How Babies Traveled On Airplanes In The 1950s

There are a lot of heated discussions about babies on-board airplanes, and whether or not parents should give candies to other passengers. However, one thing is certain – airlines have to try to be as pleasant as possible for every traveler, including the babies. According to rare photos from 1953, attempts to provide the best flying experience included awesome engineering solutions for the youngest travelers!

As official vintage photographs suggest, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) went the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. BOAC (the predecessor of British Airways) has developed hammock-like “skycots” for babies, traveling long-distance. If needed, these skycots would be attached to the luggage rack, allowing the infant to sleep comfortably and safely (the design of the cot prevented them from falling out). However, the child had to be held by a parent for take-off and landing; the same practice continues to this day.

Although today’s airlines provide similar bedding for babies, most of them attach to the bulkhead instead. Maybe we should complain about children on airplanes less, and search for ways to improve the flight for everybody more?

(h/t: vintageeveryday)

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Image credits: British Airways Speedbird Heritage Centre

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Image credits: Battmann

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Image credits: Brian Seed

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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What do you think ?

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Kevin Hartung 7 years ago

I wonder how many babies have fallen out, so they do not do this anymore

16points

Master Markus 7 years ago

Yeah, I was just thinking that this sounds like a great idea if they could just strap down the baby. I don't think babies are super safe in a crash situation regardless. I know they avoid injury by not being as tensed in stressful situations as an adult would be, but they're pretty fragile.

3points

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Stuart Firth 7 years ago

Falling out is not such a big issue! Hitting a violent downdraft or turbulence would see the subject thrown about lke a rag doll, and concussion is the best outcome one could expect. However, if splattered on the ceiling, a very gloomy result!

1point