Arnie Weissmann
As the first anniversary of 9/11 approached, I wrote a column that began with a reference to the tarot card known as The Tower. It's the most terrifying image in the deck, with a picture of a tall structure on fire and people falling from it.
As a fortune-telling card, its appearance would seem to indicate imminent disaster. But those who believe in tarot as a predictive tool see the card only as an indication of significant change; the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.
In that regard, it's an apropos symbol for 9/11, both illustratively and in meaning. When the twin towers fell, a new cycle began that divided time into "before" and "after."
The preceding decade had been increasingly calm as regards to politically related threats to tourism. Violence became less of a concern after the Palestine Liberation Organization renounced terrorism in 1988 and Libya ceased its terrorism operations in 1989. A mass shooting of tourists occurred in Luxor in 1997, but that was motivated by a desire to destabilize Egypt rather than any grievances with the Western world. Horrible as it was, it seemed a distant threat.
In retrospect, pre-9/11 feels like an innocent time. Going to the airport could be a family affair: Spouses and children were allowed through security without showing an ID, and seeing a flyer off at the gate was certainly possible. If traveling solo, getting to the airport 30 minutes ahead of time was usually sufficient.
But innocence seems always to diminish over time, and on 9/11, it took a huge hit. The effect was immediate. Airports became fortresses, and flying became an eerie experience. I flew on the first day that planes were back in the air, and everyone aboard was on edge and eyeing other passengers with suspicion. Flight attendants were jumpy and stern.
A few weeks later, a woman sitting in front of me on a flight had a panic attack as we began to take off and started screaming uncontrollably. It was the shortest flight I've ever been on: LaGuardia to Newark, where the passenger was let off.
The day after 9/11 saw significant change for me on a personal level, as well. I accepted the offer to be editor in chief of Travel Weekly. That meant I'd be moving to New York, which many residents had suddenly planned to abandon. I remember thinking at the time that if I didn't accept the job because New York had been a target of terrorism, that would be a win for the terrorists.
My first day on the job was Oct. 15, and the industry was in a tailspin. What may become lost over time is that 9/11 was the first in a series of challenges that the travel industry faced in the early years of the 21st century. Twelve months after the terror attacks, just as surviving travel companies were stabilizing their businesses, the U.S. was preparing to go to war in Iraq.
It was in that atmosphere that I gathered a group of industry leaders to participate in a roundtable on the first anniversary of 9/11. The possible havoc that a Gulf War might wreak on the still-fragile industry was on everyone's mind. Then-Vail CEO Adam Aron called the possibility of war "cataclysmic for the U.S. travel industry." It would, said Hal Rosenbluth, then-president of mega-agency Rosenbluth International, "create the fear of travel" that would be "global in nature."
But industry resilience was also discussed. Travel companies were finding ways to cope. Phil Kleweno, then-president of Princess Cruises, said that ships remained full in every quarter after 9/11 and that earnings were up year over year, although he admitted that that had required "promotional prices that were unprecedented," with yields down 5% to 8%. In the end, he said, "We found the intersection of greed and fear."
Rosenbluth, noting that the industry not only survived the immediate post-9/11 period but that some companies were thriving, also made a memorable observation: "We do the ugly well."
Perhaps the greatest lesson that the industry learned was that it could find itself facing an unprecedented existential crisis and survive. In fact, the industry would shortly have another opportunity to see just how well they could "do the ugly" after the SARS crisis emerged in 2003 and travel to Asia all but came to a halt.
Rosenbluth also talked about a coming "new norm, the definition of which has not been written yet." Looking back 25 years, one can see that it continues to be written: 4,981 articles have been published on Travel Weekly.com that reference 9/11 or Sept. 11, the most recent being earlier this week. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the experiences inspired confidence in industry leaders that the business could survive events like the recession and the pandemic.
Changes in the air
The one sector that was, and continues to be, most shaped by 9/11 is aviation. It impacted everything from airport screening to cockpit doors, but the new norm was structural, as well. Airlines had been facing economic challenges throughout 2001 leading up to 9/11, and in the aftermath, US Airways declared bankruptcy and United was threatening to do so. Carriers, typically wanting to hold the government at arm's length, were demanding subsidies. In the end, 9/11 became a catalyst for accelerating operational changes and sector consolidation.
It's impossible to know whether advances in technology would have inevitably led to the launch of PreCheck, Global Entry and Clear, all of which mitigate some of the most troublesome airport inconveniences. Advances in technology have also streamlined the boarding process, and emerging technologies promise to continue ironing out more wrinkles.
Perhaps some of the most lasting changes involve the psychology of travelers, including ones who hadn't yet been born.
Sept. 11 changed the way that people think about the world, our lives, our families. Afterwards, we embraced our loved ones all the tighter. And because planes were grounded for five days, there were many stories in the media about how stranded travelers were finding it difficult to find a flight home.
The end result was a) an increase in family travel, leading to the multigenerational travel trend and b) a desire that family travel should be meaningful, leading to the rise of "authentic" as a travel marketing term (followed by experiential, immersive, etc).
Of course, for many people, 9/11 was much more than a historical event. Almost 3,000 Americans died that day, and for their loved ones, the travails of the travel industry are trivial.
Security protocols and their related aggravations may at times seem like overreach, but there has not been a terrorism act of a similar magnitude for the past 25 years. We may complain from time to time -- and there are valid criticisms of TSA screenings -- but anyone who actually lived through the 9/11 era will accept the hassles as a necessary and fair exchange to prevent another incident at that scale. No one wants to be dealt The Tower again.