It Was a Warm August Evening Full of Blue Skies ...

… and I was pilot in command of a Cessna 172 flying out of Solberg Airport in Readington, NJ, a short flight from New York City. Flying toward the east, with the setting sun behind us reflecting off the twin towers of the World Trade Center, it was majestic. It was vivid then. It became so much moreso later on. It was a warm September morning in Montreal … … headed to the convention center for the opening of the Airports Council International-North America’s annual meeting. Watching CNN in the hotel as I get dressed; a plane crashes into the tower in NYC. As I watch a second airplane crash into the second tower, I shout at the TV: “The bastards have finally done it.†Turns out, they had. At the Montreal Convention Center on 9/11 … … the grand hall becomes a movie theater of sorts, with video displays meant for presentations that become live feeds from CNN. The towers were home to the authority that runs the New York airports – some in attendance had offices there. People’s offices were under attack; the brethren were under attack. It had an air of eeriness. Not to mention, most of the airport officials the general media wanted to speak with were in that room. FAA Administrator Jane Garvey was heading back to Washington – one of the few flights allowed that day. I remember standing next to Jeff Fegan … … director of DFW, watching the 9/11 events unfold in the Montreal convention center, and he turns to me and says, “I sure am glad I have a team back home I can count on.†It was a sentiment held by many in the room. Yet, there was still much apprehension. As the warm sun rises in Austin, Texas … … I marvel at the early dawn sky through the windows of Austin-Bergstrom International, while waiting for today’s dance through the TSA screening process. The more I get confounded by the increasing security regimen brought on by 9/11, I wonder: Is there not a better way? One suspects we’ll get there once technology allows for fully screening a passenger the second he walks into the terminal. Not there yet. As I think about the ten years since 9/11 … … I look at an industry that has changed and is changing. Commercial and corporate aviation are now global beasts, with the private sector doing its best to link up globally. It is government that is slowing that process. Many airports are becoming global enterprises; in the U.S., government is slowing that as well. In the meantime, we chase security. 9/11 changed an industry; a nation; a planet. Perhaps someday life will return to normal. Thanks for reading. jfi