Remember meeting family at the airport gate? Here's why it ended.

• The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks fundamentally changed air travel, leading to the creation of the TSA and heightened security protocols.
• Many modern security measures, like removing large electronics and reinforced cockpit doors, were direct results of the 9/11 attacks.
• Other rules, such as removing shoes and the 3-1-1 liquids policy, were implemented in response to later, separate terrorist plots.

Modern air travel comes with a well-established preflight routine. 

A traveler typically checks in via the airline's app or at a station near the airport entrance, walks to security to present their ID, and drops their bag on the conveyor belt – removing certain items like laptops depending on the lane. Transportation Security Administration officers screen those while the passenger spreads their arms out mannequin-style inside a body scanner. 

Once they’re allowed past security, passengers can browse shops, grab a bite to eat or head straight to their gate, where they eventually scan their boarding pass to get on their flight – typically passing a reinforced cockpit door on their way in. 

Many of those steps flyers consider commonplace now weren't part of the travel experience 25 years ago. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, reshaped modern aviation's security infrastructure.

As the 25th anniversary approaches, here’s how much of the way Americans fly today can be traced back to that morning. 

What flying looked like on Sept. 10, 2001  

Flying before 9/11 "looked far different than it does today," says Scott Keyes, founder of Going. 

"Security was much more lax than it would soon become, with travelers able to breeze through and even non-passengers permitted to greet travelers at the gate when they deboarded," he told USA TODAY in an email. 

Chelsea Delman began flying alone from Rhode Island to Texas to visit her dad at 10 years old after her parents split up roughly three years before 9/11. 

"I flew down, and the security was very light," the now 38-year-old recalled. "You know, I think that they put your bag through an X-ray, and you didn't have to do liquids or anything like that." 

Cell phones and portable laptop computers weren’t so widespread, and "you didn't have to take anything out of your bag, pretty much." Shoes stayed on, too, and Delman remembered simply walking through a metal detector. 

"Unless you had anything that flagged, you pretty much just walked through security," said Delman, who works in real estate. "It was very easy." 

An airline employee escorted her through the checkpoint and to the gate as part of the airline's program for unaccompanied minors. Her father was able to meet her at the gate upon arrival. 

Safety protocols weren’t the only things that changed. Those who worked in aviation before 9/11 also recall how different the atmosphere was on flights.

Sara Nelson was five years into her career as a flight attendant when 9/11 happened. "We used to play games on the flight, we’d do trivia and give away a bottle of champagne. We used to cut roast in the aisle in first class,” said Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants–CWA.

After the attacks, the industry faced a downturn and focused on revenue.

"We work longer days, we have fewer tools to take care of people. We’re deescalating conflict more than ever before," she said, adding that flight crews are also now the "last line of defense in aviation safety."

Flight availability is also now "much more robust," said Keyes, with larger planes on the majority of routes and a significantly higher number of international departures. Prices have changed, too. 

"Cost-wise, flights were nominally 23% cheaper than today, but when you adjust for overall inflation, flights in September 2001 were actually 43% pricier," Keyes said. Airfares have generally become much more affordable in what he described as "a veritable golden age of cheap flights."

The immediate transformation after 9/11

The attacks quickly prompted major changes to aviation security, the biggest of which were the creation of the Transportation Security Administration later in 2001, which Keyes said "centralized nationwide airport security." The Department of Homeland Security came the following year. 

Delman flew to Texas in December of 2001, encountering a much longer line than usual and the National Guard stationed at the airport. She found their presence "intimidating," because she had never seen anything like it. 

"So I knew it was serious, but I felt safe because there were so many people guarding the airport," she said. 

Delman’s stepfather appealed to one of the troops, and they rushed her through security so she could make her flight on time. Her father was no longer permitted to meet her at the gate when she landed, however; an airline representative walked her to baggage claim instead. 

Most airlines now require unaccompanied minors to be escorted to their departure gates and met at the arrival gates by an adult guardian. 

Delman had just entered eighth grade when the attacks occurred, but they didn’t deter her from flying. "I remember I really wanted to see my dad still, and kind of, like, nothing was going to stop me," she said. 

Here were some other developments: 

• November 2001: President George W. Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The law required screening of all passengers by federal authorities, screening of all checked bags, expansion of the Federal Air Marshal Service and more, according to the TSA's website. Airlines also "became much stricter about names on your ticket exactly matching one's ID, something that used to be given wiggle room," Keyes said. 
• December 2002: The TSA deployed explosive detection systems across the country for screening luggage. 
• April 2003: All carriers met requirements "to reinforce (cockpit) doors on commercial aircraft in order to protect from intrusion, small-arms fire and fragmentation devices such as grenades," the TSA's website said. Keyes said those changes were aimed at making "it substantially more difficult for anyone to barge in."
• July 2017: New rules required passengers in standard lanes to place electronics larger than a cell phone in bins at security checkpoints. 
• January 2021: Los Angeles International Airport became the first in the United States to be fully outfitted with Credential Authentication Technology, which ensures that "ID authentication, reservation verification and Secure Flight prescreening status are known in 'near' real-time at the airport security checkpoint," according to the TSA.
• May 2025: The agency began enforcing REAL ID requirements after multiple delays. The new standards are aimed at making state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards more standardized and secure. 

The shoe rule didn't come from 9/11

Other threats and technology innovations also affected security procedures. 

Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001. The TSA began requiring passengers to remove their shoes at security checkpoints in 2006 because of "intelligence pointing to a continuing threat," according to its website. The agency lifted that rule in 2025. 

The agency also enacted its 3-1-1 liquids policy – limiting liquids, gels and aerosols to 3.4 ounces and under for each item – in 2006. The agency earlier that year had banned all liquids from carry-ons after a thwarted terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives on flights from the U.K. to the United States and Canada. 

Later, full-body scanners – officially called advanced imaging technology units – were formally installed at U.S. airports beginning in early 2010 shortly after a man tried to detonate an explosive device hidden in his underwear while flying from Amsterdam to Detroit in December 2009. By the end of 2010, the TSA had deployed about 500 machines designed to detect nonmetallic weapons and explosives, the TSA's website said.

How security has evolved for today's traveler  

In a 2025 report, the 9/11 Commission said the TSA continues to face challenges, including developing risk-based methods for passenger and identity verification. Advancements in technology and government programs like TSA PreCheck have shaped the airport experience today; the process is a "layered approach to security," according to the TSA website.

Security starts when you book your flight, before you’re even at the airport. The TSA’s Secure Flight program prescreens someone's security risk by vetting their names against the No-Fly List or Trusted Traveler lists. 

At the airport, passengers must first have their identity verified with a REAL ID, often using facial recognition technology. Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 after the 9/11 Commission recommended establishing standards for identification documents.

Then they go through advanced imaging technology, or a metal detector if they're in TSA PreCheck. Some travelers, such as those with disabilities, may undergo a physical pat-down. Every bag is also scanned through a CT-based system and chemical trace detection technology for threats, including checked baggage – that just happens behind the scenes.  

Travelers who want to streamline screening can enroll in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP), which includes Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. There’s also CLEAR+, a private identity verification service.

TSA is now piloting a program that brings back the pre-9/11 gate access for non-flyers at 13 U.S. airports, called Gateside by TSA PreCheck. Those with PreCheck or Known Traveler Numbers can apply one to three days before their loved ones' flight and pass through the PreCheck line to the gate.

What has worked, and what remains controversial  

It’s difficult to measure how effective the TSA truly is. Hundreds of millions of passengers pass through airport security checkpoints each year.

In 2024, the TSA screened more than 904 million passengers, with over 6,600 firearms intercepted. Over the past decade, covert tests have revealed vulnerabilities at security checkpoints; one such test in 2015 showed a nearly 96% failure rate at screening fake explosives. Years later, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the TSA collect more data and create baseline goals to track its performance. 

Advancements in security screenings have also brought challenges, including potential discrimination against certain passengers. In 2022, GAO released a report that advanced imaging technology could result in some people being flagged for additional screenings, like those who are transgender or wear religious headwear.  

Facial recognition technology was first piloted in 2018 and meant to streamline screening and increase security, which is now found at airports across the nation. According to the American Civil Liberties Union in 2020, this technology can result in bias and inaccuracies. 

There’s also controversy over a push to expand privatized airport security screenings. Under the program announced earlier this year, called TSA Gold+, airports can partner with third-party contractors for security screening services. Opponents such as the American Federation of Government Employees – which represents TSA officers at more than 400 U.S. airports – cite potential dangers to public safety and the job security of TSA officers.  

9/11 changed how Americans think about flying  

Safety became top of mind after 9/11.

Captain Jason Ambrosi, a Delta Air Lines pilot with more than 20 years' experience and president of the Air Line Pilots Association, International, flew the first day U.S. airspace reopened on Sept. 14, 2001, and remembers how empty his planes were. 

"That's when it really started to sink in that people were scared," he said.

A year after 9/11, the Pew Research Center found 55% of Americans who traveled less as a result of the attacks did so because of safety concerns, and just 16% traveled less because of increased security measures. Pilots, flight attendants and other aviation employees faced pay cuts and furloughs from the drop in passengers.

Ambrosi was furloughed in 2003 when the war in Iraq exacerbated the industry’s struggles, then returned to flying for Delta a few years later.  

"Everything was looking great before 9/11, and I was a young guy working at Delta. It was spectacular, right?" Ambrosi said. "Then all of a sudden that happened, and now we've got all the security associated with it. You know, obviously the game has changed."

Today, safety remains the priority of air travel, but today’s screening process is normalized among travelers who expect to arrive early, expect lines, and know what’s not allowed in their carry-ons.  

Delman noted she now has the "Holy Trinity" of CLEAR, TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. "I try to make it as pre-9/11 travel as I can," she said. 

Though security screening has become "second nature" to her, it’s still not the same as it used to be.

"It was definitely easier back in the day."

What does the next 25 years look like? 

Ambrosi doesn’t believe the airline industry will ever slow down − the world is more connected now than ever before. 

For his part, Keyes said, he anticipates major improvements in scanner technology that may let travelers once again bring larger liquids in their carry-ons, as well as the "universal proliferation of facial scanning and other biometric security measures that will make lines at security and immigration zoom by."

At the same time, to keep the skies safe, those in the aviation industry are pushing for more investment in staffing, especially to address a shortage of air traffic controllers.

"There is so much human handling that goes on in security that it's so necessary," Nelson said. "A lot of things are up in the air for the future of air travel."

This story was updated to add new information.