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,…

Épisodes

  • LUX & Bucks - How An Icelandic Airline Made Luxembourg Famous!

    10 juin 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 avr. 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 févr. 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 mars 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 mars 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 févr. 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 févr. 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 janv. 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 janv. 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 janv. 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 janv. 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 déc. 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 déc. 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…