9/11 ghosts still haunt air travelers



DATELINE TAIPEI – It never dawned on me when I made arrangements to visit Taiwan that I would be flying on 9/11.

My friends, however, were quick to remind me.

I got here safely, thanks to Eva Air, but there were many empty seats on a flight out of Toronto that I’m told by airline officials is “pretty” full most nights.

So, on the 10th anniversary of the most horrific of terrorist plots against the United States and the free world, I’m left to assume that the ghosts of those who carried out the cowardly attacks on New York and Washington are still haunting us.

But so much has changed since that dreadful day – air travel will never be the same again.

And that’s a good thing, in my opinion. Pre-9/11 air travel was too lax and that resulted in hijackings and bombings against civilian airlines long before Osama Bin Laden and his thugs were ever heard from. The chances of madmen turning civilian airlines into “missiles” again has been greatly reduced now thanks to the security checks implemented post 9/11 – if they had been in place on that dreadful day; well, we’re only left to speculate.

Air travel has always been the safest form of travel and it’s been made even safer since 9/11 – too bad so many people had to pay the ultimate price to make it happen.

United left red-faced over 9/11 flights

Oops!

Our friends at United Airlines were left red-faced yesterday when they inadvertently reinstated the flight numbers - 93 and 175 - of planes that perished during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

United officials have spent the last 24 hours in full damage control over the embarrassing mixup and have issued an apology on Facebook. The airline now says it will permanently retire the numbers.

Duh! That should have been done on 9/12!

The ill-fated 9/11 Flight 175 originated in Boston bound for Los Angeles but was hijacked and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Flight 93 took off from Newark, N.J., and crashed in a Pennsylvania field after at attempt by passengers to wrest control of the plane from terrorists.

United representatives told Reuters news agency the change was the result of oversight that came up as United works to align its operations with merger partner Continental Airlines. Apparently, Continental uses the flight numbers, which came up in an automated system and the carriers failed to notice it until it was brought to their attention.

Out of respect for all those who perished in the 9/11 crashes, may I suggest all airlines retire the flight numbers of the planes lost that day.