Twenty-two years ago, 19 terrorists seized four American planes. They were crushed against the dual towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and an empty box in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 Americans died.
Even in the narrative, the numbers are incredible.
Some 265 more people died on the four planes alone, including eight pilots and 25 flight attendants, as well as 20 women.
The 658 workers of the financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald who were running that day in the World Trade Center died when the impact of the plane destroyed any imaginable exit from their offices.
Some 343 New York Fire Department firefighters died Sept. 11. And, tragically, as of October 2022, more than three hundred firefighters had died as a result of his paintings on smoking debris, cancer, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, and neurological problems.
But September is a story of heroism and ultimately reconstruction, even if the void left in thousands of families can never be filled.
People from the hotel intervened on September 11 and its aftermath.
Betty Ong, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, heroically reported the names and seat numbers of the hijackers until her plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
Sandra Bradshaw and CeeCee Lyles, flight attendants on United Flight 93, were involved in the attack on passengers and the crew that shot down the hijacked plane before it could reach its target in Washington.
In York, the 825-room Marriott World Trade Center welcomed 940 visitors. Hotel workers worked with the NYFD and managed to evacuate all 11 of them before the hotel collapsed. As the New York Times puts it: “An organization of anonymous Marriott workers Joseph Keller, the ruler who evacuated dozens of people, and Abdu Malahi, an audio-visual technician who scoured the rooms for visitors, were among those who did not survive.
Speaking of hospitality, Gander, Newfoundland, has become a huge, loose, makeshift Airbnb when 38 planes with a capacity of 7,000 passengers were denied access to U. S. airspace. The uplifting musical Come from Away dramatizes this confusing, terrifying but ultimately connecting week before passengers and crew can head to their destinations.
MAJAVE CA – NOVEMBER 1: Giant Jets, DC 10, Lockheed Tri Stars, DC 9. The Boeing 727 and 737 are among the planes stored at Mojave Airport, where there are more than two hundred advertising planes with engines and windows attached, the result of a drop in air traffic since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York in September. September 11, 2011. The desert air is the best outdoor garage for airplanes. November 1, 2011 Mojave Airport, Mojave, California (Photo by Paul Harris/Getty Images)
The U. S. Air Traffic FormulaThe U. S. Navy was closed for less than a week, but it took months for passenger volume to return to normal. Many planes were parked as if they had slowed down. Tech corporations have tried to promote video conferencing and even “virtual conferencing” for: Reluctant business leaders, but the generation and bandwidth have not reached the level of today’s Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
My son was coaching his best students at school on September 11 and asked for an article on the subject. I sent him one about the verbal exchange between Todd Beamer, a typhoon-point passenger on Flight 93 in the hijacked cockpit, and Lisa Jefferson, a supervisor for Verizon Airfone. I told him that maybe he deserved scholars born long after September 11, which Airfone was. Air-to-ground telephone service paid by credit card was discontinued in 2006.
Certainly, the attacks of 11 September happened a long time ago. Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone likely wouldn’t arrive until 2007. Air Bed and Breakfast, later abbreviated as Airbnb, did not give the impression of doing so as well in 2007. Uber didn’t hit the road until 2010. Su competitor Lyft made the impression in 2012.
But the travel industry has discovered a resilience that will serve it well during the long years of the COVID pandemic. Dozens of borders were closed and thousands of planes were grounded as travel plummeted and nearly 7 million more people died worldwide, adding up to 1. 1 million in the United States.
The blow to the industry from COVID has been much greater and longer than that of September 11.
In 2020 alone, World Travel’s annual economic impact influences the report
LIMA, PERU – JULY 15: Passengers wearing masks check their cell phones while on the plane before flight LA 2212 takes off from Lima to Trujillo, Peru, July 15, 2020. After 4 months, domestic and long-haul advertising flights Buses in Peru can run again, according to protocols opposed to the spread of COVID-19. Airports and bus stations will operate with limited capacity. (Photo by Raul Sifuentes/Getty Images)
But the global air traffic formula never stopped and came back from a depression like that of April 2020, when passenger volume in the United States fell by 95%. With the help of the government, airlines continued to fly, restaurants tried to eat and drink to accompany meals in parking lots. And hotels experimented with “contactless” housework and room service with bags, or served as shelters for the homeless.
The U. S. State Department managed to secure the unprecedented evacuation of more than 100,000 Americans from 137 countries.
The much-maligned TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, created on November 19, 2001, has been dormant despite COVID and has so far prevented some other attack with many victims. In 2022, the TSA screened 761 million people and intercepted a 6,542 firearms, 18 per day, security checks at 262 other U. S. airports. U. S.
After September 11, some thought the industry might simply not survive. After COVID, others hoped the industry would not survive, despite the economic impact. But the industry’s tough staff, from pilots to housekeepers, continue to bring valuable delight and intelligent care to their guests.
A well-dressed waiter holds a tray with wine glasses to serve guests.