Gettin’ Carried Away

Not only has the morning of September 11, 2001 changed the face of America forever, but the terrible tragedies that occurred on this day also have a huge impact on the way we travel.

PRE-9.11

I had only been on one flight in my entire life. At 15 years old, in October 2000, I booked a flight to California to visit my father. The only reason I purchased travel-sized toiletries was because they were easier to pack and left plenty of room for souvenirs. Not because of any size regulations. However, I never went anywhere without my Country Apple Body Splash from Bath & Body Works, which filled up a 12 0z. spray bottle.

I arrived at Midway Airport about an hour before my flight was scheduled to leave. Checking in was fairly easy and went by rather quickly. The TSA employee asked for my ID and matched it to the name on my plane ticket. I put my bag in the X-ray machine and walked through a metal detector…with my shoes and zip-up hoodie still on. I repeated the process on my way out of California, with a few more bottles of perfume in tow.

9.11

A total of 19 hijackers took over four commercial airplanes en route to San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA, from Boston, Newark and Washington D.C. At exactly 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center North Tower. A little more than 15 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. A half hour went by before American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. Finally, United Airlines Flight 93 went down in an open field near Shanksville, PA, at 10:03 a.m. The organizer of the 9/11 attacks later revealed that Flight 93’s target was the Capitol in Washington, D.C. All flights in and out of the United States were immediately grounded and the entire country was in a state of emergency (and panic).

POST-9.11

In the days following the September 11 attacks, all international civilian air traffic was banned from landing on United States soil for three days. At the time this was announced, several flights were already en route for America and were forced to turn back or land in airports situated in Canada or Mexico. Many Americans were…stuck. Even flight attendants and other crew members were forced to stay overseas for up to a month.

My fast pitch softball team had planned a trip to Orlando, FL, for a Disney Tournament taking place in November 2001. While my mother was very uneasy about me taking the trip, I really wanted to go. Not because it was my first trip to Disney World, but because I wanted to prove that the American economy and tourism industry could not be crippled by the evil actions of terrorists. I wasn’t afraid to travel and I didn’t want anyone on my team to be scared either.

The morning of our flight, we arrived three hours before the flight time and the airport was PACKED. New regulations slowed down the checking in process, as many people were unaware of the new rules pertaining to the contents of carry-on baggage and checked luggage, as well as what you could bring on a plane at all. Thorough searches found plenty of items that would no longer be allowed on flights such as nail files, scissors and other sharp objects.

Although TSA has a better handle on checking people in these days, there are still plenty of regulations that will never change as a result of 9/11. And even though it may take an extra couple of minutes to remove your laptop, shoes, hoodie, etc., it’s all in the name of safety. The same goes for the regulations ON THE PLANE. Just today, I read a friend’s Facebook update, which read:

just got off a flight where the flight attendant had to literally stand over a fellow passenger until they surrendered to turning off and stowing their laptop. Upon landing the attendant had to twice say “please do not unfashen seat belts until the captain has turned off the sign”. this made me think: Should Flight Attendants be able to issue tickets or fines for braking Federal Airline Regulations? thoughts…

It seems as though many people are always in a hurry and feed off a need for instant gratification. There is a reason all these rules have been made, and it’s not to torture passengers and keep them from getting to their destinations.While you’re busy guzzling down your free drink and fighting those around you for space in an overhead bin, remember the people who have suffered as a result of poor safety regulations. On this day, remember that everyone in the travel industry is working hard to ensure 9/11 never happens again. Don’t let 2,996 deaths be in vain. Remember 9/11 and know there are bigger problems in this world than not being allowed to pack your value-pack bottles of shampoo.