The Major Airline That Offered Men Only Executive Flights For Nearly Two Decades
Cigars, bare feet, special gifts and no women allowed was the norm on special Executive flights for two decades
Airlines offer varying levels of flight accommodations with the intent of drawing more customers. Naturally, these have changed over the years, but could look very different in the past. For instance, for nearly two decades, United Airlines offered a regular Executive ticket from New York and Newark to Chicago, which provided First Class accomodations, all while simultaneously banning female passengers from these flights.
Jake Rosen of Mental Floss reported on the history of the chauvinistic Executive flights. Offered between 1953 and 1971, United offered a flight on all evenings except Sundays at 5 p.m. from New York City or Newark, New Jersey, which traveled to Chicago (and back). It was specifically designed for commuting. Only the high salaried would be going back and forth between these cities for work, so it was intentionally fashioned as a “good old boys” club, complete with extensive amenities and no women allowed. This was all vetted and approved by the Civil Aeronautics Board.
United boldly advertised these flights as “A Club in the Sky — For Men Only.” The Wall…
