English
The Airline Time Machine Podcast
by Tim Haskin
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,…
Episodes
LUX & Bucks - How An Icelandic Airline Made Luxembourg Famous!
10 Jun 2026 · 19 min
The story of the scrappy Icelandic airline Loftleiðir, how it became a significant player in budget travel transatlantic tourism in the Jet Age, and the role it had in promoting tiny Luxembourg as a noted Europe travel hub! Send us Fan Mail
Captain Emily: The First Female U.S. Airline Captain
30 Apr 2026 · 22 min
United Airlines recently announced that a woman is now the airline's most senior captain, a first for a major airline. But women piloting U.S. jetliners is something that only began to occur in the 1970s, and today just over 5% of all U.S. Airline Transport Pilot rating holders are women. Join me…
A Stewardess' Story
6 Feb 2026 · 32 min
After keeping a secret for seventy years, a former stewardess shares her story of a rainy day, a DC-3, a famous journalist, and a crash landing at Yakima, Washington! Send us Fan Mail
The Airline Name Code Episode!
24 Mar 2025 · 20 min
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 airline’s full name can be simplified by substituting…
Let’s Have a Look! - An Airliner Window History
6 Mar 2025 · 25 min
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 shape is, they might just tell you that the ideal airliner…
Delta, Detroit, and a Little Bit of Hub History!
21 Feb 2025 · 27 min
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, Georgia - a state where Delta is headquartered today -…
Warren Wheeler and The First Black-owned U.S. Airline
6 Feb 2025 · 20 min
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 after the 1940s, and Black households have little exposure…
Whatever Happened To: AirTran Airways?
29 Jan 2025 · 30 min
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 product, cheeky advertising, and a multi-billion dollar business…
Tickets, Please! - How Airline Tickets Have Evolved
24 Jan 2025 · 33 min
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. Join me for this look at airline ticket history, and…
Food Fight! The Great Transatlantic Sandwich Scuffle
21 Jan 2025 · 17 min
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, meal service is a big focus for the airlines, and the cuisine…
The U.S. Local Service Airlines - Air Service Everywhere!
7 Jan 2025 · 41 min
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 of losing their air service because they don't generate enough…
Above It All - America’s Helicopter Airlines
26 Dec 2024 · 28 min
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 in just 6 minutes, or from Oakland to the San Francisco…
America's First Black Flight Attendant
2 Dec 2024 · 15 min
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. They’re denied positions as airline pilots or flight…
Boeing 367-80: The Aerobatic Maneuver That Launches a Titan
22 Nov 2024 · 24 min
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 a new airliner sound is being heard - the high, shrill…
Let's go to the CTO - Airlines And Their City Ticket Offices
13 Nov 2024 · 20 min
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 in-town facilities become known as a City Ticket Office (or…
Concorde, Collins & Live Aid 1985
8 Nov 2024 · 18 min
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 Concorde airliner was frequently in the news, either for the…
Slippers, Stogies & Scotch - A Look at Men-Only Flights
29 Oct 2024 · 16 min
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 1950s, one United States airline introduces “Men Only”…
The Flying Mouse - When Walt Disney World Had an Airport
18 Oct 2024 · 21 min
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 Walt Disney World includes a large jet airport within the…
The VERY VIPs - Head of State Air Travel
3 Oct 2024 · 23 min
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. Join me for an exploration of how air travel by heads of…
When You've Gotta' Go... The Lavatory Episode
19 Sept 2024 · 19 min
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. Join me for this exploration of the history of airliner toilet…