Skift Take
Twenty years after that fated day, enhanced security measures are now just part of the routine of travel — and the cost of doing business across the globe.
In a matter of three hours on a beautiful, crisp September morning two decades ago, the future of the travel industry changed forever.
As the world prepares to remember and honor the victims on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday, the aviation business, in particular, still feels the impact deeply from that day when air traffic was eerily grounded. Even hotels still live with specter of being soft targets.
Gone are the days of strolling through an airport without the need for a boarding pass. However, an airport pilot program testing the efficacy of allowing non-ticketed passengers past security has come into play in the past few years.
Instead, passengers and airline personnel alike face increasing enhanced security measures in airports and on aircraft — not to mention additional taxes on tickets and travel to pay for all the additional security.
Getting to and from destinations is an endurance play, like it never was before. The hassles and delays are just part of the adventure of travel nowadays. And the Transportation Security Administration, created by President George Bush in the weeks right after the 9/11 attacks, now strikes dread in travelers when they hear its acronym, TSA. It equals long lines, and shoes and belts off.
Still, it seems like a small price to pay for peace of mind and the sense of security taken away when a group of Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked two American Airlines and two United planes, turning them into weapons, killing everyone on board and thousands on the ground.
"There have been a whole host of new security enhancements and initiatives that have
