Before 9/11, airport security was far more relaxed than it is today.
Friends and family could accompany travelers through security without a boarding pass. Knives and blades were allowed in carry-on bags as long as they were smaller than 4 inches. Private companies, not the government-run Transportation Security Administration, handled screenings.
Airport security did evolve over the decades in response to bombings — like the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 — as well as hijackings and other threats. X-ray machines and metal detectors slowly became familiar features, but the experience was vastly different compared to modern…
