Thought Id share this with you because, in retrospect its actually funny in a few parts.

Ok so when i was much younger, in the pre-internet era, I collected airplane models and airline books but I had no idea timetables existed.

One day, on a hunch, I decided to call an airline (Delta, I think) using my yellow pages book (remember those?) I asked them if they could send me an airplane model, a baseball hat or a book about Delta. The lady says "ok...how about a timetable instead?

Here was me, inwardly thinking "what the hell is a timetable?" but outwardly saying "of course, that would be cool!"

Few days later, I get my Delta timetable and see how you could open the book and read all the info on the cities Delta flew to, airplanes used, flight number, meals served, take off and landing times, flying time, route maps, etc..I was like "Ohhhh! Tiiiiiimetableeeeeee!!!!!

Soon enough I called American, America West, Continental, Air Jamaica, TWA, Alaska, Southwest, Northwest, Morris Air, Carnival, American Trans Air, Kiwi and United and asked for timetables, seeing as they were sent free of charge.

Living in Phoenix, however, meant my yellow pages book airlines numbers were limited and so were my options, and since I did not know we could call and ask for 1800 numbers for free, I called the phone company and asked for a yellow pages catalog. The New York one cost 100 dollars which in the 90s was like 200 dollars today...the LA one cost 50 and also had the numbers of about 75 airlines...guess which one I bought?

So for the next month or so I spent many hours at night-when I was not talking with girls on the phone or playing basketball somewhere or watching sports on tv or playing video games with my brother and sister-calling every airline possible and then receiving their timetables.

There are a few things I remember:

The day I called El Al, I had broken up with my girlfriend at the time, who was Jewish, I told the El Al lady that Jewish people are so nice, without a hint of sarcasm. Because, apart from breaking up with this girl, everyone else around her had treated me extremely nice.

The first time I called Northwest, a huge NBA basketball fan picked up the phone. I think he told me he was in the mechanics department or something, because no one was available at customer service at the time. The Phoenix Suns were involved in a playoff series against the Golden State Warriors then. He was a big fan of Charles Barkley of the Suns. We wound up talking about 2 hours about basketball and then he wrote my address and promised he'd pass the message along. A few days later, I got my first Northwest timetable.

I called back to thank him but this time, a customer service rep got the call instead.

When I first called TWA, the agent was laughing and moaning....wonder what she was doing at the time!!

When I called British Airways, I got my call passed over the Atlantic to Heathrow airport. I got my timetable and later on, at parties, iIwould pick up the phone and call again and tell ladies I was calling a business in the UK to impress them..I would then give them the phone and have them say hi so they would see I wasn't lying

My dad and me had this thing where whenever i received a timetable, we'd say I owned the airline that sent it. In the end, I "owned" airlines in about 70 countries.

Sadly, I never got any cargo airline timetables. I called Fed Ex and UPS figuring they'd too send them free but once both of them said I could instead pick them up at a local office because that is where they had them, I got a hint and never called again. Their offices were far away in downtown so we were not going to drive there just for a book.

Using those books, I learned so much about the world. Places I had never heard of, such as, say, Loja in Ecuador (where, coincidentally, my aunt and her husband live at currently), Kayseri in Turkey and Trivandrum in India, that I had no idea existed, were now on my vocabulary. Not only that, but I knew they had airports that received Boeing 737s and etc. This, again in a pre-internet era!

Then came 9/11, that horrible, tragic day. On the timetables end, airlines were faced with a crisis and many started cutting costs. Paper was a cost they could do without now that the internet was in full swing and their schedules were online. So there went most of the paper timetables. I still picked a few Southwest ones at the airport in subsequent years, but it was not the same.

Ah those were the good days! Thought id share it with you guys. Hope you enjoyed my stories!

Love this. Reminiscent of my own experience.

In the mid 80’s, living in Boston, I would go to Logan once a month to go plane spotting and timetable collecting. To supplement, once a month I would go to the downtown tickets offices of many of the foreign carriers that didn’t service Boston.

I remember Empire Airlines send me timetables once a month in the mail.

People Express would not send them out because of costs. But they had them for the taking at the terminal.

Many airlines cooperated with OAG and had the North American Pocket guide available as freebies, usually in Club Lounges. I used to go to the club to ask some innocent question, then take an OAG on my way out.

Hi,

Just to also say a quick many thanks for that also yes for me the 90's definitely were the days especially early 90s. And I had relatives in the US who were also often clowning around maybe in similar ways some nice times(!) Also many thanks for your response to another recent thread I started on here that was a great story too although I should probably post there.

But anyway also if curious a few thoughts looking back from here:

1. I would definitely not knock the old Yellow Pages and it was amazing what a look-up and phone call could get you sometimes. I spent the summer of 1997 interning on the Star Wars Episode I film simply because I needed engineering course credit, didn't want to do bridge building so looked for special effects companies in the Yellow Pages here. First place I called said "well we just finished this James Bond but if you call this person they might have something on a Star Wars thing". How did stuff like that even happen...

2. Regarding collecting though I was more just picking up the odd bunch of luggage tags at airport counters when there. And I think I still have my Virgin Atlantic pen from maybe 1996 although I can only hope it still writes(!) But for me really at a younger age we were more into collecting posters so I would often write to music technology/synthesizer companies and got quite a few which I treated like gold and adorned my walls with. It was all posters and computer games back then for us(!)

3. And finally more recently around 10 years ago I did finally approaching 40 buy some airplane models from flights and even a Ryanair lanyard onboard which I thought was great to see some of that still around. And now travelling less but still interested I have hit the timetable scene online but it is more the copying and pasting from airport websites and flightaware and stuff. As you say one can learn so much and even though I thought I was fairly well travelled little did I know I think I barely scratched the surface!

But anyway hope this was not too long but with many thanks again from the South of London here in the cold UK morning,

Ps762

Similar experience here when I was a kid. I would call Braniff toll-free, and order a timetable to be mailed. I would make that call away from everyone so no one could hear. I would call multiple times to hear the Braniff agent answer: "Braniff International Flying Colors, Janis Pennington speak, how can I help you?". Did the same with Delta, Eastern, and American, and Northwest Orient. With Eastern I was obsessed with making a 'conditional' reservation.

Ps762 wrote:

Hi,

Just to also say a quick many thanks for that also yes for me the 90's definitely were the days especially early 90s. And I had relatives in the US who were also often clowning around maybe in similar ways some nice times(!) Also many thanks for your response to another recent thread I started on here that was a great story too although I should probably post there.

But anyway also if curious a few thoughts looking back from here:

1. I would definitely not knock the old Yellow Pages and it was amazing what a look-up and phone call could get you sometimes. I spent the summer of 1997 interning on the Star Wars Episode I film simply because I needed engineering course credit, didn't want to do bridge building so looked for special effects companies in the Yellow Pages here. First place I called said "well we just finished this James Bond but if you call this person they might have something on a Star Wars thing". How did stuff like that even happen...

2. Regarding collecting though I was more just picking up the odd bunch of luggage tags at airport counters when there. And I think I still have my Virgin Atlantic pen from maybe 1996 although I can only hope it still writes(!) But for me really at a younger age we were more into collecting posters so I would often write to music technology/synthesizer companies and got quite a few which I treated like gold and adorned my walls with. It was all posters and computer games back then for us(!)

3. And finally more recently around 10 years ago I did finally approaching 40 buy some airplane models from flights and even a Ryanair lanyard onboard which I thought was great to see some of that still around. And now travelling less but still interested I have hit the timetable scene online but it is more the copying and pasting from airport websites and flightaware and stuff. As you say one can learn so much and even though I thought I was fairly well travelled little did I know I think I barely scratched the surface!

But anyway hope this was not too long but with many thanks again from the South of London here in the cold UK morning,

Ps762

hey PS!
My pleasure!
And wow, Star Wars Episode One took that long to get released? IIRC it was released in 2001?
Second: I was just watching one movie set in "cold UK"'s London! (Bridget Jones' Diary, Renee Zellwegger looks good if a bit chubby in that one if you ask me!)

Take care!

seat1a wrote:

Similar experience here when I was a kid. I would call Braniff toll-free, and order a timetable to be mailed. I would make that call away from everyone so no one could hear. I would call multiple times to hear the Braniff agent answer: "Braniff International Flying Colors, Janis Pennington speak, how can I help you?". Did the same with Delta, Eastern, and American, and Northwest Orient. With Eastern I was obsessed with making a 'conditional' reservation.

I wish I'd gotten an original Braniff one!
I imagine you hiding from your parents to do the call....

AntonioMartin wrote:

seat1a wrote:

Similar experience here when I was a kid. I would call Braniff toll-free, and order a timetable to be mailed. I would make that call away from everyone so no one could hear. I would call multiple times to hear the Braniff agent answer: "Braniff International Flying Colors, Janis Pennington speak, how can I help you?". Did the same with Delta, Eastern, and American, and Northwest Orient. With Eastern I was obsessed with making a 'conditional' reservation.

I wish I'd gotten an original Braniff one!
I imagine you hiding from your parents to do the call....

Thanks to eBay, I was able to acquire some BI timetabls from the 1970s (and late 60s) that are in superb condition. Paid a high price, but it brough back memories! A friend likened timetables to the internet today. It was a place where airlines could advertise and publish anything they wanted. The high-quality ink and paper - that certainly helped as I cherish the quality of these pieces of history.

On a side note, I did order the big BI Calder DC8 poster without my parents knowing. It came in a large cardboard tube. My parents were curious, shook their heads, but knew they had an airline geek in their midst.

seat1a wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

seat1a wrote:

Similar experience here when I was a kid. I would call Braniff toll-free, and order a timetable to be mailed. I would make that call away from everyone so no one could hear. I would call multiple times to hear the Braniff agent answer: "Braniff International Flying Colors, Janis Pennington speak, how can I help you?". Did the same with Delta, Eastern, and American, and Northwest Orient. With Eastern I was obsessed with making a 'conditional' reservation.

I wish I'd gotten an original Braniff one!
I imagine you hiding from your parents to do the call....

Thanks to eBay, I was able to acquire some BI timetabls from the 1970s (and late 60s) that are in superb condition. Paid a high price, but it brough back memories! A friend likened timetables to the internet today. It was a place where airlines could advertise and publish anything they wanted. The high-quality ink and paper - that certainly helped as I cherish the quality of these pieces of history.

On a side note, I did order the big BI Calder DC8 poster without my parents knowing. It came in a large cardboard tube. My parents were curious, shook their heads, but knew they had an airline geek in their midst.

you know, you just gave me an idea! Maybe I can try Ebay to try to find some Braniff ones myself and maybe a few cargo airlines?

God bless!

AntonioMartin wrote:

seat1a wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

I wish I'd gotten an original Braniff one!
I imagine you hiding from your parents to do the call....

Thanks to eBay, I was able to acquire some BI timetabls from the 1970s (and late 60s) that are in superb condition. Paid a high price, but it brough back memories! A friend likened timetables to the internet today. It was a place where airlines could advertise and publish anything they wanted. The high-quality ink and paper - that certainly helped as I cherish the quality of these pieces of history.

On a side note, I did order the big BI Calder DC8 poster without my parents knowing. It came in a large cardboard tube. My parents were curious, shook their heads, but knew they had an airline geek in their midst.

you know, you just gave me an idea! Maybe I can try Ebay to try to find some Braniff ones myself and maybe a few cargo airlines?

God bless!

There are a lot out there. eBay collector 'dk0' and 'airtimes' have great collections. I just found several old BI, Delta and AA timetables that are rare, starting at $60-$200 and in immaculate condition. Have fun!

I never called the airlines for a timetable (didn't know that was a thing at the time for a 90's kid), however, at every opportunity I got to visit TPA, I made stops at each of the airline counters to collect timetables.

I do recall ValuJet mass-mailing out timetables sometime in the mid-90's when they opened up the IAD hub. That was a big deal at the time.

I used to get the OAG free sample editions, multiple times over a few years lol, and ended up writing to the carriers with the addresses provided in the back. Always awaiting the mail that first summer was agonizing. Especially when nothing came. Still have most letters sent along with timetables, and many sent a lot more. However, one I remember vividly was Cochise stating enjoy the enclosed timetable, which wasn't lol. Oh well. I remember also first two that I rec'd same day from SkyWest and Big Sky. Only reason I began collecting schedules was my sis collected the old ticket receipts and ticket jackets, so I said, well, I guess I'll collect schedules. That was mid 1980.
Always enjoying trips to airports and going up and down ticket counters getting them as well.
Now, my aim is collecting sched during time I was born. See how things were then. Actually have one eff the day I was born.
So 3705 scheds and 383 airlines later, they are happily taking up space in a storage unit...

sprxUSA wrote:

I used to get the OAG free sample editions, multiple times over a few years lol, and ended up writing to the carriers with the addresses provided in the back. Always awaiting the mail that first summer was agonizing. Especially when nothing came. Still have most letters sent along with timetables, and many sent a lot more. However, one I remember vividly was Cochise stating enjoy the enclosed timetable, which wasn't lol. Oh well. I remember also first two that I rec'd same day from SkyWest and Big Sky. Only reason I began collecting schedules was my sis collected the old ticket receipts and ticket jackets, so I said, well, I guess I'll collect schedules. That was mid 1980.
Always enjoying trips to airports and going up and down ticket counters getting them as well.
Now, my aim is collecting sched during time I was born. See how things were then. Actually have one eff the day I was born.
So 3705 scheds and 383 airlines later, they are happily taking up space in a storage unit...

WOW! Awesome 2 hear!

Thanks 4 that!

"My stories of timetables"???

After reading it maybe you should rename it "My stories of the ladies'. :p

I kinda did the same when I was in my early teens but with aircraft companies (usually their international sales office since I live outside the US) and ask for brochures on their aircraft.

Cessna, Piper, Beech etc. They'd send me some nice colour brochures on their aircraft. I think Beech sent me some sales stuff as well and a letter saying that if I wanted to purchase an aircraft, contact them for further information.

Which I couldn't in my early teens of course.

Thanks - I love reading everyone's stories. I collected timetables from about 1978 at 9 years old (after my first commercial flight) through about 1985. My dad traveled a lot for work and brought me timetables from the airport, and I sent letters requesting timetables quarterly - I never thought to call. But my dad made copies of my letter at work, so I had a stack of generic letters requesting a timetable. Then, the travel agency (remember those?) my dad used would give me brochures and other out dated items relating to the airlines. Mostly Delta, United, Pan Am, TWA, Continental, Southwest, and a few others. I loved looking at all the different cities that were served, seeing which flights served lunch and dinner or even a snack, or that had movies playing. And I lived on the flight path from MSY to HOU so would always check the Continental and Southwest timetable to identify what flight happened to be overhead. It all amounted to several banker's boxes full and while I was away at college, my mother threw them all away. Since, I've bought a select few on ebay that covered some of my most memorable flights. In addition, I wrote Boeing, McDonell Douglas, NASA, etc. and they sent me press kits with stickers, high quality photos and such. I remember writing NASA again around 1989 hoping for more free photos, but instead was sent an order form to purchase photos. Fun memories.

If only I could rewind 20 years and recover all the WN timetables I had as a teen.

My mom had just started with the company, I had a steady stream of non-rev passes and I always kept timetables for my weekend flights to visit her in MCO. I was leaving out of MSY, and the -200 was still dominant. I vividly remember the colored header on the cover (rotating "tan," red and blue with each new release), with a greyscale photo of a staff member underneath.

I kept a few, but lost them in Katrina. Then I lost my other litany of gifts from the airline in storage back in 2010. I did manage to nab some swizzle sticks on eBay, though.

Ruddman wrote:

"My stories of timetables"???

After reading it maybe you should rename it "My stories of the ladies'. :p

I kinda did the same when I was in my early teens but with aircraft companies (usually their international sales office since I live outside the US) and ask for brochures on their aircraft.

Cessna, Piper, Beech etc. They'd send me some nice colour brochures on their aircraft. I think Beech sent me some sales stuff as well and a letter saying that if I wanted to purchase an aircraft, contact them for further information.

Which I couldn't in my early teens of course.

LOL yeah! And, wow that is awesome!

jjlucash wrote:

If only I could rewind 20 years and recover all the WN timetables I had as a teen.

My mom had just started with the company, I had a steady stream of non-rev passes and I always kept timetables for my weekend flights to visit her in MCO. I was leaving out of MSY, and the -200 was still dominant. I vividly remember the colored header on the cover (rotating "tan," red and blue with each new release), with a greyscale photo of a staff member underneath.

I kept a few, but lost them in Katrina. Then I lost my other litany of gifts from the airline in storage back in 2010. I did manage to nab some swizzle sticks on eBay, though.

sorry 2 hear that, mate!

I started out collecting timetables and other airline paper products in the late 70s...early High School for me. One time during a day trip into San Francisco I found so many of the airlines had city ticket offices around the perimeter of Union Square...IIRC. Talk about scoring the airline goodies. Timetables, postcards, playing cards, etc etc. Same timeframe I also got onto calling the airlines (like OP alludes to) and requesting similar materials. Good times...I still have a lot of the postmarked envelopes the stuff was mailed in. As an adult, in 1994 I was in Manama Bahrain and was able to visit a number of city ticket offices and score some interesting tidbits. Same thing during my time stationed in England during mid-80s. London was great for the ticket offices. Such a fun hobby.

Sweet Read!!! I collected mostly Delta and loved to look for the bold type print within the schedule that indicated new service. I since discarded everyone of them in my hate/love relationship with the airline industry. Should I have admitted that?! I'm normal. I swear!

I intentionally picked up my first timetable in 1990 and actively collected for over 20 years, mainly from ticket offices in London, airports, or by writing to airlines. I say intentionally because I later found a Dan Air timetable from 1985 which I had picked up at the age of about 7 though I'm not sure I even understood what it was at the time.

Although I collected timetables from any airlines I could get my hands on, I was mostly interested in the smaller obscure airlines. Fortunately international postage wasn't too expensive in the 1990s, so I must have written thousands of letters to airlines all over the world. The larger airlines from developed countries usually replied, but I never heard back from most of the obscure airlines. Nevertheless, occasionally I would receive something very exotic. Some of my favourite results include Lesotho Airways (1991), Gambia Airways (1991), Red Sea Air (1999), Royal Air Cambodge (1997), China Northern Swan Airlines (2001), Kyokushin Air (2001), Lao Aviation (1997), Myanmar Airways International (1994), Oman Aviation (1991), Pelangi Airways (1996), Royal Tongan Airlines (1993), Air Vanuatu (1998), Solomon Airlines (1993), Pantanal Linhas Aereas (1996), SAHSA (1992), to name just a fraction of what I have.

I also used to go to airline collectable fairs mainly in the UK, where I managed to acquire some unusual timetables. Mostly I don't remember specifically which ones I found, but one gem that remains in my mind is a Chosonminhang timetable from 1990 (extremely difficult to find). I also made some contacts with whom I have traded timetables occasionally by post. I managed to acquire timetables from Vayudoot (1992) and Kanki Airlines (1964) for example, from a collector based in California.

Later with the advent of the internet and eBay, finding (buying) obscure timetables became much easier (but also less exciting than receiving a letter directly from an airline from a far-flung place). Some of my most unusual timetables have been acquired from eBay. I have literally thousands, but some of my rarest finds include Air Rwanda (1983), Eurasia (1934), Air Reunion (1989), United Air (1980, South Africa, not United Airlines), Air Comores (1972), Hang Khong Vietnam (1984), Royal Air Lao (1975), Syrian Airways (1959), Alyemda (1983), Air Mali (1976), Air Volta (1979) and Air Senegal (1998).

When airlines stopped issuing paper timetables towards the end of the 2000s, I wound down my collecting. Nevertheless, I still keep my eyes open for unusual finds (mainly on eBay). In fact, just last week, I purchased an Israir timetable from 2000 (the only one I've ever seen).

If anyone is interested, many of my timetables can be seen on timetableimages.com.