727LOVER From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 5717 posts, RR: 20 Posted (4 years 2 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 4063 times:
Pre 9/11, as a non-pax, could you go through the security checkpoint at your airport? I know some airports in the USA didn't allow this back then as well. In fact some were split. At LGA, I could get thru in all the terminals except the central terminal.
SRQ, MCO, TPA, PIE, PBI, I could get through. At some airports like MIA and FLL, the sign would say ticketed pax only beyond this point. I would get in line and sail right through. Anyone know if non-pax were allowed through at the old PBI main terminal?
I visited PHL,BWI, DCA, IAD about a week before 9/11, and I got through all the checkpoints except BWI's concourse E.
FlyASAGuy2005 From United States of America, joined Sep 2007, 6509 posts, RR: 11 Reply 2, posted (4 years 2 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4006 times:
Could go right to the gate in Atlanta.
CAM2:"Lightning coming out of that one." CAM1: "What?"
One of my favorite ways to pass an afternoon in Atlanta was to visit the terminal and do some people- and plane-watching. I hate that we can't do that anymore.
Braniff747SP From United States of America, joined Oct 2008, 2606 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (4 years 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 3922 times:
At LAX we could walk right up to the gate.
The 747 will always be the TRUE queen of the skies!
MSPNWA From United States of America, joined Apr 2009, 1565 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (4 years 2 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 3898 times:
MSP was to-the-gate. I remember those days. I was too young to remember exactly where I was, so the Lindbergh terminal seemed monstrous. I had so much fun being "lost" and letting my parents handle the navigation. I remember going up to the observation deck, walking down the C concourse (then green concourse) to drop off or pick up my uncle at the USAir gate, or just walking around and looking at all the jets. I don't remember the policy at the Humphrey terminal, since I don't think I ever went past security pre-9/11. Fun times now gone.
BAViscount From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 2338 posts, RR: 4 Reply 9, posted (4 years 2 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 3868 times:
I remember at CLT non-pax could go right to the gate. Whenever I went to visit family in NC, they would always be waiting at the gate as I stepped off the plane...except when I flew direct from LGW on Piedmont that is!
Ladies & gentlemen this is Captain Tobias Wilcock welcoming you aboard Coconut Airways flight 372 to Bridgetown Barb
Mauiman31 From United States of America, joined Sep 2007, 434 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (4 years 2 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 3839 times:
MCI - to the gate. . .Well, I remember in the 70's - 80's at MCI -- when I would take my Gran to the airport for her trips -- They (TW) would let me walk her right on the plane. Make sure she got in her seat o.k. Say goodbye and I would walk off. I took a friend to MCI late 70's sometime. . . he got on the plane and accidentally took my wallet with him. . . Again, on TW - Remember rushing up to the gate agent -- he was busy, so he just said - go ahead on board and get it back. I did. The days of innocence. . .
NWADC9 From United States of America, joined May 2004, 4857 posts, RR: 10 Reply 12, posted (4 years 2 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 3817 times:
PIT - To the gate. We had/have a shopping mall inside the Airside terminal, so sometimes my mom would go there to shop and would be the only "mall" I couldn't wait to go to. When the checkpoint was cut off to ticketed folks only, the Airmall took a big hit.
Flying an aeroplane with only a single propeller to keep you in the air. Can you imagine that? -Capt. Picard
Chase From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 1054 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (4 years 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 3748 times:
In STL you could go up to the gate. I flew LGW-STL in 1994 and 1999, and at least one of those times I saw my mom waiting for me on the other side of the glass as I exited the jetway and headed for customs.
PHLBOS From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 7251 posts, RR: 25 Reply 15, posted (4 years 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 3567 times:
Quoting NWADC9 (Reply 12): PIT - To the gate. We had/have a shopping mall inside the Airside terminal, so sometimes my mom would go there to shop and would be the only "mall" I couldn't wait to go to. When the checkpoint was cut off to ticketed folks only, the Airmall took a big hit.
Similar was true with PHL's Terminal B/C marketplace that opened up in mid-90s. It was originally marketed as a place where travelers and nontravelers alike can go and shop, eat, etc. Needless to say, 9/11 changed all that. While there are some shops and eateries on the public side of the terminals; the majority of them (including the fore-mentioned Terminal B/C Marketplace) were located on the secure-side of the airport.
At TOL, there was a Marcos Pizza restaurant near Gate 3 (then, a US Express gate) where anybody can go grab a bite; it was the only eatery in the whole terminal. On 9/9/01, while waiting for my rain-delayed flight to PIT; my father (who was my ride to/from the airport) and I had dinner at Marcos.
Post-9/11, that Marcos Pizza was literally cut off from non-passenger visitors. It took about 2 to 3 years before a second Marcos Pizza branch opened on the public side of the terminal.
To directly answer your earlier question, pre-9/11; most airports in the U.S. allowed anybody to proceed up to the gates. My pre-9/11 airport experiences are based on the following airports: ABE, ATL, BOS, DAB (back in 1972, my family boarded the ATL-bound EA 727 via outside stairs), DFW, DTW, PHL & TOL.
"TransEastern! You'll feel like you've never left the ground because we treat you like dirt!" SNL Parady ad circa 1981
Max550 From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 1111 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (4 years 5 days 17 hours ago) and read 3560 times:
The only one I really remember is BOS. I remember going there when I was about 9 or 10 years old, we went through security and up to the gates. Actually, I remember going about halfway down the jetway at one of the gates to look out the little window and after about 30 seconds someone came and told me only passengers could be there.
Falstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5670 posts, RR: 29 Reply 17, posted (4 years 1 day ago) and read 3456 times:
At DTW and STL you could go right up to the gate. Those were the good ole' days when you could go and see friends off and meet people. You could also join some stop over friends in a beer or two.
DTW's Worldgateway has no bars before security.
Going all the way to gate pre-9/11 wasn't always allowed. I remember at DEN, when I was a kid in the 1980s, you could go all the way to the gate. Then in mid 1980s you could not, by the late 1980s you could go all the way to the gate again. Around the time those hijackers got that TWA 727 was the time you could no longer go to the gate without a ticket at DEN. I don't know if it was like that at any other airports.
LH423 From Canada, joined Jul 1999, 6501 posts, RR: 56 Reply 18, posted (4 years 20 hours ago) and read 3443 times:
BOS, one could pass through all the security checkpoints except the International terminal (E). I remember I worked at a small store at BOS but as it was landside, I didn't need a security badge however if I got to work a little early, I'd go to the end of the United pier in Terminal C and watch the action for a bit before heading to work. I would also occasionally pass through security to get lunch at the US Airways pier in Terminal B since they had decent food selection at their food court.
LH423
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TimePilot From Switzerland, joined Sep 2005, 295 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (3 years 12 months 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 3387 times:
In late summer 2001, I was able, without a ticket, to go right up to the door where passengers come out after deplaning. I could have opend the plane door myself! This was Terminal C at Logan.
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