[Rodamala]

Economy Class Seating On A Pan Am 747 In The Late 1960's

[upchuck]

That picture’s gotta be staged.

Where are are the people in shorts, a t-shirt and a backpack containing all their worldly possessions?

Oh wait, your caption says late 1960’s. That explains it.

We were certainly different back then, weren’t we?

[Mears]

bfl

[SamAdams76]

Hey, I think I see Don Draper and Peggy Olson back there.

[SES1066]

Ref: 747 Economy from the late '60s.
I think that this was a publicity shot as the first commercial 747 flight was NYC to London in January 1970. Still with the costs and customs of that age, it might very well have looked like that in actual flight but that age's economy fare was indeed quite a bit higher in cost than today.

In comparison, when Airbus rolled out its A380 super-jumbo program in the late 1990s, there were equivalent pictures of roomy seats, lounges and bars to be found on this enormous airplane. While it is true that you can get those amenities on the super-premium 1st class Emirate Air and equivalents, most of the 535 (3 class config) or 800+ (all economy seating) never see the breathing space.

Just for grins, imagine the wait for deplaning from the all economy version ... wince!