All Stories

Flight attendants were some of the people at the forefront of the fight for equality in the 20th century. Meet some of these remarkable people in this article. 

In the early days of commercial air flight, airlines struggled to turn a profit and remain afloat. The United States government, hoping to foster the success of commercial airlines, met this challenge by using airplanes to move mail across the country.

One area in which commercial airlines were able to make a splash and successfully market themselves during the 1960s and 1970s was through what their flight attendants wore. To appeal to the mostly male travelers, airlines introduced miniskirts and hot pants, to the dismay of many flight attendants.

NASA is usually associated with spaceflight, but its first "A" stands for Aeronautics. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb of NASA led the development of several key technologies: area rule in the 1950s and '60s, supercritical wings in the 1970s, and winglets in the 1970s and '80s.

By 1940 the modern airport had come into being. Today's airports are basically similar, but over the years airport designers have had some interesting ideas when planning for the future of air travel. 

The mid-1930s were a difficult time for airlines. To survive in these challenging times, airlines needed bigger, better, and faster airplanes that could profitably fly passengers as well as mail. By the mid-1930s, the first modern, high-performance airliners were taking to the air. 

Flight attendants improve the flying experience for passengers by ensuring their safety and providing for their comfort. How did this role start? Who were some of the first flight attendants? Discover their stories.  

This is your captain, making history. Meet the first women to fly as captain for commercial airlines and discover their stories.  

Museum acting director Chris Browne was Airport Manager of DC's Reagan National Airport on September 11, 2001. He reflects on the tragedy, 20 years later.

Raise a glass and cheers to a new season of AirSpace! And to help us get in the celebratory mood, today's episode is about a truly intoxicating period of American history – prohibition. You might know [we didn’t] that NASCAR has its roots in bootleggers driving illicit hooch in the 1920s. But it turns out, not all bootleggers were driving their contraband around in cars. Today on AirSpace, learn how prohibition and passenger airlines went hand-in-hand.