Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Impact of 9/11 on flights

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 09-12-2003, 12:10 AM:

I flew over to Fort Lauderdale yesterday (9/11) and both Nassau International and FLL airports were practically empty. There were only 5 other people on the flight with me. This despite a lower fare, presumably to encourage travel on the 2nd anniversary of the attack on the WTC.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 09-12-2003, 12:17 AM:

I flew back from Dallas Monday night on a flight with 18 passengers. Scott flew "somewhere" today and didn't mention any problems or abnormalities with the flight or at the airport. Maybe he'll chime in here soon.

Posted by Torsten Jasper (Member # 1860) on 09-12-2003, 12:20 AM:

Fuck bin Laden!!! [fu]

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 09-12-2003, 08:52 AM:

I flew in from London on British Air on a packed 747-300 with no problems. The Miami International Airport had very light traffic. On the original September 11, I was at the Miami Airport trying to check baggage to board a flight to visit a job-site. The airport shut down, counter by counter, with agents in obvious disbelief. I have that boarding pass of that unmade journey.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 09-12-2003, 10:34 AM:

Don and I are flying tomorrow (Saturday) down to Miami for a cruise...in the middle of some REALLY bad weather! [Smile]

I'll let you know how busy/slow the airlines are when we get back.

*Ok, this was a cheap insert to let everyone know I'll be gone for a week. [Razz]

Posted by Ron Yost (Member # 1850) on 09-12-2003, 12:44 PM:

In that latest tape I was expecting Gollum to pop up any second. Frodo Bin Laden and friend on a mountain stroll.

Ron Yost

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 09-12-2003, 01:00 PM:

Hehe. Lord of the Scumbags: Return of the King? [Smile]

I had class on Thursday and campus was unusually empty. Attendance was about half. There's a small private airport behind the theater, and there seemed to be no air traffic in or out of there for the whole day. (You can hear the planes take off from the booth)

I guess people are still paranoid [Confused]

=TMP=

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 09-13-2003, 11:40 AM:

From today's Toronto Star:

quote:
One of Canada's most moderate and respected Muslim clerics was pulled off a plane Thursday and thrown in jail by U.S. immigration officials in Fort Lauderdale without any charges being laid.

Ahamad Kutty, who has preached tolerance and peace throughout North America for more than two decades, was ordered off his Orlando-bound flight from Toronto and interrogated in an airport holding cell and a local jail for 16 hours as the U.S. marked the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

He has been declared a risk to national security.

Kutty, an imam and scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto and at the city's west-end Jami Mosque, was detained with fellow Toronto cleric Abdool Hamid. The pair had travelled to Florida to attend seminars and give a series of lectures and sermons on, among other things, the dangers of fanaticism in the Islamic world.

"We have gone through a traumatic experience. Really it dehumanized us," said Kutty, who arrived at Pearson International Airport last night at 8:30 p.m. Kutty said he was pulled off the plane at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and was grilled by at least 10 officials until about 1:30 a.m. yesterday.

"They handcuffed us and took us to jail."

Kutty said immigration officials told him his Islamic Institute of Toronto organization sounded familiar in name to the Islamic Institution of America, which he assumed was some sort of suspect group.

Authorities, Kutty said, were especially interested in a business card that he carried in his wallet bearing the name Islamic Society of North America. He said immigration officials made him sign a waiver giving up his application to enter the United States.

Kutty also said he would not return to the United States and would caution others in the Canadian Muslim community against doing so.

Hamid, who arrived with Kutty at Pearson last night, said one of the two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who had joined in the pair's interrogation had been apologetic about their detention, saying "You picked a bad day to fly," referring to the 9/11 anniversary.

Kutty, 57, and Hamid, 38, were released yesterday afternoon.

The impact of 9/11 on aviation? An excuse for the US to target people based on race, religion, and political views. No wonder the airlines are begging for government bailouts!

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 09-13-2003, 03:18 PM:

I wouldn't give them a cent. Let them adjust the numbers of flights to match customer demand and the prices to something people are willing to pay. Most them are already in bankruptcy so they have the power to void aircraft leases for surplus equipment and reopen labor contracts so adjusting the service to match demand will bring costs into line. They don't need my taxpayer dollars.

Two roundtrips Chicago to DC earlier this summer on SWA were nearly full on each of the four flights so obviously they are doing something right in terms of selling what the public wants.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-13-2003, 05:13 PM:

SWA and Jet Blue seem to be the only two major- or national-level air carriers that consistently know what they are doing. Long ago SWA figured out an algorithm that accurately predicts city-pairs that make money for them, and they've been very disciplined about their growth plans. Jet Blue hasn't been around nearly as long, but they essentially copied SWA's business model and as long as they exercise similar restraint in their expansion decisions, they should have similar continuing success.

As for the other global and major carriers--screw 'em. I too wouldn't give them a plug nickel. They've basically painted themselves into a very bad corner and have no one to blame for that but themselves. Here we are 25 years into the deregulated era but you wouldn't know it looking at the mindset that exists in the corporate suites at these older carriers. I am amazed that such levels of executive incompetency still exist in the industry after all this time. Such incompetency was a given back in the days of the CAB--airline executives were considered the dunces of the business world, and the frilly glamorous airlines were considered to be the place to go if an executive couldn't hack it in a real industry. Heck, none of them were smart enough to hire me to fly for them when they had the chance. [Big Grin]

On that point alone I say screw 'em. [evil]

Of course these airline execs blame everyone but themselves for their companies' failures. They especially blame their employees, most especially their unionized ones. But that argument doesn't hold up too well when you look at SWA which has union contracts too (for example at $144,624 per year, SWA's 10-year 737 captains come out slightly better than the industry average of $143,652 for all types). Yet SWA has been profitable for 29 years in a row. Still, these execs like to blame the unions for their woes, but they forget that it takes two to sign a labor contract. Some pretty stupid contract language got approved on both sides over the years--guess who signed for that.

Post 9/11 the industry has contracted quite a bit. Business flyers (the last-minute full-fare profit makers), seeing the TSA screening hassles and the long pre-departure showup times, are now travelling by air only when it is really necessary to do so. I've seen that myself--I can drive door-to-door from LV to LA (about 280 miles) faster than an airline+local rental car could get me there. On the east and west coasts the trains are running full and out here Greyhound can't put enough buses on the road. Of the flights that are still running, from what I've seen they're pretty full too (load factors of 80%+). The way they did it before was incredibly wasteful--flying half-empty planes every hour on too-short segments. Now, for any stage length less than 300 miles people are realizing there are other options.

Eventually the airline industry will stabilize, but it will be different from the booming everyone-can-afford-to-fly pre-9/11 days. I predict airline flying will become more like it was before deregulation--less (but still adequate) frequency, longer route segments (few less than 300 miles), higher fares, fewer but more affluent passengers, better cabin service, maybe even more civility at the airports and on the planes. [Wink]

I think the days of flying as mass transportation are over. Those airlines that can't shrink to adapt to this new 1970's-like transportation world will die, unfortunately taking 1000's of airline jobs with them. Sad in a way, but in the long run a good thing. We've got better things to be spending our expensive foreign-supplied fuel on.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-13-2003, 06:07 PM:

I have NO problem with what happened to those guys. We ALL know where those 9-11 murderers came from, what they believe in, and what they look like. SO WAKE UP!

I am sick to death of all the whiney politically correct crap that is making MY everyday life difficult, costing me more to live, and generally making ME pay for it all.

I think the the US should have a class-action suit against those low-lifes & supporters that are responsible for 9-11 and the countries that support that crap. The proceeds should be equally distributed to ALL US citizens to help offset the increased taxes and costs of living, air-fares, etc. we all must pay because of them.

I would rather be safe than sorry. I say the hell with them! They were checked-out and released.

Basically: F*CK "EM!

>>> Phil

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 09-14-2003, 09:44 AM:

Flew back from Chicago/MDW on 9/11, and the flight was about 75% full.

I think the inspection peocedure is getting a bit lax. I boarded the plane with an aglinment fixture that could easily have been an explosive, but they didn't even look in my bag.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 09-14-2003, 02:19 PM:

But John you have that kind face profile [Smile]

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 09-21-2003, 04:20 PM:

Hi, Richard....

They must like my profile at the post office, too .... they keep my picture on the wall there! [Big Grin]

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 09-21-2003, 09:00 PM:

Just got back today from the Carribean...the first two planes (on the way there) were pretty full, the first plane (on the way home) was also pretty full. They cancelled the 2nd plane on the way back Chicago-Milwaukee because of technical difficulties but me and Don think it was because the plane was almost empty considering they sent us all on a 1 1/2 bus ride instead of the 45 minute flight and there was only about 15 of us...about a month earlier they also changed the flight time to an hour later, probably trying to pick up more people.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-21-2003, 09:05 PM:

Rach! Welcome Back! I trust you weren't screwed in your travels... [evil]

I trust someone responsible took care of all the babies while yous were away?

OBTW: Say hello to Don for me! [Smile]

>>> Phil

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 09-22-2003, 09:54 AM:

Screwed in my travels....I was on a cruise, what do you think!!! [Smile]

One of the other guys in the building took care of the babies but the bird got loose and went nutso on the DVDs and XBOX games, ripping apart the cases and such (luckily she ignored all my stuff! [Smile]

), she also went on top of the refrigerator and got at the bag of catnip...catnip for birds! The cat hasn't left me alone since I walked in the door, I think she's afraid I'll leave again...awwwww. And Blaze (the ferret) is just Blaze, he's so old that he doesn't know if we're here or gone. [Frown]

Poor little guy.

I'll say hi to Don for you, pretty sure he won't be checking in to FT today because for his first day back from vacation he gets to work a double! Main job at the hostiptal then its off to the theater! [Roll Eyes]

And I have today off... [thumbsup]

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 09-25-2003, 03:06 PM:

My flights lately have been super crowded. With exception of flying to Reno. I flew to Portland on 9/11 and it was crowded. Vegas was crowded, Salt Lake was crowded. Reno... not crowded.

Apparently I need to stop quoting Airplane! about how nobody goes to Fresno anymore. Apparently nobody goes to Reno anymore.