Frequent style miles: Bringing glamour back to air travel

There’s an iconic moment during the opening of Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film “Catch Me If You Can” when Leonardo DiCaprio — flanked by Pan Am flight attendants — walks through Miami International Airport terminal as Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” plays in the background.

It’s the 1960s, and Leo looks sharp. In fact, just about everyone in the airport does.

This image, juxtaposed with what we associate with air travel today — security checks, crowded cabins and seat-kicking children — forms such a stark contrast that viewers may very well forget that the movie is based on a true story and that at some point in time, air travel was a glamourous endeavor. Somehow, we’ve let the magic of flying die.

Imagine what a trip it would be if we, as travelers, still made an effort to dress up and reinfuse fashion into a once-glorious industry.

The 1950s through the 1970s, known as the golden age of commercial aviation, saw free three-course meals served inflight, large, luxurious cabins adorned with bright colors and dining tables and service akin to dining at a fine restaurant. But perhaps no facet of jet-setting during this golden age was as iconic as its sense of fashion.

From the flight attendants to the passengers, people viewed flying as a special occasion worth dressing up for. Skirts, blouses and sleek suits were abundant, and entire fashion shows were devoted to revealing new uniforms. Today, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has an entire exhibit dedicated to airline fashion.

On modern flights, crew members dress in utilitarian uniforms of grey and navy, lacking any and all stylistic creativity. Passengers sport the latest in sweatpants, hoodie and flip-flop couture.

Of course, fashion in general has changed over the years.  We have certainly made clothing more comfortable and casual than previous decades, but people still make an effort to clean up when they go out.  Every day on the bus and walking down the street, we see a runway of various styles and trends. While some of us dress nicely for class, many view a plane ticket as an invitation for a sleepover in the sky.

So what turned an industry once synonymous with style into a drab flying bus service?

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law. In short, the act handed power over the airline industry from government to the free market, allowing businesses to compete. The result was lower prices and air travel accessible to those outside the upper class. As one of the most important landmarks in the commercial aviation industry, it was not without negative side effects.

In order to provide prices that the common man could afford, complimentary meals were cut from flights, and newly redesigned cabins began to maximize capacity over comfort. Unfortunately, as these elements of the golden age made their exit, so, too, did air travel’s iconic fashion. What was especially lamentable about the last development was that it was far from necessary. Altering meals and seating did not necessitate new uniforms, but as this new, dull generation of aviation was born, the airlines shifted uniform style to mesh with a corporate tone.

And while this is only an explanation for why we no longer see the colorful, stylish flight attendant — at that time they were mostly women — outfits of the 1960s, it is no surprise that passengers soon stopped dressing to the nines too. After all, when the airline has abandoned style, why should you feel compelled to dress in a certain manner?

As an airline employee, pilot and aviation enthusiast, I long for the days when air travel was glamorous. I’m not saying dress as you would for a night at the opera — today’s security hurdles can make this cumbersome — but by ditching the sweats and dirty sneakers for collars and blouses, we can pay homage to an iconic American industry and inject color into the mundane. Flying is still a remarkable feat and should be viewed as an occasion, even when it seems like an average part of modern life.

Perhaps a sense of style is what a terminal of businessmen with their heads in the paper, teens on their phones and parents rushing their children between gates to make connection flights need to quell the dismal attitude toward commercial flying.

In fact, a study from the University of Queensland concluded that your outfit can impact your mood. Through a series of interviews and observations of interviewees’ clothing, the research team determined that, “more often than not, we dress how we’d like to feel or how we’d like others to think we’re feeling.” It’s no wonder then that an industry in which unkempt customers wear sweats and flip-flops is also commonly associated with terms such as stressful, miserable and a hassle.

I am under no illusion that we can revive the jet-setting age with a change of clothes, but the possibility of reinstating airlines as a special industry with a rich history and important place in the shaping of modern America is worth a bit of effort.

The National Air and Space Museum is the most visited of the Smithsonian institutions, and stories of aviation pioneers populate our history books. As a nation, America has always been at least benignly fascinated with the possibility of unlimited space to roam in the sky. How could we lose sight of the magic of flying five miles above the earth with metal wings and a bit of thrust?

The next time you book a flight, consider giving a nod to aviation’s past and ditch the pajamas for a jet-setting style. It may not soothe the screaming infant behind you, but at least you’ll look fly.