Charters after 9/11

The horrendous terrorist attacks in America had left the American business lingering in dismay. The airline business was never hurt that badly. But amidst these not-so-good-conditions for business, the charters industry was gearing up to make big bucks. Lack of faith on the security of commercial aircrafts and also to avoid the time-consuming process of boarding, the corporates opt for charters.

Americans who can afford it have figured out how to bypass the security chaos at the nation's airports by renting or leasing private aircraft. A random survey was conducted by Air Charter Guide, of 74 charter-aircraft operators and brokers shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in which hijacked commercial airliners and their captive passengers were used in kamikaze assaults on landmarks in New York City and Washington. According to the summary of the survey, charter-aircraft companies reported an 80 percent increase in business-related bookings, within two weeks.

A month later another survey was undertaken to determine whether the charter spike was glitch or the beginning of a trend. It showed an even larger number of charter flights, as 84 percent of respondents confirmed that inquiries had remained high. It was found that much of the demands are coming from travelers considering the option of air charter for the first time. Some operators reported that as many as 90 percent of their inquiries were from new or first-time charter customers, but with the average running about 30 percent.

But this upsurge in the demand for charter services and their easy availability has a flip side to it. A pertinent question needs to be pondered on. Are charter passengers just to escape the neurotic fray of airport screeners, bomb-sniffing dogs and unknown threats, or have they them selves become another risk in the air?

When suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist Hani Hanjour went to Freeway Airport in Bowie, Md., to rent a plane during August 2001 he encountered problems. He first had to be evaluated by two pilots. Hanjour flew so poorly the flight instructors became suspicious and required him to demonstrate more fully that he could handle the aircraft, something he never did to their satisfaction.

"On many occasions he needed help landing the plane," chief flight instructor Marcel Bernard tells INSIGHT. So Hanjour never was cleared to rent one of Freeway's four-seat, propeller-driven planes that Bernard describes as weighing "less than the family car." But he and his fellow flight students did manage to hijack and crash American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon.

The terror attacks does have their fallouts on the up surging business of charter services. Despite their success in scrutinizing the suspected terrorist to frustration and denying him an aircraft, Freeway nevertheless was one of several small Maryland airports that were shut down because of their proximity to a protected 15-mile radius, starting from the Washington Monument, that the National Security Agency (NSA) established after the Sept. 11 attacks.