Prior to September 11, 2001 most Americans would not have thought twice about the process of flying. Although there had been plane crashes in the past, most people would have never even thought about the crashes when they decided to use flying as their mode of transportation. A person could buy a ticket from any major commercial airline, get to the airport, check-in, get their baggage checked and be on the plane in a matter of minutes. Once they were on the plane there would be no worries of the intentions of other passengers, nor would there be the stress of not making it to the final destination. Before September, 11 2001 the airline industry had been steadily growing even though there had been a recession in early 2001 (Ramstack 2002). The airlines had been a major employer for many Americans, and a big part in the economic status of America. Due to the traumatic events that took place on September 11, 2001 all of this has changed.

Airports have dramatically increased security all over the country after the September 11th disaster. The increase in security was put into effect mainly to prevent future disasters such as hijacking or other terrorist th

The Department of Transportation shut down all air traffic for two days following the 11th (Ramstack 2002). Even after the two days of the air traffic being shut down, in the following days there was not even half of the usual flyers in the air (Ramstack 2002). The drastic financial loss put an already struggling industry into ruin. The industry had the worst-ever losses and 90,000 employees were laid off. Every part of the industry felt this ripple. Aircraft manufactories obviously had less demand for new products delivering them, along with every other business that had dealings with airline or airports, a devastating blow.

On board the airplane there has also been a heightened security system put into play. Cockpits have been made more safe by adding thicker door to the cockpit, as a defensive measure. In the passenger part of the aircraft the government has issued a safety measure that places highly trained undercover air marshals to be present during all flights. Another type of security that is present on board the aircraft is on board video surveillance, this is used as a sort of deterrent for terrorist acts. Pilots also now are to under go special training that helps them to react properly and effectively if a terrorist threat were to occur.

The ways that these searches have been done in the past is also changing because the types of weapons tha

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