20 years on: How 9/11 changed air travel forever
NEW DELHI: “Normal security procedure.” This is how erstwhile Continental Airlines had responded to the outrage over frisking of former President APJ Abdul Kalam before boarding a US-bound flight from India in April 2009. This “new” normal, in place following the September 11 attacks in New York exactly 20 years ago, has forever changed travel experience for both commoners and dignitaries alike in terms of security checks.
Being asked whether you have packed check-in bags yourself and if someone had access to them afterwards, to taking off belts off and removing anything remotely suspicious from cabin bags, are only the visible tip-of-iceberg changes that passengers experience.
