Reflections on PHL-FRA 21 Sept. on US
Oct 1, 2001, 8:54 am
#1
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Wilmington, DE; US Gold, AA Gold HH Gold
Posts: 47
Reflections on PHL-FRA 21 Sept. on US
This was a long scheduled business trip to Sweden, Germany and the UK. After the tragic events of September 11, I had a lot of anxiety regarding this trip. My wife absolutely didn;t want me to go. Many sleepless nights have been spent trying to make sense of this and just try and grasp the enormity of the horrific events.
Once I began packing a few hours before the trip, I began to feel more at ease – the pre trip routine was comforting. Based on an earlier FT posting, I was not anticipating any big delays at PHL. The first thing I noticed was no traffic at PHL itself. My wife drove right up to Terminal B. No cars at 6pm on a Friday night? Wow.
US transatlantic economy had a long line, but I went right to the Envoy line. Only 2 people in front of me and I was able to get an upgrade! I was on my way to security within 5 minutes. Four or five people were on line in front of me at security. Boarding passes were checked, but not compared to photo IDs. It seemed that there was more scrutiny of bags going through X-Ray and a few people were being scanned with the wands. I passed through and made my way to the Envoy Lounge.
I was immediately struck by the lack of people at the airport and the lack of planes at the gates. It was surreal to be in such familiar surroundings but with very few people in the terminal. Over in Terminal A I noticed that Salad Works had closed. I wonder how many more of the retail establishments will close? The lounge was about half full and very quiet. The only noise was CNN Headline News talking about the huge hit the airlines were taking.
Our flight had a gate change (I noticed MUC also had a gate change when I arrived) and we had to take a bus out to the plane. I settled in to 3F. The flight was scheduled to depart at 8:00pm. At 8:10 we were told that we were waiting for some connecting passengers from LAX. At 8:30 a customs officer came on board and checked the passports of all of us in the forward section of the plane, close to the cockpit. At 9:00 the customs officer is back with another officer and they go into the cockpit. At 9:15 we taxi to the north end of runway 2S and sit for 10 minutes or so. The captain comes on again and says we have clearance to go on the active runway. During our wait there was only one other plane. It’s so deserted it’s eerie. We take off and shortly make the turn N. Soon the captain says NY is on the left side – I’m incredibly sad and again find myself unable to comprehend the magnitude of it all.
Inflight service starts. Despite C being half full, the service takes a looong time. It was the normal food and wine. We all know it, so I won’t bother reciting it – it seem so trivial right now.
I’m writing this by hand on the plane and will post it when I return home (no laptop on this trip). It’s 1:15am and I can’t sleep. The dichotomy of being on a familiar flight and having our world fundamentally changed has spurred me to write this. Taking this trip was one important step forward for me. Writing this was another. Thank you for allowing me to share.
Post trip PS – The trip went well; although the London portion was cancelled. The people in Europe are horrified and were incredibly empathetic. Security at FRA last Friday on the way home was very tight. It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to get through 2 levels of security. This is the type of security we need here in the US.
Once I began packing a few hours before the trip, I began to feel more at ease – the pre trip routine was comforting. Based on an earlier FT posting, I was not anticipating any big delays at PHL. The first thing I noticed was no traffic at PHL itself. My wife drove right up to Terminal B. No cars at 6pm on a Friday night? Wow.
US transatlantic economy had a long line, but I went right to the Envoy line. Only 2 people in front of me and I was able to get an upgrade! I was on my way to security within 5 minutes. Four or five people were on line in front of me at security. Boarding passes were checked, but not compared to photo IDs. It seemed that there was more scrutiny of bags going through X-Ray and a few people were being scanned with the wands. I passed through and made my way to the Envoy Lounge.
I was immediately struck by the lack of people at the airport and the lack of planes at the gates. It was surreal to be in such familiar surroundings but with very few people in the terminal. Over in Terminal A I noticed that Salad Works had closed. I wonder how many more of the retail establishments will close? The lounge was about half full and very quiet. The only noise was CNN Headline News talking about the huge hit the airlines were taking.
Our flight had a gate change (I noticed MUC also had a gate change when I arrived) and we had to take a bus out to the plane. I settled in to 3F. The flight was scheduled to depart at 8:00pm. At 8:10 we were told that we were waiting for some connecting passengers from LAX. At 8:30 a customs officer came on board and checked the passports of all of us in the forward section of the plane, close to the cockpit. At 9:00 the customs officer is back with another officer and they go into the cockpit. At 9:15 we taxi to the north end of runway 2S and sit for 10 minutes or so. The captain comes on again and says we have clearance to go on the active runway. During our wait there was only one other plane. It’s so deserted it’s eerie. We take off and shortly make the turn N. Soon the captain says NY is on the left side – I’m incredibly sad and again find myself unable to comprehend the magnitude of it all.
Inflight service starts. Despite C being half full, the service takes a looong time. It was the normal food and wine. We all know it, so I won’t bother reciting it – it seem so trivial right now.
I’m writing this by hand on the plane and will post it when I return home (no laptop on this trip). It’s 1:15am and I can’t sleep. The dichotomy of being on a familiar flight and having our world fundamentally changed has spurred me to write this. Taking this trip was one important step forward for me. Writing this was another. Thank you for allowing me to share.
Post trip PS – The trip went well; although the London portion was cancelled. The people in Europe are horrified and were incredibly empathetic. Security at FRA last Friday on the way home was very tight. It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to get through 2 levels of security. This is the type of security we need here in the US.
Oct 1, 2001, 9:35 am
#2
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Join Date: Jun 1999
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Thank you. I too share your sleeplessness. I imagine many of us do.
Oct 2, 2001, 11:40 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 452
Yes, thanks for your reflections and sharing. I found it very difficult to get on my first flight 8 days after the attacks, but as soon as we lifted off it felt great to be back. I think the anticipation was tough for many people. I also felt very angry for the first time since September 11, that I or anyone else should be denied the pleasure of traveling. Traveling is very important to me and this really hit me where it hurts! Most of the time I still feel sad about the events but that day I was pissed off at the terrorists!
[This message has been edited by vindesante (edited 10-02-2001).]
[This message has been edited by vindesante (edited 10-02-2001).]