Airline timetables

Airline timetables are a device that many airlines world wide use to inform passengers of several different things, such as schedules, fleet, security, in-flight entertainment, food menu, restriction and phone contact information.

Airline timetables used to be mainly produced as small, paperback books that would be handled to passengers inside airplanes, at ticket agencies and airport counters, or upon request by phone or mail. On January 16, 1928, Pan Am published one of their first timetables. It read The air-way to Havana, Pan American Airways, Pershing Square building, New York.

Airline timetable books are famous for their diversity: Many had colorful covers, such as the ones produced by many Latin American airlines. Others, such as Scenic Airlines' timetables, consisted only of one paper, with their hub's flight time information on the front, and the return times on the back.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, most airlines worldwide have stopped production of timetable books, because it is widely suspected that the hijackers that day had used timetable books, among many other devices, to coordinate their attacks. As a consequence, most airlines now post their timetables only online, and the value of many airline timetable books has risen among collectors.