| Flying out of turbulence
Before Sept. 11, 2001, the airline industry was fat from a half-decade of substantial profits, business travelers were paying top dollar for seats, and airline unions enjoyed generous contracts. Online price-comparison shopping hadn't yet taken hold, and discount carriers such as Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways were still considered more of a nuisance than a threat. The terrorist attacks didn't change all that; the industry was running into turbulence even before the hijackings. But the attacks marked a symbolic shift in the fortunes of the airline industry, which still is struggling to emerge from a remarkable series of woes over the past five years. Five years after 9-11, the major airlines are leaner, with 160,000 fewer employees. They've cut back on domestic service, slashed in-flight perks and implemented fees on a host of services such as meals and curbside baggage check-in.
Airplane passengers adjust
ONTARIO - When Aaron Zapata left this summer on a flight out of Ontario International Airport for boot camp in Texas after enlisting in the Air Force Reserve, his parents wanted to go to the gate with him, hug him goodbye and see his plane leave the runway.
Photo Gallery: OIA Security
Photo Gallery: 911 Tribute
That was possible before Sept. 11, 2001. Before air travel changed drastically. Before only ticketed passengers could be at the gates. Before the snaking lines through metal detectors. Before removing your shoes to get to your flight. Before shampoo was not allowed in carry-on bags. The Zapata family had to drop the 23-year-old .
The Research Trip That Wasn't
I'm not writing this at a desk in the British Library, having not taken the 73 bus from Stoke Newington to the Euston Road stop this morning. I won't be having lunch with any of my Victorianist buddies who also work at the British Library in the summer months. And the manuscript of Kipling's Kim that I had requested be made available to me is languishing unretrieved behind the desk of the Manuscripts Room. The week I had picked to schedule a research trip to London turned out to be just after British police announced they had foiled a new terrorist attack aimed at bringing down airplanes traveling to the United States. The lines at the airports, the fear that I wouldn't be able to take my brand new laptop -- purchased specifically for this research trip -- in my carry-on bag, and the knowledge that my seat was on one of the airlines supposedly targeted for the thwarted bombings led me to cancel a trip I had been looking forward to all summer.
The mental conquest of Kilimanjaro
Our departure is just days away. We've packed and repacked our bags a dozen times. We have read guidebooks, surfed the Internet, shopped, trained, inoculated ourselves against diseases and insured ourselves against losses. One of us - OK, it's me - has even started looking at places on the walls to hang our pictures from the trip. My husband, three good friends and I are traveling to Tanzania for a Kilimanjaro climb and safari, and we all are well into one of the great joys of the trip - anticipation. Not everyone shares this enthusiasm for planning an adventure. In fact, my older brother has no interest in either the planning or the adventure. His idea of a great vacation can be described in two words: Four Seasons. The only climbing he's willing to do is onto the massage table.
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