00:28:42,890 --> 00:28:46,828
the 747 is 35 feet wider than a football field.

643
00:28:46,828 --> 00:28:49,411
(mellow music)

644
00:28:50,624 --> 00:28:51,457
First of all, it's huge.

645
00:28:51,457 --> 00:28:53,170
And it has a distinctive look.

646
00:28:53,170 --> 00:28:55,913
It is unmistakable because of this bulge on top.

647
00:28:56,790 --> 00:28:59,480
You see a 747 from any distance

648
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,890
and you know exactly what it is.

649
00:29:01,890 --> 00:29:03,470
Dubbed the queen of the skies

650
00:29:03,470 --> 00:29:05,410
and the plane that shrank the world,

651
00:29:05,410 --> 00:29:10,410
{\an8}the 747 flies 4,620 nautical miles on a single tank of gas

652
00:29:11,010 --> 00:29:13,710
and brings travelers to the far corners of the planet.

653
00:29:15,070 --> 00:29:18,700
Flying became a bit more affordable for ordinary people,

654
00:29:18,700 --> 00:29:20,893
so larger numbers flew.

655
00:29:22,230 --> 00:29:24,580
With many more people taking to the skies,

656
00:29:24,580 --> 00:29:27,193
aircraft safety becomes an increasing concern.

657
00:29:28,275 --> 00:29:31,470
(airplane whirring)

658
00:29:31,470 --> 00:29:33,840
I'm gonna ask you to fasten your seatbelts.

659
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,280
I don't have a fear of flying.

660
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:36,460
I used to have a fear of flying,

661
00:29:36,460 --> 00:29:37,906
but now I'm sort of jaded about it.

662
00:29:37,906 --> 00:29:38,739
I do have a fear of heights

663
00:29:38,739 --> 00:29:40,050
and I have a fear of outer space,

664
00:29:40,050 --> 00:29:42,440
so it's weird that plane flying is fine.

665
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:43,638
Obviously during turbulence,

666
00:29:43,638 --> 00:29:45,120
like when you do those like vertical drops,

667
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,552
you definitely get the like butterflies in your stomach.

668
00:29:47,552 --> 00:29:50,540
Oh, I hate flying, probably 'cause

669
00:29:50,540 --> 00:29:52,780
I have no control over the situation.

670
00:29:52,780 --> 00:29:56,720
You are literally in a metal tube in the sky.

671
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,002
(plane engine roars)

672
00:30:00,002 --> 00:30:02,240
Aerophobia is the most commonly held fear

673
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:03,810
in the United States.

674
00:30:03,810 --> 00:30:07,760
So many people are so uneasy

675
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,300
{\an8}about what is mathematically

676
00:30:11,300 --> 00:30:13,770
such a ridiculously safe form of transportation.

677
00:30:13,770 --> 00:30:17,560
One statistic has it that 40% of air travelers

678
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:21,150
experience some kind of anxiety or unease.

679
00:30:21,150 --> 00:30:26,150
Obviously, that kind of instinctual risk assessment

680
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,320
is not rational,

681
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,210
but the fact that so many people experience it

682
00:30:30,210 --> 00:30:33,011
just signals how deep-seated it is.

683
00:30:33,011 --> 00:30:36,470
(plane engine roars)

684
00:30:36,470 --> 00:30:38,210
If you have a fear of flying,

685
00:30:38,210 --> 00:30:41,880
falling from 10,000 feet might be your worst nightmare,

686
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,530
but there can be far greater dangers at ground level.

687
00:30:47,740 --> 00:30:50,130
Christmas Eve, 1971,

688
00:30:50,130 --> 00:30:52,420
17-year-old Juliane Koepcke is flying

689
00:30:52,420 --> 00:30:56,043
over the Peruvian Amazon on board LANSA Flight 508.

690
00:30:57,020 --> 00:31:01,083
40 minutes in and the turbo prop flies into a thunderstorm.

691
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:03,823
The plane shakes violently.

692
00:31:04,870 --> 00:31:09,766
Juliane watches helplessly as lightning strikes the wing.

693
00:31:09,766 --> 00:31:12,520
(lightning sizzles)

694
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:16,610
Thunderstorms have violent updrafts and downdrafts.

695
00:31:16,610 --> 00:31:20,650
It can literally rip an airliner to pieces.

696
00:31:20,650 --> 00:31:22,580
The plane breaks apart.

697
00:31:22,580 --> 00:31:26,500
Suddenly, the buckled-in teen is falling from 10,000 feet

698
00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:28,710
toward the jungle canopy below.

699
00:31:28,710 --> 00:31:31,360
She blacks out before impact.

700
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,350
When her plane started to go down,

701
00:31:33,350 --> 00:31:34,930
she was still trapped in her seat

702
00:31:34,930 --> 00:31:37,480
and had the seats on either side of her empty,

703
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,830
which may have helped cushion the fall, and she survived.

704
00:31:41,830 --> 00:31:44,230
Juliane wakes up with broken bones,

705
00:31:44,230 --> 00:31:47,520
a concussion, and deep lacerations.

706
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,133
And she then had to spend 11 days searching for safety.

707
00:31:52,210 --> 00:31:54,040
Picking her way through the jungle,

708
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:58,960
Juliane dodges deadly snakes, fends off swarms of insects,

709
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,173
and sidesteps hungry caimans.

710
00:32:02,170 --> 00:32:03,930
She had a broken collarbone,

711
00:32:03,930 --> 00:32:07,400
was attacked by parasites and maggots.

712
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,940
She eventually found her way to a loggers encampment

713
00:32:10,940 --> 00:32:13,093
and they were able to get her to a hospital.

714
00:32:14,130 --> 00:32:15,870
Today, airplanes are equipped

715
00:32:15,870 --> 00:32:19,283
with weather radars, so pilots can fly around storm systems.

716
00:32:20,140 --> 00:32:24,080
It's hard to really overstate how safe air travel is.

717
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:29,080
Back in the 1980s, your chance of being on an airplane,

718
00:32:29,300 --> 00:32:32,350
which had an accident that killed even one person on board,

719
00:32:32,350 --> 00:32:35,590
would've been about one in one and a half a million.

720
00:32:35,590 --> 00:32:37,740
Now, we're in a different league altogether.

721
00:32:37,740 --> 00:32:42,740
Safety has gotten better by a multiple of about six.

722
00:32:42,908 --> 00:32:45,910
(plane engine roars)

723
00:32:45,910 --> 00:32:48,220
The odds of dying in an aircraft accident

724
00:32:48,220 --> 00:32:52,490
on any airline are one in 11 million.

725
00:32:52,490 --> 00:32:55,260
The odds of getting hit by lightning are one in 500,000.

726
00:32:55,260 --> 00:32:58,320
Huh, the numbers lie.

727
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,930
{\an8}It would take one person 10,000 years

728
00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:04,113
{\an8}of daily flights before a fatal crash would occur.

729
00:33:04,990 --> 00:33:07,220
So a flight every day for 10,000 years,

730
00:33:07,220 --> 00:33:10,000
how crazy is that?

731
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,230
You have a bigger chance than getting hit by lightning

732
00:33:12,230 --> 00:33:14,110
than dying in a plane crash, like, that's amazing.

733
00:33:14,110 --> 00:33:15,400
It shows you how safe planes are.

734
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,458
Well, now I don't wanna go outside anymore, thanks.

735
00:33:17,458 --> 00:33:20,340
(laughs) I'm just gonna stay in a plane all the time.

736
00:33:20,340 --> 00:33:22,030
It's the technology which has made

737
00:33:22,030 --> 00:33:24,030
the biggest single difference.

738
00:33:24,030 --> 00:33:26,340
Airplanes now, they're not just

739
00:33:26,340 --> 00:33:28,760
technologically beautifully engineered,

740
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,120
but they're smart.

741
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,230
There are computers galore on board,

742
00:33:32,230 --> 00:33:35,833
monitoring the equipment, much better than people can.

743
00:33:37,330 --> 00:33:40,840
After deregulation of the industry in 1978,

744
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,620
ticket prices fall and air travel explodes.

745
00:33:44,620 --> 00:33:47,390
New carriers spring up through the 80s and 90s

746
00:33:47,390 --> 00:33:49,640
to cater to the demand.

747
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,930
They could charge less, price competition.

748
00:33:52,930 --> 00:33:53,930
You could start thinking about things

749
00:33:53,930 --> 00:33:55,270
like low-cost carriers,

750
00:33:55,270 --> 00:33:57,980
things like People Express, Southwest airlines.

751
00:33:57,980 --> 00:33:59,850
As budget airlines trade comfort

752
00:33:59,850 --> 00:34:01,200
for affordability,

753
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,493
air travel finally becomes democratic.

754
00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,050
From 1980 to 1989,

755
00:34:07,050 --> 00:34:08,970
the number of passengers worldwide

756
00:34:08,970 --> 00:34:11,903
increases by 368 million.

757
00:34:13,030 --> 00:34:16,410
Flying is absolutely virgin for everybody since then.

758
00:34:16,410 --> 00:34:21,410
However, the actual experience has gone somewhat downhill.

759
00:34:23,881 --> 00:34:25,750
The fact you only get 30 inches of leg room

760
00:34:25,750 --> 00:34:27,450
obviously is disheartening.

761
00:34:27,450 --> 00:34:29,400
If that's just too tight a squeeze,

762
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:33,450
there's always first class, provided you can afford it.

763
00:34:33,450 --> 00:34:36,430
{\an8}One of the most expensive airline tickets right now

764
00:34:36,430 --> 00:34:41,280
is Lufthansa from New York to Hong Kong and it's $43,000,

765
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:44,030
which is also the starting salary of many teachers

766
00:34:44,030 --> 00:34:45,899
in the United States of America.

767
00:34:45,899 --> 00:34:48,150
♪ (indistinct) is responsibility. ♪

768
00:34:48,150 --> 00:34:49,810
But back in the 80s and 90s,

769
00:34:49,810 --> 00:34:52,000
there was something even more glamorous

770
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,912
than flying first-class.

771
00:34:53,912 --> 00:34:57,245
(indistinct chattering)

772
00:34:58,250 --> 00:35:00,300
It was riding on board a rare bird

773
00:35:00,300 --> 00:35:02,200
that harnessed the power of seven,

774
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,343
to become the most exclusive super jet in the skies.

775
00:35:06,740 --> 00:35:08,080
Some people would say the Concorde

776
00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,860
is the most beautiful and impressive aircraft

777
00:35:11,860 --> 00:35:12,693
that ever flew.

778
00:35:12,693 --> 00:35:14,512
And I think those people would be right.

779
00:35:14,512 --> 00:35:17,262
(crowd cheering)

780
00:35:19,850 --> 00:35:22,340
So the British and the French, you know,

781
00:35:22,340 --> 00:35:25,300
faced with this juggernaut that Boeing was becoming,

782
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:27,460
thought, "How can we steal a march in the Americans?

783
00:35:27,460 --> 00:35:29,150
While the Americans are building bigger,

784
00:35:29,150 --> 00:35:31,030
we're gonna build faster."

785
00:35:31,030 --> 00:35:32,600
You have an airplane here,

786
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,560
which didn't just beat the speed of sound;

787
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,440
it more than doubled it.

788
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,020
Cruising the skies at Mack 2,

789
00:35:41,020 --> 00:35:43,320
twice the speed of sound,

790
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:44,460
the ultimate aircraft,

791
00:35:44,460 --> 00:35:47,260
many believe in commercial jet travel.

792
00:35:47,260 --> 00:35:50,000
At a cost of $1.8 billion,

793
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,570
the Concorde program was behind schedule

794
00:35:52,570 --> 00:35:54,440
and grossly over-budget.

795
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,070
But when the super jet finally enters commercial service

796
00:35:57,070 --> 00:36:01,440
in 1976, the result was utterly spectacular.

797
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,700
When you push those throttles forward,

798
00:36:03,700 --> 00:36:06,970
{\an8}the acceleration in the small of your back

799
00:36:06,970 --> 00:36:10,530
{\an8}is like nothing else that you can get

800
00:36:10,530 --> 00:36:13,070
on any other civil airline.

801
00:36:13,070 --> 00:36:13,903
Oh, here we go.

802
00:36:13,903 --> 00:36:16,730
You can really feel much of the power in your back.

803
00:36:16,730 --> 00:36:18,660
Concorde take off at twice the speed

804
00:36:18,660 --> 00:36:21,700
of a normal aircraft, 250 miles per hour.

805
00:36:21,700 --> 00:36:24,603
It is amazing, my ears are popping.

806
00:36:24,603 --> 00:36:27,070
(plane engine whirring)

807
00:36:27,070 --> 00:36:28,890
{\an8}Concorde breaks the sound barrier

808
00:36:28,890 --> 00:36:31,350
{\an8}at 770 miles an hour.

809
00:36:31,350 --> 00:36:34,960
Its cruising speed is 1,350 miles per hour,

810
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,070
Mach 2, or 23 miles per minute.

811
00:36:38,070 --> 00:36:40,410
And it made its fastest trans-Atlantic crossing

812
00:36:40,410 --> 00:36:45,373
in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds in 1996.

813
00:36:46,370 --> 00:36:49,720
You're flying much higher than normal commercial aviation.

814
00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:51,780
You could see the curvature of the Earth

815
00:36:51,780 --> 00:36:53,160
and the sky was dark overhead,

816
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,270
almost like you were traveling in space.

817
00:36:55,270 --> 00:36:57,420
Cruising at 60,000 feet,

818
00:36:57,420 --> 00:37:00,453
Concorde cuts air travel time by more than half.

819
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,880
Everybody in there was somebody famous or rich.

820
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:07,440
In the late 1990s,

821
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,890
{\an8}a return ticket to fly in this rarefied air

822
00:37:09,890 --> 00:37:14,570
{\an8}sets you back $12,000 or $18,000 today.

823
00:37:14,570 --> 00:37:16,530
Only the creme de la creme of pilots

824
00:37:16,530 --> 00:37:18,080
are permitted to fly this bird.

825
00:37:18,950 --> 00:37:20,370
{\an8}It had to be flown different.

826
00:37:20,370 --> 00:37:24,150
{\an8}It had a thousand little dials everywhere.

827
00:37:24,150 --> 00:37:26,390
It took an incredibly competent

828
00:37:26,390 --> 00:37:28,370
and well-trained crew to fly.

829
00:37:28,370 --> 00:37:31,330
Piloting the super jet was a sought-after gig,

830
00:37:31,330 --> 00:37:35,970
but the failure rate among captain candidates was 50%.

831
00:37:35,970 --> 00:37:38,660
Flying Concorde was not an easy thing to do.

832
00:37:38,660 --> 00:37:40,680
You've got a whole load of passengers down the back

833
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:42,070
who don't want any shocks,

834
00:37:42,070 --> 00:37:44,720
and they don't want you to spill their gin and tonic.

835
00:37:46,060 --> 00:37:48,550
For 27 years, the supersonic jet

836
00:37:48,550 --> 00:37:50,710
was the coolest, fastest,

837
00:37:50,710 --> 00:37:54,600
and most exclusive commercial aircraft in the skies.

838
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,770
But those things have cost.

839
00:37:56,770 --> 00:37:59,650
Notably, it made a sonic boom,

840
00:37:59,650 --> 00:38:03,040
so it created this giant earth-shattering rumble

841
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:04,630
as it passed overhead.

842
00:38:04,630 --> 00:38:07,110
And it also burned tremendous amounts of fuel.

843
00:38:07,110 --> 00:38:08,950
{\an8}Concorde was not good for the environment.

844
00:38:08,950 --> 00:38:11,330
{\an8}Maybe in the future, we'll see a return

845
00:38:11,330 --> 00:38:14,160
to this kind of hyper-quick travel,

846
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,503
if there's a way to do it, where it's fuel-efficient.

847
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,000
After Concorde is retired in 2003,

848
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,003
supersonic air travel becomes a thing of the past.

849
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,247
Or maybe not.

850
00:38:28,247 --> 00:38:32,150
(indistinct chattering)

851
00:38:32,150 --> 00:38:35,710
In 2021, United Airlines announces the purchase

852
00:38:35,710 --> 00:38:40,300
of 15 supersonic passenger planes from a Colorado startup.

853
00:38:40,300 --> 00:38:42,240
Boom Supersonic is more than happy

854
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:44,613
to show off their fancy new jet online.

855
00:38:45,810 --> 00:38:49,570
I would love to see travel expediated,

856
00:38:49,570 --> 00:38:52,910
{\an8}so those 23-hour flights are now five or six hours.

857
00:38:52,910 --> 00:38:56,060
{\an8}Those six-hour flights are now are 30, 40 minutes.

858
00:38:56,060 --> 00:39:00,090
{\an8}Talking about a supersonic business jet technologically,

859
00:39:00,090 --> 00:39:01,380
{\an8}it would be possible.

860
00:39:01,380 --> 00:39:04,580
A supersonic airliner as big as Concorde

861
00:39:04,580 --> 00:39:08,240
or bigger than Concorde, all the technological challenges,

862
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:10,630
{\an8}they're still there to be overcome.

863
00:39:10,630 --> 00:39:12,730
{\an8}You can't get around with it.

864
00:39:12,730 --> 00:39:14,800
If you're gonna go faster than the speed of sound,

865
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,510
you're gonna make a boom.

866
00:39:16,510 --> 00:39:20,063
So you can't fly it over populated areas.

867
00:39:21,430 --> 00:39:22,690
A jackhammer creates

868
00:39:22,690 --> 00:39:25,230
about 100 decibels of noise.

869
00:39:25,230 --> 00:39:28,109
{\an8}Human ear drums rupture at 150 decibels.

870
00:39:28,109 --> 00:39:29,110
{\an8}(man screams)

871
00:39:29,110 --> 00:39:32,470
{\an8}A sonic boom exceeds 200 decibels.

872
00:39:32,470 --> 00:39:34,768
{\an8}It's enough power to kill a person.

873
00:39:34,768 --> 00:39:36,898
{\an8}(man groans)

874
00:39:36,898 --> 00:39:39,731
{\an8}(mid-tempo music)

875
00:39:41,010 --> 00:39:42,498
If you wanna go really fast,

876
00:39:42,498 --> 00:39:43,620
you have to burn a lot of fuel.

877
00:39:43,620 --> 00:39:45,640
And if you're building your aircraft

878
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,860
around burning tremendous amounts of fossil fuel,

879
00:39:48,860 --> 00:39:49,693
that's a problem.

880
00:39:49,693 --> 00:39:51,270
I'm not investing my money

881
00:39:51,270 --> 00:39:53,420
in a supersonic project at the moment.

882
00:39:53,420 --> 00:39:54,523
I am not.

883
00:39:54,523 --> 00:39:55,910
(mid-tempo music)

884
00:39:55,910 --> 00:39:57,310
The business of aviation

885
00:39:57,310 --> 00:39:59,350
is not for the risk-averse.

886
00:39:59,350 --> 00:40:02,050
You need more than lucky numbers to stay in this game.

887
00:40:03,850 --> 00:40:05,240
It's a volatile business.

888
00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:08,370
It takes nerves of steel to run an airline.

889
00:40:08,370 --> 00:40:09,940
Preparing for the unpredictable

890
00:40:09,940 --> 00:40:11,273
comes with the territory.

891
00:40:12,140 --> 00:40:14,900
Yet no airline could have quite foreseen

892
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,810
a sleeping giant beneath a glacier in Iceland.

893
00:40:18,810 --> 00:40:21,670
After a 177-year long nap

894
00:40:21,670 --> 00:40:24,623
and some 300 earthquakes, he wakes up.

895
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,270
From 10 miles away, it's awe-inspiring.

896
00:40:29,270 --> 00:40:32,820
From two miles, it's intimidating.

897
00:40:32,820 --> 00:40:35,693
From just a few hundred yards, it's frightening.

898
00:40:37,990 --> 00:40:39,670
Soon, his tongue-twister name

899
00:40:39,670 --> 00:40:41,430
is on everybody's lips.

900
00:40:41,430 --> 00:40:43,473
Well, sort of.

901
00:40:43,473 --> 00:40:44,967
Eyjafjallajokull.

902
00:40:44,967 --> 00:40:46,418
Eyjafjallajokull.

903
00:40:46,418 --> 00:40:48,525
Eyjafjallajokulla.

904
00:40:48,525 --> 00:40:49,371
What?

905
00:40:49,371 --> 00:40:51,610
Eyjafjallajokull.

906
00:40:51,610 --> 00:40:53,510
The latest images of the volcano

907
00:40:53,510 --> 00:40:55,320
in Eyjafjallajokull.

908
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,180
An easy name to say.

909
00:40:57,180 --> 00:40:58,233
Eyjafjallajokull.

910
00:40:59,210 --> 00:41:01,440
It was kind of an obscure volcano.

911
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,270
It wasn't particularly huge or anything,

912
00:41:03,270 --> 00:41:06,700
but the peculiarities of the geology or what have you,

913
00:41:06,700 --> 00:41:11,640
this thing sent tiny shards of glass

914
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,730
high up into the stratosphere.

915
00:41:14,730 --> 00:41:17,630
On April 14th, 2010,

916
00:41:17,630 --> 00:41:19,830
Eyjafjallajokull, nailed it,

917
00:41:19,830 --> 00:41:21,640
unleashes a plume of volcanic ash

918
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,480
that rises 6.2 miles into the sky.

919
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,420
We're talking 12 of the tallest buildings in the world,

920
00:41:27,420 --> 00:41:28,823
stacked atop one another.

921
00:41:29,720 --> 00:41:32,430
At that time, the jet stream

922
00:41:32,430 --> 00:41:35,010
was blowing right over Iceland,

923
00:41:35,010 --> 00:41:37,580
and it was carrying all of these tiny shards

924
00:41:37,580 --> 00:41:39,720
of floating glass over Europe,

925
00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,710
over the entirety of Western Europe and beyond.

926
00:41:42,710 --> 00:41:44,220
The debris drifts and spreads

927
00:41:44,220 --> 00:41:47,340
across 2.7 million square miles,

928
00:41:47,340 --> 00:41:49,693
some 10 times the size of Texas.

929
00:41:50,940 --> 00:41:55,940
Old pilots know that volcanic ash in the air is dangerous,

930
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:58,410
particularly for jet engines.

931
00:41:58,410 --> 00:42:00,270
It's very abrasive.

932
00:42:00,270 --> 00:42:03,170
It is like sandblasting your engine,

933
00:42:03,170 --> 00:42:05,750
and turbines, they are incredibly reliable.

934
00:42:05,750 --> 00:42:08,540
They are marvels, but they cannot be screwed with.

935
00:42:08,540 --> 00:42:11,010
If you throw volcanic dust into it,

936
00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:13,090
you will destroy a multi-million dollar engine

937
00:42:13,090 --> 00:42:13,983
in a heartbeat.

938
00:42:15,130 --> 00:42:17,380
For seven days, planes across Europe

939
00:42:17,380 --> 00:42:18,873
sit idle on the tarmac.

940
00:42:19,810 --> 00:42:21,440
10 million grounded passengers

941
00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:23,363
shake their fists at mother nature.

942
00:42:24,370 --> 00:42:26,820
The 2010 Iceland volcano explosion

943
00:42:26,820 --> 00:42:30,519
cost airlines $1.7 billion.

944
00:42:30,519 --> 00:42:32,440
(cash register tinkling)

945
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:33,780
Among those grounded

946
00:42:33,780 --> 00:42:36,053
was a familiar face to United Airlines.

947
00:42:37,370 --> 00:42:39,720
It's not about the places I go.

948
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:41,423
It's about the people I meet.

949
00:42:42,550 --> 00:42:43,850
American Tom Stuker

950
00:42:43,850 --> 00:42:45,780
is the world's most frequent flyer

951
00:42:45,780 --> 00:42:48,740
with 21 million miles flown.

952
00:42:48,740 --> 00:42:52,740
That's like going around the equator 844 times.

953
00:42:52,740 --> 00:42:54,360
Tom pays for all his trips,

954
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:57,190
{\an8}including the 350 he's made to Australia,

955
00:42:57,190 --> 00:42:59,453
{\an8}and then donates his frequent flyer points.

956
00:43:01,790 --> 00:43:04,520
Air travel covers such long distances

957
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:08,640
it's fairly sensitive to changes in weather,

958
00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:11,490
or even local events like disease outbreaks

959
00:43:11,490 --> 00:43:12,793
or political coups.

960
00:43:13,820 --> 00:43:15,550
Early in 2020,

961
00:43:15,550 --> 00:43:18,910
Tom and the entire industry are blindsided again,

962
00:43:18,910 --> 00:43:22,340
this time, an invisible airborne villain

963
00:43:22,340 --> 00:43:25,552
100 nanometers in diameters, to blame.

964
00:43:25,552 --> 00:43:28,483
(electronic swooshing)

965
00:43:28,483 --> 00:43:30,683
(ominous music)

966
00:43:30,683 --> 00:43:35,266
{\an8}COVID 19, this pandemic has really hit aviation hard.

967
00:43:36,402 --> 00:43:38,625
(ominous music)

968
00:43:38,625 --> 00:43:40,830
I think there are no other industries

969
00:43:40,830 --> 00:43:42,450
that have been hit harder.

970
00:43:42,450 --> 00:43:44,220
People weren't allowed to travel.

971
00:43:44,220 --> 00:43:46,300
So all the industries and all the jobs

972
00:43:46,300 --> 00:43:48,980
{\an8}associated with the airline industry are being affected.

973
00:43:48,980 --> 00:43:51,260
At its worst stage,

974
00:43:51,260 --> 00:43:55,763
about 90% of aviation stopped, of civil aviation.

975
00:43:56,870 --> 00:43:58,900
As COVID 19 spreads,

976
00:43:58,900 --> 00:44:02,503
passenger journeys drop from 4.5 billion in 2019

977
00:44:02,503 --> 00:44:06,190
to 1.8 billion in 2020.

978
00:44:06,190 --> 00:44:10,000
That's a $370 billion loss for the airlines,

979
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:13,800
and another $115 billion hit to the airports.

980
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:15,530
(taut music)

981
00:44:15,530 --> 00:44:17,680
Things have happen all the time

982
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:20,410
that can cause tremendous loss

983
00:44:20,410 --> 00:44:22,960
and there's nothing they can do about it.

984
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,750
But ultimately, air travel will continue as it has,

985
00:44:27,750 --> 00:44:30,143
which is to grow and grow and grow.

986
00:44:31,610 --> 00:44:34,590
I don't have any doubt that people will recover

987
00:44:34,590 --> 00:44:38,082
their wanderlust and their wish to travel by air

988
00:44:38,082 --> 00:44:42,340
once the pandemic is under control or even behind us.

989
00:44:42,340 --> 00:44:44,070
No stranger to the ups and downs

990
00:44:44,070 --> 00:44:46,590
of the business, Boeing predicts a full recovery

991
00:44:46,590 --> 00:44:48,670
within two and a half years.

992
00:44:48,670 --> 00:44:51,040
Domestic aviation in the USA

993
00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:53,704
is rebounding surprisingly quickly.

994
00:44:53,704 --> 00:44:55,180
(bright music)

995
00:44:55,180 --> 00:44:57,943
On June 27th, 2021,

996
00:44:57,943 --> 00:45:02,943
2,167,380 passengers passed through US airports.

997
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,880
It's the busiest day since air travel

998
00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:09,993
came to a screeching halt in March of 2020.

999
00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:14,300
Air travel connects countries.

1000
00:45:14,300 --> 00:45:15,850
It connects citizens.

1001
00:45:15,850 --> 00:45:17,300
What starts as daredevils

1002
00:45:17,300 --> 00:45:18,960
in their flying machines

1003
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:22,290
morphs into an exclusive form of transportation,

1004
00:45:22,290 --> 00:45:24,800
and then evolves into the most sophisticated

1005
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,833
and safe way for everyone to travel the world.

1006
00:45:28,677 --> 00:45:29,870
On behalf of the flight crew,

1007
00:45:29,870 --> 00:45:32,970
thank you for flying with us and have a pleasant day.

1008
00:45:32,970 --> 00:45:34,740
Air travel equals freedom.

1009
00:45:34,740 --> 00:45:36,370
Air travel makes the world smaller.

1010
00:45:36,370 --> 00:45:39,500
Air travel is a boring experience

1011
00:45:39,500 --> 00:45:41,310
that allows you to do something awesome.

1012
00:45:41,310 --> 00:45:45,110
Air travel equals dirtier air and more pollutants,

1013
00:45:45,110 --> 00:45:47,970
but it also equals beach vacation.

1014
00:45:47,970 --> 00:45:49,900
It doesn't take a lot to get me on a plane.

1015
00:45:49,900 --> 00:45:54,530
It usually takes two Valiums and a glass of wine.

1016
00:45:54,530 --> 00:45:55,990
Air travel.

1017
00:45:55,990 --> 00:46:00,990
(plane engine roaring)
(upbeat music)