Boston and Bermuda

Recorded: May 28, 2026, 4:01 p.m.

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Boston and Bermuda

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Boston and Bermuda

May 23,2026

Of the other kids in school, my classmates and friends at Abraham Lincoln elementary in Revere, most had never been on an airplane. This was the late 70s, when the cost of tickets put air travel out of reach for much of middle class America.
Of the kids who had been on planes, myself among them, a surprisingly large number of us had vacationed on Bermuda — that hook-shaped island in the Atlantic, about two hours flying time from Boston.
People assume Bermuda is a lot further south than it actually is. It sits roughly on the same latitude as Atlanta, and only 650 miles off the coast of the Carolinas. The island’s proximity, together with its mild weather, pink sand beaches and picturesque stucco cottages, drew tens of thousands of New Englanders every year.
The Caribbean was a much further away and a lot more expensive. Hawaii was out of the question. Florida was the obvious go-to, but Bermuda had an exotic-ness to it that Orlando or Tampa didn’t. It was a little bit of Europe — in an unintimidating, fussily British sort of way — without the long flight and pricey airfare.
All the local travel agencies hyped Bermuda, and the Sunday paper was full of easy and affordable package deals.
We signed on for one of those packages in the early spring of 1979, when I was in seventh grade. My parents, my sister, my grandmother and one of my uncles all made the trip. None of us had ever been outside the United States.
American Airlines flew a daily DC-10 on the route from Boston. Not to be outdone, Delta flew a similarly sized L-1011.
Our flight was on American. At the time, the airline’s DC-10s had a cockpit camera that allowed you to watch the pilots during takeoff and landing. Projected onto the bulkhead screens, the black-and-white visuals were blurry and unsteady, but for a 13 year-old airplane nerd like me, it was thrilling to watch. I remember the captain, who for sure is long dead by now, turning his head to the side and saying to us all, “Here’s a handsome profile shot for ya.”
I’m not sure what, in retrospect, is more remarkable, the cockpit camera (unthinkable today) or the fact that two different airlines were operating 260-seat widebodies on a two-hour hop.
It’s not like that anymore.
Over time, Bermuda lost its crown as New Englanders’ premier sun spot. Those DC-10s and L-1011s gave way to narrowbody planes. Northwest Airlines ran a 727 for a while. Delta used a 767-200, then downsized to an Airbus A319. Delta suspended the route during the COVID pandemic, and never brought it back.
The cruise ships still make their runs, usually in the spring and fall, and they remain popular. But if you’re going by air, today your options are JetBlue or a tiny upstart called BermudAir, both using small jets.
What happened is simple enough: the cost of flying fell and the choice of destinations grew. The vacation market fragmented. It became significantly cheaper to fly, with more carriers going to more and more places.
Below, on the apron in Bermuda, is our DC-10 as it prepared for departure back in ’79. In the photo up top you can see my mother (in pink), my sister (yellow), and my grandmother (gray), climbing the airstairs for the flight home.

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
Related Stories:
THE TRIBULATIONS OF THE DC-10
DOWN AND OUT AT THE EL SAN JUAN

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3 Responses to “Boston and Bermuda”
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BigDumbDinosaur says:

May 25, 2026 at 3:08 am
Been to Bermuda, but got there via a US Navy destroyer back in the 1960s. It was an interesting place, with some fascinating history in the form of the shipwrecked Sea ’Venture, which was supposed to be sailing to the Jamestown colony with much-needed supplies. Sea ’Venture ran into a bad storm, got majorly blown off course and literally ended up on the rocks. Her captain, Sir George Somers, made the best of the situation, established a settlement…and that’s how the British came to be there.
Traveling on a DC-10 in 1979 is something I would not have done. The DC-10 became the plane to be avoided following the 1974 Ermenonville Forest tragedy, which event had been presaged by a cargo door blowout on an American DC-10 over Windsor ON in 1972. Everyone I knew back then who routinely strapped on a big chunk of aluminum to get to work refused to ride on that contraption—that included yours truly.
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wilson says:

May 23, 2026 at 9:37 pm
Pilots tend to look down on Saint Pierre and Miquelon when conditions are just right.
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Thomas Flynn says:

May 23, 2026 at 9:17 pm
Patrick, funnily enough my parents took us five kids to Bermuda in 1972. It was the first time my parents took us on a family trip by airplane. Like you, I was in 1972 one of the few kids in the 3rd grade to have ever been on an airplane. Nobody knew where Bermuda was…even me, until my mother took me to the travel agency when she went to book the trip. We flew from Boston to New York-JFK on National Airlines (B727) and then connected to a Pan American (B707) to Bermuda; on the return to Boston we took a non-stop flight on Pan American (B707). That trip hooked me on airplanes and eventually an almost 40-year career in the travel and tourism industry. I guess we behaved well enough on that first trip for our parents to then take us on many more trips after that…great memories that I continue to cherish and will for the rest of my life. Thank you for the trip down Memory Lane.
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The text details the experience of traveling by air from Boston to Bermuda, focusing on the context of travel during the late 1970s and the subsequent evolution of the route. At that time, air travel was costly, yet Bermuda was an appealing destination for many New Englanders, offering a combination of mild weather, picturesque scenery, and an atmosphere described as a somewhat British, yet unintimidating, European feel, all without the expense of long-haul flights to the Caribbean or Hawaii. Local travel agencies promoted Bermuda through affordable package deals.

The author recounts participating in one of these packages in the early spring of 1979, when they traveled with family and friends. The flight utilized American Airlines, flying a DC-10 from Boston, and the author highlights the unique experience of observing the flight, specifically noting the availability of a cockpit camera that provided views of the pilots during takeoff and landing. The author reflects on the novelty of seeing two different airlines operating widebody aircraft on a short two-hour hop, setting a benchmark for aviation technology at the time.

As time progressed, the context of air travel and the route itself changed significantly. The dominance of the DC-10 and L-1011 aircraft eventually gave way to narrower-body planes, including the Northwest Airlines 727, the Delta 767-200, and subsequently the Airbus A319. This transition, coupled with the suspension of the route by Delta during the COVID pandemic, illustrates a broader trend in the travel market.

The fragmentation of the vacation market, driven by falling flight costs and increased carrier options, led to Bermuda losing its status as the premier New England sun destination. Currently, air travel options are more limited, featuring carriers like JetBlue or BermudAir, both employing smaller jets. This shift demonstrates how the dynamics of the travel market and technological advancements influence established routes and regional appeal.