It was never this easy. I was in these very positions (ticket counter, gates, ramp tower control and inflight service director) from 1970 until 1977. All my time was either at ORD or in the air to and from. Automation, which came in the mid- to late-70's changed everything. It both sped pax processing but took much of the personal touch out of the job. In my day, I had to know to use the computer, employing its own language and syntax, and was allowed to make decisions on the spot. Today, my former position requires little if any of what my generation needed to do to make flying an enjoyable experience,. Add to this the huge increase in seating capacities has changed transportation to more or less moving cattle. And with a self-entitled public who has little patience for any difficulty that may arise, I wouldn't take the job back if you paid me a million dollars. Kudos to the robots who can still do it.
@@AtOddsAlways THANK YOU! For the work that you contributed to make the flying experience better for people. To the commitment that you made. To all of the positions that you have worked during your long career. Very impressive! Great job!
That is the biggest issue, they've taken the ability to make decisions away from the front line employees. Even if they have the knowledge and experience needed to quickly fix an issue they're not allowed to. Either the system won't let them, or they'll face consequences for doing so.
I can agree with you, not many today in these role would survive with the system going down! At least we would still have the know how to return back to basics with paper processes & the old "Bigo Cards" for seat allocation at check & boarding, in addition to knowing the three letter city codes off by heart... something all of us of a certain age can be proud of!
On the contrary, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby can learn a thing or two about keeping his airline profitable not relying on government bailouts. The same for American, Delta, JetBlue ……
PanAm was basically never profitable - their costs were always too high, the competitive structure too regulated before 78 to give them the domestic feed they needed, and after deregulation their fleet was too big with too many 747’s to ever be competitive. In the late 1980’s PA was still flying way too many 747’s on routes that could not fill them with yield way too low, PA would have done better to make a training video on airline economics to get their employees to realize if the costs are too high eventually the airline will go TU.
@@sanitman1488 What airline bailouts? United is profitable right now and posting the best numbers they ever have because they have invested heavily in technology, are flying to the places people want to go to, and are able to get a good yield on those flights. If you are talking about the Covid loans, I remind you the government gave out loans to a lot of businesses, and the government ordered UA, DL, AA etc all to stop flying - it is not Kirby’s fault when the government actually stops the company from doing business, and UA repaid the loan in full on July 2nd 2024. This video today would be handled completely differently as at United there would be no reason to see the gate agent, all the passengers would be updated and assigned new seats automatically, the passengers would have the option to rebook themselves without talking to an agent simply through the mobile app, the passenger would probably not need to be downgraded because other passengers in business class would change their flights to another day thus opening up a seat for him, and even if there was no seat he would have received all his vouchers and hotel rooms right in the app with no need to yell at a gate agent. The last time my flight was delayed on United I received my meal voucher and hotel room directly on my phone in their mobile app so I never had to wait in any line I just went directly to the Marriott for the night.
@@cxa340 Utter nonsense. During the decades prior to 1970, Pan American had substantial profits propelling it zenith of its potential under Juan Trippe. This despite the fact the company wasn’t allowed to fly domestic operations. It wasn’t until oil embargo crisis in early 1970s and President Nixon removed the gold standard did PanAm and in fact all U.S. airlines suffered economically. The purchase of 747 early on did affect company performance but is not the sole reason. The deregulation act by presidential failure Jimmy Carter and then needless purchase of national airlines set the stage for bankruptcy. What I find hilarious here reading these comments is Pan American never received a dime unlike all the garbage airlines today representing the U.S.
@ You are a poor student of history and economics. First of all United Airlines has received several government bailouts other than the COVID BS. 9/11 is the other substantial one and during the illegal conflict with Iraq. Now in relation to this Scott Kirby. Kirby operates United Airlines under the ‘woke’ umbrella that has become the laughing stock of the commercial airline industry. Old timers have jumped ship retired just to escape the political climate. Several incidents involving incompetence has made the media airwaves and there are substantial consequences now involving labor groups. There was a recent United press conference in Washington Dulles where yes Kirby was celebrating profits for shareholders but immediately Flight Attendants system wide jumping on social media destroying this Kirby drag queen dancing to lady Gaga clown. United and other U.S. airlines would not be where they are if it wasn’t for government taxpayer paid bailouts. GET IT! Regardless what the economic impact is, bailouts is a socialist state ideology, NOT capitalism as Pan American operated under and it did so offering not only the best to passengers but its employees as well. Can United say this? NO. Delta? No. Where are United,Delta, American, JetBlue in worldwide customer satisfaction surveys? At the bottom! Why is that? Wow you got a food voucher? lol compared to other passengers on United flights , your the lucky one. Majority have to fend for themselves.
Mr. & Mrs. Sanders enjoyed their honeymoon in Saint Maarten, however the marriage didn’t last. Upon returning to the states, Mr. Sanders realized he was a member of an “alternative lifestyle” and left poor Mrs. Sanders for a flight attendant named Bruce. 🌈
Great video. I have to say, the job of an airport agent then and now is always tough. The video must be from around 1985, pre-pacific route sale as they are still flying to the Tokyo Narita hub which has connecting service to Shanghai - Beijing, Manila, and Seoul.
5:45The way he said that, I was sure he was consulting a list and seeing "Mr. Harris"s name on it, was going to say "I wonder if you wouldn't mind stepping this way, sir", and a gentleman in a uniform steps forward and leads him through an unmarked door
I was a very young Platinum flyer the last 4 years. Everyone was very nice for the most part. It was always hard to sleep in the back row of F on the 747's. Seemed like the crew had a party the whole time! Other than that, no complaints! Clipper, I could always find a nice businessman to get drunk with!
How far we have come - now a passenger simply needs to open an app on their phone instead of ever waiting in a line and having to talk to an agent. Now you can use the app of most major airlines rebook yourself on to different flight, change your routing, even change to a different carrier within the alliance, cancel the trip and just refund the ticket if you do not want to go, even receive your hotel and meal vouchers right in the app so you can just grab your bags and go to your hotel room rather than wait in the airport for endless hours. Technology really has made this part of the passenger experience so much better, because now passengers do not have to wait in lines, speak to an agent, they can just open an app and make the changes that work best for them.
I sometimes wish things would slow down. Life was much simpler than. I miss Pan Am. Those were the days when flying was actually a pleasure. These employees are not very lively. Lol!
The male agent with the thinning hair reminds me of the unemotional attorney from "Rat Race" lmao no changes to his expression when Harris is having a meltdown
Mr. Harris reminds me of the toy store guy from home alone 1 And what's with the woman at 8:43 "what you NEED to do is get to your hotel" HAHAHHAA i would have exploded.... Like NOOOO duh I need to get to my hotel, but what I NEED right NOW is my bags lol That poor old man, he was at his wit's end AND THE ONE AT 16:50 throwing the tickets ooooooo I would have had such a faaaaace ahahha
The giant box guy seems familiar The equipment change, though late, could easily be rephrased as to push the improvements of the 100 over the SP. Larger and more spacious equipment, which would lead to more seat upgrades, and onboard amenities, nor should it require a fuel stop. And i can’t recall any airline alliances, but just put them on United and get them out of your hair. Think outside the box folks.
The -100 had fewer Clipper Class seats, requiring some customers to be downgraded. A fuel stop in ANC wasn’t unusual back then, with winter winds. Luckily, there were more options for transferring passengers onto other airline flights (maybe someone else had that class of service still available?) but there were generally fewer flights back then, unless you got creative with connections (which could present additional problems, or delays). Empathy, and presenting choices was probably the best solution.
Non of these techniques will work now. This is the most classless, most self-centered, most uncivil society I've ever seen in my lifetime. People can now be quite honestly, impossible. And I am indeed an airline employee, 25+ years.
Well I’m sure if the service offered by Pan Am was duplicated today people might not be quite as classless, self-centered, and uncivil. Airline travel has gotten worse and worse and then they expect customers to just keep bending over and taking it, of course people are angrier today.
@@Nunofurdambiznez Not for airlines. Deregulation hit. Recession 1981-1982. ATC strike 1981. Airlines died through the 80's. Pan Am desperately needed a domestic network and had to buy National, saddling it with debt and integration problems. Pan Am sold their Asian routes to United in 1985, right when Asia was taking off. Lockerbie bombing 1988. Pan Am's fate was sealed in the 80's.
It was never this easy. I was in these very positions (ticket counter, gates, ramp tower control and inflight service director) from 1970 until 1977. All my time was either at ORD or in the air to and from. Automation, which came in the mid- to late-70's changed everything. It both sped pax processing but took much of the personal touch out of the job. In my day, I had to know to use the computer, employing its own language and syntax, and was allowed to make decisions on the spot. Today, my former position requires little if any of what my generation needed to do to make flying an enjoyable experience,. Add to this the huge increase in seating capacities has changed transportation to more or less moving cattle. And with a self-entitled public who has little patience for any difficulty that may arise, I wouldn't take the job back if you paid me a million dollars. Kudos to the robots who can still do it.
@@AtOddsAlways THANK YOU! For the work that you contributed to make the flying experience better for people. To the commitment that you made. To all of the positions that you have worked during your long career. Very impressive! Great job!
That is the biggest issue, they've taken the ability to make decisions away from the front line employees. Even if they have the knowledge and experience needed to quickly fix an issue they're not allowed to. Either the system won't let them, or they'll face consequences for doing so.
I can agree with you, not many today in these role would survive with the system going down! At least we would still have the know how to return back to basics with paper processes & the old "Bigo Cards" for seat allocation at check & boarding, in addition to knowing the three letter city codes off by heart... something all of us of a certain age can be proud of!
Pan Am should have had a training video for their CEOs. Training on how to keep an airline profitable.
On the contrary, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby can learn a thing or two about keeping his airline profitable not relying on government bailouts. The same for American, Delta, JetBlue ……
PanAm was basically never profitable - their costs were always too high, the competitive structure too regulated before 78 to give them the domestic feed they needed, and after deregulation their fleet was too big with too many 747’s to ever be competitive. In the late 1980’s PA was still flying way too many 747’s on routes that could not fill them with yield way too low, PA would have done better to make a training video on airline economics to get their employees to realize if the costs are too high eventually the airline will go TU.
@@sanitman1488
What airline bailouts? United is profitable right now and posting the best numbers they ever have because they have invested heavily in technology, are flying to the places people want to go to, and are able to get a good yield on those flights. If you are talking about the Covid loans, I remind you the government gave out loans to a lot of businesses, and the government ordered UA, DL, AA etc all to stop flying - it is not Kirby’s fault when the government actually stops the company from doing business, and UA repaid the loan in full on July 2nd 2024.
This video today would be handled completely differently as at United there would be no reason to see the gate agent, all the passengers would be updated and assigned new seats automatically, the passengers would have the option to rebook themselves without talking to an agent simply through the mobile app, the passenger would probably not need to be downgraded because other passengers in business class would change their flights to another day thus opening up a seat for him, and even if there was no seat he would have received all his vouchers and hotel rooms right in the app with no need to yell at a gate agent.
The last time my flight was delayed on United I received my meal voucher and hotel room directly on my phone in their mobile app so I never had to wait in any line I just went directly to the Marriott for the night.
@@cxa340 Utter nonsense. During the decades prior to 1970, Pan American had substantial profits propelling it zenith of its potential under Juan Trippe. This despite the fact the company wasn’t allowed to fly domestic operations. It wasn’t until oil embargo crisis in early 1970s and President Nixon removed the gold standard did PanAm and in fact all U.S. airlines suffered economically. The purchase of 747 early on did affect company performance but is not the sole reason. The deregulation act by presidential failure Jimmy Carter and then needless purchase of national airlines set the stage for bankruptcy. What I find hilarious here reading these comments is Pan American never received a dime unlike all the garbage airlines today representing the U.S.
@ You are a poor student of history and economics. First of all United Airlines has received several government bailouts other than the COVID BS. 9/11 is the other substantial one and during the illegal conflict with Iraq. Now in relation to this Scott Kirby. Kirby operates United Airlines under the ‘woke’ umbrella that has become the laughing stock of the commercial airline industry. Old timers have jumped ship retired just to escape the political climate. Several incidents involving incompetence has made the media airwaves and there are substantial consequences now involving labor groups. There was a recent United press conference in Washington Dulles where yes Kirby was celebrating profits for shareholders but immediately Flight Attendants system wide jumping on social media destroying this Kirby drag queen dancing to lady Gaga clown. United and other U.S. airlines would not be where they are if it wasn’t for government taxpayer paid bailouts. GET IT! Regardless what the economic impact is, bailouts is a socialist state ideology, NOT capitalism as Pan American operated under and it did so offering not only the best to passengers but its employees as well. Can United say this? NO. Delta? No. Where are United,Delta, American, JetBlue in worldwide customer satisfaction surveys? At the bottom! Why is that? Wow you got a food voucher? lol compared to other passengers on United flights , your the lucky one. Majority have to fend for themselves.
Looks absolutely amazing. Truly the world’s most experienced airline.
Mr. & Mrs. Sanders enjoyed their honeymoon in Saint Maarten, however the marriage didn’t last.
Upon returning to the states, Mr. Sanders realized he was a member of an “alternative lifestyle” and left poor Mrs. Sanders for a flight attendant named Bruce. 🌈
Great video. I have to say, the job of an airport agent then and now is always tough. The video must be from around 1985, pre-pacific route sale as they are still flying to the Tokyo Narita hub which has connecting service to Shanghai - Beijing, Manila, and Seoul.
5:45The way he said that, I was sure he was consulting a list and seeing "Mr. Harris"s name on it, was going to say "I wonder if you wouldn't mind stepping this way, sir", and a gentleman in a uniform steps forward and leads him through an unmarked door
I was a very young Platinum flyer the last 4 years. Everyone was very nice for the most part. It was always hard to sleep in the back row of F on the 747's. Seemed like the crew had a party the whole time! Other than that, no complaints! Clipper, I could always find a nice businessman to get drunk with!
Pan Am was so classy!!!! (but can the automatic volume gain control get any more aggressive?!)
How far we have come - now a passenger simply needs to open an app on their phone instead of ever waiting in a line and having to talk to an agent.
Now you can use the app of most major airlines rebook yourself on to different flight, change your routing, even change to a different carrier within the alliance, cancel
the trip and just refund the ticket if you do not want to go, even receive your hotel and meal vouchers right in the app so you can just grab your bags and go to your hotel room rather than wait in the airport for endless hours.
Technology really has made this part of the passenger experience so much better, because now passengers do not have to wait in lines, speak to an agent, they can just open an app and make the changes that work best for them.
I sometimes wish things would slow down. Life was much simpler than. I miss Pan Am. Those were the days when flying was actually a pleasure. These employees are not very lively. Lol!
I’m with you…it was a lot better then.
@ Thank you, a lot.
The male agent with the thinning hair reminds me of the unemotional attorney from "Rat Race" lmao no changes to his expression when Harris is having a meltdown
@@fujifrontier I’m laughing. Had to look that guy up. Funny!
I've just realised today is a rather poignant date for this to have been recommended: 21 December.
Sweet!
Mr. Harris reminds me of the toy store guy from home alone 1
And what's with the woman at 8:43 "what you NEED to do is get to your hotel" HAHAHHAA i would have exploded.... Like NOOOO duh I need to get to my hotel, but what I NEED right NOW is my bags lol That poor old man, he was at his wit's end
AND THE ONE AT 16:50 throwing the tickets ooooooo I would have had such a faaaaace ahahha
@@fujifrontier So true…
The giant box guy seems familiar
The equipment change, though late, could easily be rephrased as to push the improvements of the 100 over the SP. Larger and more spacious equipment, which would lead to more seat upgrades, and onboard amenities, nor should it require a fuel stop.
And i can’t recall any airline alliances, but just put them on United and get them out of your hair.
Think outside the box folks.
The -100 had fewer Clipper Class seats, requiring some customers to be downgraded. A fuel stop in ANC wasn’t unusual back then, with winter winds. Luckily, there were more options for transferring passengers onto other airline flights (maybe someone else had that class of service still available?) but there were generally fewer flights back then, unless you got creative with connections (which could present additional problems, or delays). Empathy, and presenting choices was probably the best solution.
You couldn’t pay me $250,000 a year to deal with passengers!!!
Self check in kiosks are a waste of time.Most pax struggle to use them😊
Non of these techniques will work now. This is the most classless, most self-centered, most uncivil society I've ever seen in my lifetime. People can now be quite honestly, impossible. And I am indeed an airline employee, 25+ years.
35 years in the business from 1970-2005. I know your pain.
Smile at the world, and it'll smile back at you. All of the PanAm people were nice to me, albeit worrying about their jobs and pensions disappearing.
Well I’m sure if the service offered by Pan Am was duplicated today people might not be quite as classless, self-centered, and uncivil. Airline travel has gotten worse and worse and then they expect customers to just keep bending over and taking it, of course people are angrier today.
you dont get service like that from an airline post pandemic
Hurry those bags along now to New York.
Thank god the 80s are over.
There have been technological advancements but we lost a few travel agents on the way.
HUH??? The 80s were the BEST TIME EVER!! You must be from somewhere other than the USA!
Loved the 80’s! Not quite as good as the 60’s or 70’s though.
@@Nunofurdambiznez Not for airlines. Deregulation hit. Recession 1981-1982. ATC strike 1981. Airlines died through the 80's. Pan Am desperately needed a domestic network and had to buy National, saddling it with debt and integration problems. Pan Am sold their Asian routes to United in 1985, right when Asia was taking off. Lockerbie bombing 1988. Pan Am's fate was sealed in the 80's.
What makes you feel that way?