Passengers yearning for the glory days of aviation, says Skyscanner

The glitz and glamour of the aviation industry returns to the nation’s TV screens this week as the Pan Am series kicks off – and a survey by flight search site Skyscanner shows that there is clearly an appetite for the glamorous days of airline travel.

Over 2,500 people took part in the survey which asked flyers what they missed most about the flights of yesteryear. At no.1, with a whopping 41% of votes, was being able to visit the captain in the cockpit. The captain should also be wearing a hat, a further 4% said.

The classic uniforms and first-class customer service of the iconic American airline is clearly something modern-day passengers still hanker for, with ‘politeness, courtesy and efficiency’, ‘well-presented air stewards’ and ‘polite crew’ featuring heavily as flyers’ top memory of yesteryear.

A cheeky 2% of people even said they missed the orange make-up of air hostesses - something that may or may not be a compliment to modern-day cabin staff.

Finally, sparking up at 30,000 feet is something that 13% of nicotine-loving respondents missed most about modern day flights. Those who didn’t miss sucking on a cigarette appear to instead miss sucking on a sweetie with 13% wishing boiled sweets were still handed out by crew.

The top five things people missed most on the flights of yesteryear were:

1. Being able to visit the captain in the cockpit – 41%
2. Not being pestered with sales for lottery tickets or other ancillary products – 21%
3. Boiled sweeties handed out on take-off – 16%
4. Smoking sections – 13%
5. Pilots wearing hats – 4%
6. Other (including better customer service and free refreshments) - 3%
6. Orange make-up on air hostesses - 2%