Air Canada planes once had a dance floor for flights heading from Toronto to Europe [Video]

These days, flying often means earbuds in, tray table down and hours spent in near silence. You might sit beside someone for an entire flight without exchanging more than a polite nod as each passenger tucks into their own digital bubble of streaming, scrolling or sleeping.

But there was a time — not too long ago — when flying felt more like an experience than a commute. Strangers struck up conversations, clinked glasses over cocktails, and on some flights, even danced together in the sky.

In the early 1970s, Air Canada installed a dance floor on the upper deck of its Boeing 747. For a brief moment in aviation history, passengers didn’t just fly across the Atlantic — they grooved their way through it at 30,000 feet.

Air Canada’s version featured a mirrored wall and an open space where music played from 8-track tapes. This disco party was available on …