More Airports are allowing gate access without a boarding pass

Things changed after September 11, 2001.

The coordinated attacks on America using airplanes due to what, in retrospect, was considered lax security measures ushered in a whole new era of flying.

More than 20 years later, some of those measures are starting to ease at several airports. Slowly, mind you, but still easing.

There are at least a half-dozen airports across the country that now allow non-ticketed passengers to go to the gate. After 9/11, that practice was prohibited nationwide as part of the response to the coordinated attack and the ease with which the terrorists were able to board flights with box-cutters and take control of the planes.

The pandemic that hit in 2020, and continues, certainly didn’t help the situation.

But restrictions are easing.

Conde Nast Traveler identified six airports allowing visitors to accompany ticket travelers to their respective gate – even though they will not be flying. They include Flint-Bishop International Airport in Michigan, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Ontario International Airport also in California.

People who are not flying must produce a government-issued identification and pass a background check, so obviously, this is not something to be done on the spur of the moment but well ahead of time if you would like to accompany, or pick up, someone at the gate.