Perhaps you were not even born in 1983, let alone flying long haul. But take it from me: the aviation landscape four decades ago was lousy.
The previous year, Freddie Laker had gone bust, his Skytrain challenge failing to survive against the might of the entrenched airlines. Those carriers were simultaneously extremely expensive relative to average wages and generally abysmal in the service they provided. With cosy arrangements instead of free competition, they simply didn’t need to be good.
