What were airports like pre 9 11?

[Ninapertree]

I'm in the airport getting a flight and its taking ages. Ages through the security queue. Then i got patted down. Ages through the boarding queue.

My mum said "do you remember the old days before 9 11, when airports were much easier to get through".

I cant remember. I was 16 when 9 11 happened and I think i only flew a few times before 9 11. I asked my mum and she cant remember specificially but she remembers it being easier and quicker to get through.

What were they like back then. I'm interested. Was security different?

I think the biggest change was when they introduced the 100ml liquid rule so around 2007

i feel security ramped up massively then

Could take liquids and less people were stopped to be searched/patted down. I did travel to America before 9/11 and remembered being scared by security, so thats exsisted there a very long time.

No issue on fluids, or soles of shoes.
Used to take DH transmitter for RC planes through, wouldn't do that now if could be avoided.

I remember being invited to go into the cockpit and talk to the pilots a few times as a child. That’s definitely not a thing any more!

I wonder why liquids was the big thing that they focused on.

I was just thinking, today i had a razor in my carry on hand luggage that i forgot to take out.

I went through security no problem. Surely thats a dangerous item.

Aw. More innocent times.

Lax
Still not quick
but much more relaxed

You still had the x ray machines.

I dont think it was that different really. Just more people now. P

You used to be able to just drive straight up to the plane and get onboard. Didn’t even need a passport. And no one was ever allergic to peanuts.

Because a terrorist made a bomb to blow up a plane by mixing liquids.

The liquid thing was because someone tried to take some sort of bomb that was in liquid I think? But that was after 9/11.

I remember being in America just before 9/11 and we could go all the way to the gates at the airport (LA) to wave people off, even when not flying ourselves

😂😂😂 Yes the peanuts!!!!!
And you could smoke at the back of the plane

I flew back from US just before 9/11 and someone in my group had lost their passport. They were allowed to fly without it and UK immigration (were warned she was coming) did a phone call to someone she knew to verify her identity. Thought they were lucky it worked then, no way it would happen now.

We went to Florida as a family in the mid 90s. I don’t remember any of the security checks so they must have been pretty minimal past the baggage scan.

My brother and I also didn’t have our own passports. We were just named on our parents’ ones, no pictures of us or anything and that was fine, we were both teens so not like we were tiny babies or anything.

You could just put your bag in the tray (was there even trays?), no need to take off belt and shoes, I can't remember about coats and hoodies - did hoodies exist back then?
I still remember being stopped quite often and having someone open my walkman once and check my cassette (A-Ha).
And everyone carrying those huge boxes of cigarettes.... the good old days!

I watched a documentary about it, the way they did it was quite clever. They got small bottles of mineral water then, to make it look like the seal was intact, put small holes in the base of the bottom of the bottle to drip the water out.

Then they used the same holes to drip explosive into the bottle, gently heated the holes to seal them at voila, an ‘unopened water bottle’ which was actually filled with an explosive chemical.

My biggest pre 9/11 memory was that you could smile in your passport photo!! The passport I renewed early 2001 has me smiling and is actually a nice photo.

I remember going on a school exchange to Germany in ~1991. A friend followed a group of people onto a plane bound for the Middle East and only realised the issue when she was on the plane, wasn’t sure where to sit, and couldn’t see her classmates. A teenager wasn’t considered a threat and she was carrying her passport in her hand, but no one asked for her ticket!

When I went to Spain in 1990. My mum had a cardboard temporary passport and me and my sister were on it as well. Straight on the plane which you could smoke on. Nightmare!

By ferry, not plane, but school trip in 1998...
We had a group passport for 150 of us. We all had individual cards, but they didnt check them.

Very similar from memory - except for the 100ml rule. I think Lockerbie was the event that really led to tightened up security - bags all being xrayed, bags coming off the plane if you didn’t arrive at the gate, etc etc.

Could walk on through with your drinks and have your normal sized liquids/lotions in handhold.

In the US, you could take blades up to 4" long pre 9/11. I didn't realise that until after 9/11 happened 🫤

Blades are allowed up to a certain size. I forget how big but in theory a small penknife is ok - the mini key ring ones. Knitting needles too strangely

Interesting to hear!