I remember seeing a Hawaii 5-0 episode in which McGarret goes to the airport and immediately gets on the plane carrying his own luggage — no checks, no security measures, nothing.
Life was certainly more free in those days...
That was true 20 years ago in many regional airports. They also had wide seats with legroom, served decent meals, hired good looking stewardesses (and even called them stewardesses), and allowed people to smoke (so it wasn’t perfect!).
My late father used to get a kick of how in the movies/TV shows a character would just drive up to an office building in a busy city or an airport, etc. and park right in front with no problem. Things were never like that in real life, just in the movies and on TV. Heck, I don’t think any character ever had stop on a highway and pay a toll until Sonny Corleone in the Godfather.