Vintage photos show what airport security was like before 9/11

Sep 11, 2026 06:51 PM - 3 days ago 7

Airport information successful the 1970s.

Airport information successful the 1970s. Duane Howell/Denver Post via Getty Images

Before 9/11, airport security was acold much relaxed than it is today.

Friends and family could travel travelers done information without a boarding pass. Knives and blades were allowed successful carry-on bags arsenic agelong arsenic they were smaller than 4 inches. Private companies, not the government-run Transportation Security Administration, handled screenings.

Airport information did germinate complete the decades successful consequence to bombings — for illustration the Pan Am bombing complete Lockerbie, Scotland, successful 1988 — arsenic good arsenic hijackings and different threats. X-ray machines and metallic detectors slow became acquainted features, but the acquisition was vastly different compared to modern aerial travel.

In the aftermath of September 11, airdrome information transformed almost overnight. These vintage photos show really travelers erstwhile navigated a strategy that now seems unrecognizable.

Before 9/11, checked luggage was not taxable to cosmopolitan explosives screening.

Passengers checking successful luggage successful 1955.

The conveyor belt, pictured successful 1955, took baggage to the autobus docks astatine New York's East Side Airlines Terminal. Orlando /Three Lions/Getty Images

X-ray baggage screenings weren't introduced until the 1950s.

One of the first suitcase X-rays from the 1950s.

An early airdrome information X-ray. Science Photo Library via Reuters Connect

Signs warned passengers from bringing weapons and explosives, but screenings were lax by today's standards.

An airdrome information motion successful 1970.

New airdrome signage successful 1970. Federal Aviation Administration/PhotoQuest/Getty Images

More stringent information checks astatine John F. Kennedy Airport successful 1970 caught weapons specified arsenic guns, daggers, and manus grenades.

Weapons confiscated from passengers astatine John F. Kennedy Airport successful 1970.

Weapons confiscated from passengers astatine John F. Kennedy Airport successful 1970. Keystone Press Agency/ZUMA Press Wire

In 1973, the FAA mandated the usage of magnetometers and X-ray machines to surface passengers and carry-ons connected commercialized flights.

A magnetometer astatine Stapleton International Airport successful 1972.

A magnetometer astatine Stapleton International Airport successful 1972. The Denver Post via Getty Images

Full-body scanners wouldn't get until 2007.

Airport information successful 1987.

Airport information successful 1987. John Prieto/Denver Post via Getty Images

Many airports had kiosks pinch life security vending machines geared toward tense flyers.

Passengers could bargain recreation security astatine the airport.

Passengers could bargain short-term life security policies astatine the airport. Don Cravens/Getty Images

Before 9/11, group who weren't flying could get gross passes and entree the gross area.

Airport Security Officer Checking Carry-on Luggage

An airdrome information serviceman checking carry-on luggage successful 1980. Jacques M. Chenet/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

There were besides nary restrictions connected bringing liquids aliases gels successful carry-on bags backmost then.

Airport information astatine Stapleton International Airport successful Denver.

Security astatine Stapleton International Airport successful Denver. John Beard/Denver Post via Getty Images

The first information lines astatine San Francisco International Airport formed successful 1973, pinch an definitive statement for passengers pinch nary carry-ons.

The first information lines astatine San Francisco International Airport.

The first information lines astatine San Francisco International Airport. Clem Albers/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Separate lines for TSA PreCheck and CLEAR didn't beryllium yet.

Security astatine Denver International Airport successful 1995.

Security astatine Denver International Airport successful 1995. Brooks Kraft/Sygma via Getty Images

There was nary TSA astatine each — backstage contractors screened passengers until the national authorities took complete airdrome information successful 2002.

Security astatine San Francisco International Airport successful 1973.

Security lines astatine San Francisco International Airport successful 1973. Clem Albers/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

The machine monitors utilized for automated explosives discovery systems were overmuch clunkier than they are today.

Automated explosives discovery systems astatine John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Automated explosives discovery systems astatine John F. Kennedy International Airport successful 1998. Willie Anderson/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

The knives and container cutters that the hijackers utilized connected 9/11 were ineligible to bring connected planes astatine the time. After that day, flying was ne'er the same.

Hijackers Mohammed Atta (right) and Abdulaziz Alomari went done airdrome security.

Hijackers Mohammed Atta (right) and Abdulaziz Alomari went done airdrome information earlier boarding American Airlines Flight 11. US Navy/Getty Images

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