First class has changed… but so have we

Jeff Mills looks back to the days when flying in the premium cabin was an event in itself

My first trip in first class was on a BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) flight in 1973, just before the longhaul airline merged with its shorter-haul stablemate BEA (British European Airways) to form British Airways. It was pure chance, and possibly a spot of overbooking by the airline, that saw me, in those days a young reporter, upgraded from the depths of economy to the heady heights of the premium cabin (no Club World or business class existed at that time).

As now, there were separate check-in desks for first class passengers at Heathrow Airport. “Where would you like to sit, sir,” I was asked, “an aisle or window seat?”, and “Would you like to be in the smoking or non-smoking section?”

Security in those pre-terrorist-threat days was a breeze and just moments later I was in the first class lounge in Terminal 3 (long before T4 was built), sipping my first gin and tonic of the day and studying my fellow passengers while we waited for the call to board our Boeing 747 to New York.

I was wearing a jacket and tie, as was the norm in those days, or I very much doubt I would have been blessed with an upgrade (I never found out why and wouldn’t have dared to ask). But formality was the order of the day for travellers in first class back then. Suits for the men and smart dresses for the women – this was an occasion, after all.

Once on board we turned left towards the front of the aircraft to be greeted by crew in uniforms that could easily have passed muster on board one of the cruise liners of the time, the Queen Elizabeth or the Queen

Mary perhaps. The 747 was, after all, the airborne equivalent of a great ship.

There was a glass of champagne and some tasty canapés before take-off, and perhaps a free cigarette or two. And the seats? Well, they weren’t fully reclining like those of today, but what they lacked in recline they made up for in width, and they were very comfortable.

Lunchtime was an inflight performance in its own right. First, one of the crew came along to take orders from the impressive in-flight menu as my dining table was set on the pull-down tray, complete with bone china, crystal glasses and proper cutlery. The stewards were now wearing starched white jackets with gold-braided epaulettes, while the stewardesses were in smart pinafores.

There were pre-lunch drinks, starters and aperitifs were served, and then the pièce de resistance as the trolley, not unlike those once used in the Savoy Grill in London, came through the cabin bearing the main course. It was wheeled with great ceremony to your seat, where the chief steward or stewardess would carve the joint of meat – having first discussed how you would prefer it, rare or medium.

Instead of a nap we went upstairs to the lounge area... we were more social in the days before social media

There were magnificent desserts and exotic fruits, fine wines flowed, there was vintage port or barrel-aged brandy with the cheese trolley and then, of course, you could settle back in your seat with a post-lunch cigarette, though I seem to remember cigarsmoking was discouraged in case the aroma was a bit too invasive for some passengers.

These days we pay for first class in return for space, privacy and a good sleep, but in those days we paid for... what exactly? The event, perhaps. So instead of a nap we went up the spiral staircase to the lounge area, fitted with sofa-like seats and its own bar, and got to know our fellow premium class flyers and some of the crew, who in those days actually had time to chat. We were more social in the days before social media.

Of course in real terms, the price of travel has dropped for the majority of passengers, and that’s a good thing. First class is still very expensive, unless you are very flexible with your dates, or clever at redeeming miles. But even today when I’m lucky enough to fly first, I can’t help looking back to those early days with nostalgia, when each time was an event to be shared with those around you, rather than via a mobile phone, and the experience was more than just the seat and whether the plane has wifi. I only wish I’d taken a photo. Not something anyone today ever regrets.