The Airline Time Machine Podcast
Tim Haskin has hung around airlines and airports since he was a little kid, and that led to a career with airlines, then in travel technology, time as a private pilot and aircraft owner, an obsession with collecting airline memorabilia, and a deep knowledge of the airline industry and its history.
Those many experiences filled his head with a lot of airline stories, but the people around him are tired of hearing about it. The result was Airline Time Machine and a website, social media presence, and now podcast to provide an outlet for the stories of the airlines, the people, the aircraft, and the airports that contributed to our air travel experience today, with new episodes across a wide range of topics each week!
Episodes
25 episodes
The Airline Name Code Episode!
Every airline in the world has a two-character designator code that represents the airline’s name identity across reservation systems, flight information displays, ticketing details, luggage tags, and all of the other places where showing an ai...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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20:09
Let’s Have a Look! - An Airliner Window History
Have you ever found yourself looking out of a cabin window on an airliner, and wondered what was keeping you in - and the outside out - during your flight?If you ask an aerospace engineer what their ideal airliner cabin window size and s...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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24:50
Delta, Detroit, and a Little Bit of Hub History!
Delta Air Lines has a rich history in the air travel business, and this year is celebrating its one hundredth year of operations.And while a lot of Delta’s story is focused on the southern United States where Delta was founded in Macon, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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27:13
Warren Wheeler and The First Black-owned U.S. Airline
During the first fifty years of air travel in the United States, the airline industry - as a service provider, and as an employer - is largely focused on White people.Black Americans are usually locked out of many airline jobs until long...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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19:32
Whatever Happened To: AirTran Airways?
One of the most successful U.S. start-up airlines of the 1990s had six airline brands, and several legal names, involved in just its first four years.Then it settled down to become a nimble competitor, known for low fares, a quality pro...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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30:20
Tickets, Please! - How Airline Tickets Have Evolved
Airline tickets have changed dramatically over the roughly hundred years of passenger air travel, transforming from a simple paper “proof of purchase” modeled on railroad passenger tickets, to today’s digital transaction and security records.
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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33:05
Food Fight! The Great Transatlantic Sandwich Scuffle
Before large jet airliners accelerate air travel growth in the late 1950s, flying between continents is an exhausting experience, requiring fifteen hours or more for the flight to New York from Europe.To help travelers pass the time, mea...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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17:24
The U.S. Local Service Airlines - Air Service Everywhere!
The growth of the oldest U.S. Trunk or Mainline air carriers after 1945 drives demand for air travel, and new, larger airliners to meet that need. But as the airlines and their aircraft grow, many smaller U.S. cities are in danger ...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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40:35
Above It All - America’s Helicopter Airlines
In some of the largest U.S. urban areas, road traffic congestion can be one of the biggest challenges to moving between the downtown area and the airport.Imagine, though, being able to get from Manhattan to La Guardia Airport in New York...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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28:26
America's First Black Flight Attendant
During some of the most exciting developments and innovation in a young and emerging U.S. airline industry - from the 1930s through the late 1950s - two of the most sought-after airline career paths are unavailable to black Americans.The...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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15:05
Boeing 367-80: The Aerobatic Maneuver That Launches a Titan
The early 1950s is an exciting time in the airline business, and - more specifically - the airliner business.Airliner manufacturers are developing new planes that fly faster, farther, and with more passengers and cargo, but from England ...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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24:22
Let's go to the CTO - Airlines And Their City Ticket Offices
Beginning in the 1930s, many airlines maintain large networks of City Ticket Offices to conduct business with their customers in high-traffic shopping, office and hotel neighborhoods, far removed from their own airport operations.These ...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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20:02
Concorde, Collins & Live Aid 1985
Tens of thousands of airline flights operate daily around the world, but every now and then one stands out because it helps make history, even though it was just another flight, on just another day.From 1976 until 2003, the supersonic C...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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18:07
Slippers, Stogies & Scotch - A Look at Men-Only Flights
The idea that some things are segregated by gender is not uncommon for many of us as we encounter washrooms, gym locker rooms, private schools and clubs, or religious facilities with restricted access based on gender.But starting in the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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16:00
The Flying Mouse - When Walt Disney World Had an Airport
If you’ve visited central Florida for a Disney vacation, you may have wished there was an easier, faster, way to get from the Orlando International Airport to Walt Disney World.Before that resort opens in October of 1971, planning for Wa...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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21:21
The VERY VIPs - Head of State Air Travel
Some air travelers are more than VIPs - they’re the VERY VIPs, the heads of state or monarchs whose travel comes with unusual requirements for privacy, secrecy, and security that just can’t typically be met by a scheduled airline service.
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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22:41
When You've Gotta' Go... The Lavatory Episode
Lavatory. Water closet. Washroom. Toilet. WC. Commode... or there's many more!Whatever name you choose, an airliner’s onboard personal comfort facilities are seen by a lot of travelers as an essential resource to have on their flight.
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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19:07
Love Is In The Air - The Mile High Club
There’s a long history behind the “mile high club” lore, dating back to the 1780s. Stories of romantic interludes while at altitude hit the news pretty regularly over the years, but usually because of police involvement, and legal charges being...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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14:47
When Smoking Met Its Match
Not too long ago, cigarette smoking was widespread, and permitted, onboard most passenger airliners worldwide. A lot of travelers boarding flights today who don’t remember that era would likely be surprised by how prevalent infligh...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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17:49
TOP DOG EAT FAT CAT - The Airport Code Episode!
It's OK - this doesn't involve some sort of domestic pet violence. But this episode title highlights that assigned airport codes can sometimes appear to be something very different than their original intended purpose!Three-character cod...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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14:27
Whatever Happened To: Denver's Stapleton Airport?
In February of 1995, one of the busiest airports in the U.S. - Denver's Stapleton International Airport - closes, replaced by the new Denver International Airport several miles to the east.Over the next few years, the massive infrastruc...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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13:17
Where Did All The Airlines Go?!
In 1985, more than 200 airlines provide scheduled passenger service on U.S. domestic routes under their own names and branding, and the country's airports are busy, crowded centers of activity.But four decades later, only fifty airlines...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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19:41
Airbus and The Astronaut
In mid-1977, a small European airliner company had been in business for about ten years, but had only one aircraft type on offer, that had sold less than thirty units to four airlines, without a single sale in the past 18 months. H...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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28:48
The Airship Era - Hindenburg
In 1936, most airline passengers are flying in small, loud, and uncomfortable airplanes, limited to short distance routes. But for a few travelers, long distance flights on the German airship "Hindenburg" mean sleeping cabins, gourmet meals, an...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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26:07
The Airship Era - Graf Zeppelin
From the 1920s until 1939, there's only one way to fly as a passenger between Europe and The Americas... and the trip doesn't involve an airplane! Here's the story of the giant German airship "Graf Zeppelin" that pioneered airline travel across...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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25:23