Flying Naked: What Happened to Airplane Civility?

Sept. 2, 2009 — -- Did you hear the one about the naked fliers? No, this isn't a joke, it actually happened this summer: There were these two fellows -- one on US Airways, one on Southwest -- who felt compelled to take off all their clothes in midflight.

Must have been disconcerting for the other passengers (especially on the Southwest flight -- pretty hard to ignore a 300-pound naked guy in your midst). And yet, my first thought upon reading this was: fashion.

Hear me out: Back in the early days of flying, you got on a plane, dressed to the nines -- sometimes tens, even.

If you're too young to remember that, all you have to do is take a look at a recent episode of Mad Men to see the kind of elegance I'm talking about: men on planes wore suits, women wore dresses, and flight attendants looked crisp and professional (not to mention young and pretty but in those days, that was a job requirement).

I invite you to take a good look at your fellow passengers on your next flight: try to find someone not sporting denim or shorts or sneakers. That's not necessarily a dig -- it's just our culture: on an airplane these days, every day is "casual Friday."

So how did we go from "natty" to "naked"? Or, from tasteful to tacky -- in just a few short decades? I think we can lay this at the feet of one man in particular -- a British knight.

For more air travel news and insights visit Rick's blog at: http://farecompare.com

Anyone remember Laker Airways? The long-defunct airline was the brainchild of the UK's Freddie Laker (the Queen added the "Sir" later on) -- and the carrier ferried folks across The Pond for rock-bottom prices.