Re: Question for old timers

On Apr 23, 12:46 pm, Larry in AZ <usen...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Waiving the right to remain silent, John Levine <jo...@xxxxxxxx> said:

In article <JiHPj.60366$Er2.45...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mr. DBG <m...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
What was airport security like in, say, the mid 1970s?

There was nothing at all until the Palestinian hijackings in 1970 and
DB Cooper in 1971. The FAA mandated searches starting in 1973, which
were mostly just magnetometers.

I've heard that there was practically NO security in the mid
1960s; that a person could even carry a firearm on board;
they usually just turned them over to an FA on boarding and had them
handed back at the end of the flight.

Yeah. Ah, for the good old days.

When you could arrive at the airport 20 minutes before a flight and make it
on board with time to spare, even at a busy airport.

It may still be possible in some places. I had to take a short
domestic flight in NZ from Wellington to Picton about 5 years back. I
had just missed the ferry so a friend told me to rush by taxi to the
airport and he called the small local airline to say I was coming for
the flight leaving in about 20 min. or so, and they said they would
try to wait for me (he was a good customer of theirs). Wellington
airport is not huge but is international and modern. When I got there
I found this airline did not have a check-in desk and was told to go
straight to the gate. I suppose I had to pass through some security
though I don't remember it. I got to the gate with less than 5 minutes
to go before take-off. There was no-one there. I rang a bell. A guy
came through the door from the tarmac. He asked my name, then ducked
out and yelled at the pilot of the +-12 seater to wait a minute. I
handed over the fare in cash, NZ$45 I think, and went through the door
to the plane maybe 10 meters away. As soon as I climbed the steps they
closed the door and were taxiing before I sat down, and took off on
time. At the other end the airport was little more than a shed in a
field. As soon as I got off the ground staff called out my name, then
put me on a mini-bus which immediately took me to the pub where my pal
was waiting. Hard to beat service like that.
.

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