Ross McCafferty, Opinion and Analysis Editor, revisits the ITV reality documentary Airline and its 9/11 special, which aired in May 2002 as part of the show's sixth series. The episode captures the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, showing staff at Luton and Liverpool airports struggling with cancellations, angry passengers, and new security measures.
The 9/11 special: A turning point in travel
The episode, series six episode four, documents the chaos as staff deal with the knock-on effect of the attacks on aviation globally. Passengers behave appallingly, showing callous disregard for the incidents in the USA. One easyJet representative, Laura, remarks to camera, 'Be glad you've got a life really,' after customers at Liverpool Airport insist 'this isn't America, what's the problem?'
Marie, a young mum running out of milk, is told she'll have to wait three days to get back to Belfast. She angrily announces she'll stand at the gate like a chained-to-railing protestor until she's allowed on. This is just one incident that highlights how relatively relaxed airport security was before the attacks, with armed police patrolling the concourse.
Passengers and staff: A clash of perspectives
McCafferty notes that the episode disabuses any notion of 'Stiff Upper Lip' British behaviour or 'Come From Away' style solidarity. Instead, customers demand compensation for the harm they have suffered, seemingly unaware of the scale of the tragedy. The show, mostly narrated by Tony Robinson, features staff like Katrina Leeder, who never lost her sparkle during a cancer battle, and no-nonsense supervisor Leeanne Chung.
Before 2001, passengers got away with wild behaviour. A Swiss businessman tries to charge through security, a teenager attempts to fly with her twin's passport, and a French woman shrieks 'I'm a big terrorist' because they won't allow her cat into the country. One passenger, after being advised of a technical fault, asks 'can you tell me what the fault is because my husband's an engineer?'
Why the episode resonates 25 years later
McCafferty, who has a decades-long fear of flying and has only been on a plane four times in the past 20 years, has binge-watched the show over the past 18 months. He says the 9/11 episode is a perfect snapshot of how the world changed, with the relative peace of the 90s melting away into global instability. The show has gained a second life on social media, with clips going viral as Gen Z appreciates the nostalgia of a different time.
The episode straddles old and new technology, with staff alternating between the internet and fax machines as cancellations mount. The then Tony Blair-led government advised massively increasing security measures. McCafferty concludes that the episode represents a simpler, safer time, before 9/11 permanently raised everyone's anxiety on flights and in general life.
