There are quite a few comment about flying 757's across the Atlantic Ocean on this link to Airlinequality by people who have done it. The big comments is that there is simply no where to get up and stretch.

www.airlinequality.com/Forum/contl.htm

But I suppose rkkwan will find it irrelevant.

For how many years did most flights between North America and Europe use 707s? I don't know about seat pitch back then, but they were also single aisle and 3-3 seating, same as the 757 and 737. Other than the medically claustrophobic people generally loved that aircraft.

This is a really interesting article about flying in the 50's and 60's. It was a little different back then. Can someone help me with the link if it doesn't work. The article is only two pages. Worth the read.

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E1D81F3FF93AA25753C1A9659C8B 63&sec=travel

Here are some photos of coach seats on the upperdeck of the 747s:

www.airliners.net/open.file/1172038/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/1101373/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0823944/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0823091/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0781809/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0763122/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0750003/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0687605/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0659839/L/
www.airliners.net/open.file/0460520/L/

and so on...

Many of them are Iran Air's 747SP or many domestic JAL or ANA.

This one is more representative of longahul, from a South African 747-400:

www.airliners.net/open.file/0220846/L/

NoFlyZone - FWIW Pan Am first flew the 707 across the pond in 1959 and many airlines continued to use them (and DC8s) well into the 1970s even after jumbos were introduced. I agree people loved them (including me when I made my first trip to Europe during college in 1969) - they cut hours off the flight times of the old props and were quieter. Pitch wasn't much different than now. I guess the point some people are making is that wide bodies at least seem (whether psychologically or otherwise) more comfortable and enjoyable than the single aisle planes.

The last time I flew on a 707 was from Antigua to LHR in July 1980.

'twas the olden days when there was plenty of leg room and the aisle passengers never had to get up to allow the middle- and window-seater into the aisle and back into their seats.

and you probably paid twice as much as you would today for the same flight....

I never paid attention to pitch when I rode those 707s and DC-8s in the 70's. But that's because I was a kid then. :D But they certainly don't have any inflight entertainment.

And like others have said, a lot of it is simply how the airline configure the seat. The narrowest seat I've sat on is on a widebody - Cathay Pacific's Lockeed L1011 Tri-star with 10-abreast seating.

The worst legroom I've gotten is on a widebody - Virgin Atlantic's 747-200. The seatback of the front touches my knee and as many already know, I'm only 5'4" with short legs.

And of course, it also depends on how full the flight is. One of the best sleep I've got on a trans-Atlantic flight is on a Continental 757-200, but only because I have 3 seats for myself.

My last flight on a 707 was a Pan Am flight from Seattle to London on which I sat next to a crazy drunk guy. How's that for combining thread topics?

My wife's last 707 flight was on another Pan Am plane from Hong Kong to San Francisco, on which one of the FAs (we didn't call them that then) dropped acid and started walking up and down the aisle using the armrests instead of the floor. My wife said she was "chirping" as she went, until the other FAs and one of the (3) people from the flight deck got her restrained. Also crazy enough?

Actually the seat pitch was slightly greater than in current coach setups.

Perhaps Continental could put a bar in the basement of the plane like the earlier Stratocruiser's had. This way people could stretch their legs a little.

Oh, but wait, $5 drinks and a Fasten Seatbelt Sign that never goes off--that just wouldn't work.

AAFF - point well taken. The fare for that trip I took in 1969 was $350 (RT from Houston to London with refueling stops in Bangor, ME). By far, it was the single biggest expense for the 3 months I spent in Europe that summer. I got that through my university's travel agency and it was considered a huge bargain at the time. Hate to think what that would be in today's dollars.

In absolute terms (not inflation-adjusted) the average system-wide yield (12.69 cents per passenger mile) for ATA member airlines in 2006 was lower than in 1990 (12.76 cents.)

But adjusted for inflation using the US CPI, it was 36% <i>cheaper</i> to fly in 2006 than it was in 1990, and less than half what it was in 1980. That despite the fact that fuel prices were through the roof last year.

What other service or commodity can you name that costs less than it did in 1990?

For one easy example, anything, everything electronic costs less today than it did in 1990.

regards - tom

<b>dfr4848</b>,

here is your answer:

<i>In 2006, $350.00 from 1969 is worth:
$1,924.19 using the Consumer Price Index
$1,560.25 using the GDP deflator
$0.00 using the value of consumer bundle
$1,981.68 using the unskilled wage
$3,171.46 using the nominal GDP per capita
$4,690.38 using the relative share of GDP</i>

Back to the original subject.

When you turn off the lights, a Motel 6 looks the same as the Four Seasons. So, I suggest the OP take some eye-shades. [And to go along with the ear-plugs for those noisy European hotels.]

One more thing to think about. For the 757's to make it to Europe, the pilot needs to very very gradually accend to 35,000 feet. Continental will not turn off the fasten seat belt sign until they reach cruising altitude.

When I flew from Berlin to Newark on Continental, it was 37 minutes before we reached cruising altitude and the fasten seat belt sign was turned off, however, the flight attendants were announcing that the captain has not turned off the fasten seat belt sign 24 minutes after take-off.

Europeans are used to seeing the fasten seat belt sign turned off 5 minutes after take-off. It takes more time to board a single isle plane so many people had been sitting for almost 1 1/2 hours and needed the toilet.

wally is right, and CO/US charge $5 a drink on their 757 flights across the Atlantic. So, those hoping to intoxicate themselves to avoid panic attacks need to bring a stack of $5 bills with them.

No, most take credit cards. I wonder when the booze surcharges will start up - market elasticity of demand, devalued dollar... maybe California whine will stay at $5 but the fancy imported stuff will go up to &euro;5.

I know how it is, Wally. Those ignerent Euros don't have the cents to use the loo before getting on a plane.

Wait... I just got it! Alcohol is a diuretic, so the seatbelt signs HAVE to be turned off sooner. D'oh!

CO still charges 4EUR or $5. With today's exchange rate, one really should buy USD to get booze onboard!

Speaking for myself, I can't wait to fly with Qantas on their A380 plane. They have 4 areas in economy for self-service shacks.