I only few a couple of times before 9/11.

What are some things that are different at airports and on planes that you could do pre-9/11 that you can't do now?

You used to be able to stop your car and park right in front of the ariport and go in and get the person you're waiting for....of course you can't do that now...

Anybody?

I visited the cockpit of a BA 757 and chatted with the pilots - in the air, halfway between London and Moscow.

Obviously there are lot of mundane things that you can't do now - for example, you typically can't go to the gate to greet an incoming passenger (although I think the airline can grant you a security pass if you are meeting a child, elderly person, etc.).

It's a little different here in the UK, as things like Lockerbie and the NI 'troubles' forced us to tighten security a little earlier.

Since 9/11, there have been some changes.

The mixing of incoming and outgoing passengers is more tightly controlled (including some ridiculous layouts that mean alternating flows of departing and arriving passengers controlled by security guards with tensabarriers). You have to have all jackets X-rayed on departure. There is also increased screening of incoming passengers.

The few situations where you could use metal cutlery on board were replaced with plastic cutlery (although the glasses weren't, which makes it all seem a bit futile).

Many waste bins have been removed from airport terminals (not helping the litter situation).

Where domestic/ROI and international passengers depart from the same terminal, the domestic passengers have a digital photo taken at the entrance to security, which is associated with their BP (hence no photo ID required for domestic/ROI, even if some airlines do insist on it).

More recently, they've started scanning and recording UK and EU/EEA passports, as opposed to the cursory check (which often didn't even involve opening the passport) in place as recently as a year ago. The queues can be quite nasty as a result (although nothing on the other ones...)

There also appear to be no more no-security flights. There weren't any in the UK (not since Lockerbie), but there were certainly some places in Europe where domestic or prop flights didn't entail any x-ray or metal detector.

Inter-airport transfers were no longer allowed. For example, it used to be the case that you could through-check luggage on LGW-LHR transfers, but this has stopped.

Lounge and gate check-in has all but disappeared here, too. Mind you, that's as much to do with the growth of e-tickets than anything else. But it used to be dead easy to get airside at LHR with an open ticket - I used to keep one of these to help my Gran to the gate.

Thankfully, we didn't continue the 'no carry-on' rule that was enforced for the week or so following 9/11.

I'm sure there's others, and I'm sure the US was far worse affected.

Security screening was a breeze, you could run through the airport to catch a flight without having the fear of being arrested cross your mind, there was more to eat on flights.

Isn't this in part for the Schengen treaty? I saw Arlanda airport being rebuilt like this, and the explanation I got was it was all due to Schengen.

I used to routinely visit the cockpit on VS flights between JFK and LHR. A friend was able to sit in the cockpit for landing on VS a couple of times, too. All pre 9/11 of course.

I'm not sure it is. First off, the UK isn't a signatory to Schengen. There are certainly plenty major airports in the Schengen zone (AMS, FRA, MUC, BCN, VIE, to name but a few) with no such restriction.

There have been some big changes to Schengen airports to separate the Schengen and non-Schengen zones, however. This may involve building new piers or terminals (or expanding domestic ones), building new floors on old departure areas (sharing the gates), or having passport control at the gate, manned according to the origin/destination of the flight. Transfer between the two zones requires passport control.

Actually, I visited the cockpit on a certain AF flight from JFK to CDG post September 11th. All there appeared to be seperating the cockpit from the cabin was a curtain.

BTW, on this aircraft the flight only took 3 hours...

Getting to my small airport 10 min before the flight, checkin luggage, pass through security, board the plane and leave on time (having misread my schedule... ).

Now, you must board and doors closed 10 min before the flight (it seems!). I would say that little has changed except there is no more room for mistakes.

I seem to recall that security for the whole airport got tighter in the US during the first Gulf war. That's when they clamped down on cars parked in the passenger pick-up lanes, asking about bags at check-in, and ID checks to obtain boarding passes. That also coincided with the first electronic tickets, too, come to think of it.

After 9/11, almost all of the security changes were passenger-possessions only. No profiling changes (they still use CAPPS, which predates 9/11 greatly). Only bag screening seems to have changed.

I got to Washington National 15 minutes before a flight once- and made it onto the flight. That was around 1998.

In the 1960s, I remember standing out on the tarmac at CAK and watching from behind a chicken-wire fence as my father boarded the plane.

Finally, I remember observation decks where you could actually go out and watch flights taking off and landing. Now, many favorite planespotting areas are patrolled and people are chased away.

Before 9/11, I could meet my spouse or children at the jetway.
Before 9/11, I was privilged to sit behind the Captain on MH, OA, AF, AZ, CX, and other airlines, whlle descending. What a thrill!
Best of all, was meeting loved-ones at the gate. That is what I miss the most.