Not long after several planes were hijacked and used to wreak devastation on downtown New York and Washington, DC, a quarter of a century ago, air travel for millions of people all over the world changed beyond recognition – forever. Two of the planes, hijacked by men linked to al-Qaeda, were flown into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre at the south end of Manhattan Island in New York City, causing the buildings to collapse and killing nearly 3,000 people. A third hit the Pentagon, the building in Washington that houses the United States Department of Defense, while a fourth, believed to be headed towards the White House, crashed into an empty field in Pennsylvania after passengers on board wrested control of the aircraft from the hijackers.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack in US history, and all the planes had been boarded and seized with relative ease by the hijackers. Here’s a look at how life for air passengers has changed since then. Across the US, all air traffic was immediately grounded.
Canada closed its airspace but exempted military, police and humanitarian flights, according to a government document. In other countries, airports were closed and flights to the US were cancelled, causing many people to be stranded for days. Canada reopened its airspace in stages, with domestic flights allowed to resume on September 12, followed by international flights a day later, and final restrictions removed the day after.
On September 13, the US also reopened its airspace. Before September 2001, travellers could turn up for a domestic flight in the US and walk straight to their gate without showing identification, while their friends and family were permitted to accompany them to the gate to say goodbye at most US airports. In some instances, travellers were able to transfer from US domestic flights to international flights without going through any further security checks, either.
That all changed immediately after September 11, and, in November 2001, then-US President George Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) into law, requiring all passengers and their baggage to undergo checks by federal officials. The act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The Federal Air Marshal Service was expanded, with more armed air marshals placed on flights.
Cockpit doors, which had often been unlocked during flights before, were required by law to be reinforced, fitted with bulletproof materials, and remain locked from the inside to keep potential attackers out. Other countries swiftly adopted the new standard for reinforced cockpits, with British airline carrier Virgin Airways becoming one of the first to announce the measure in October 2001. Now, reinforced cockpit doors are standard on commercial airlines, although not all are bulletproof.
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