Hard as it may be to believe, tomorrow marks the 20-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists commandeered four commercial aircraft, two belonging to United Airlines, and two belonging to American Airlines, and carried out the worst attack by an enemy against American citizens, on American soil, since the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. There were 2,977 lives lost as a direct result from the attacks on 9/11, and there have been countless numbers lost in the twenty years since. Whether it be U.S. soldiers war in Afghanistan and Iraq, or fire and rescue personnel who succumbed to cancers and other diseases brought on by breathing in the debris from ground zero. In addition, Since 9/11/2001, there have been hundreds of additional attacks by Muslim extremists, around the world - London, Manchester, Paris, Marseille, Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Istanbul, Ankara, Bangkok, Moscow, Nairobi, Israel, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I may have missed some, but you get the point that the list is too long.
This year, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to dominate the lives of everyone around the world. Vaccines were developed in record time to begin the effort to eradicate the virus; however, there are new variants emerging that get past the vaccine. There are still a lot of people out there that have not been vaccinated. The vaccines have not been approved for children under 12, and there are still regions around the world where the vaccine supply is limited or simply unavailable. Then there are those that just simply refuse to get vaccinated. As I write this, there are more and more hospitals reporting that they are being overwhelmed once again. I just read on Wednesday that the small hospital in my home town or Rock Springs, Wyoming is having to add a second isolation unit to handle a new influx of Covid-19 cases. I also heard on CNBC that the United States ranks up there with Kenya among the worst countries seeing a surge in new infections and hospitalizations. Over 90% of these new cases are among the un-vaccinated. On Thursday, President Biden made another attempt to reach out to the holdouts, urging them to get vaccinated, "for their own good, and for the good of others." These holdouts continue to disregard the warnings, and offer many excuses. I believe that behind these excuses is the lack of respect so many have for our President, his administration, Congress, and the courts.
20 YEARS
I struggled with what to write about for this special 20-year post. So much has happened in that time. The man who planned the attacks on 9/11 and the leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, Osama bin Laden, was finally caught and assassinated in 2011. U.S. Military forces invaded Afghanistan and Iraq with the goal of wiping out Al Qaeda and other Muslim extremists who sought to carry out more attacks on the United States and its allies. Almost twenty years to the day after the attacks, President Biden ordered our military to turn tail, retreat and get out of Afghanistan. This swift retreat left the door wide open for the Taliban to once again take power and put back in place a repressive government known for harboring terrorists. Innocent Afghan citizens were left behind and we have to watch as the freedoms that our military worked so hard to gain for Afghani citizens just disappears. Afghani women are once again going to be regarded as property. With this fast exit out of Afghanistan, our military was forced to leave behind billions of dollars in sophisticated weapons and other equipment, which is now in the hands of radical Taliban forces. The decision makers here seem to have forgotten their promises of twenty years ago to "never forget."
It took just over a year for the U.S. economy to emerge from the recession coming from the attacks, but it did rebound and and moved into a healthy and sustained expansion. There have been setbacks such as the great recession caused by the lending meltdown in 2008, and then the Covid-19 pandemic which took hold in early 2020 and continues to hinder normal economic growth and expansion. Since 2001, there have been four Presidents elected to lead the country. Every candidate in every election has run on a platform that they are certain will unite the country; however, our country remains more divided than ever. On 9/11/2001, the world came together like never before to support the United States. Sadly, twenty years later, even with a global pandemic, the world seems more divided than ever.
A lot has happened at United Airlines in the last twenty years. Most notably, is the merger with Continental Airlines in 2010. This merger was put together by Glenn Tilton, Jeff Smisek and their respective Boards, all of them eager to cash out. What was billed as a merger, really was not, Mr. Tilton just wanted out and he just handed the keys over to Jeff Smisek. Mr. Smisek proved to an arrogant son of a gun who was certain that customers and employees were going to like the changes he made with his United Airlines. Well, the changes were not liked, long-time loyal premium customers were lured away by other carriers, and employee (Jeff's "Co-Workers") morale, especially with those coming from United Airlines, was the lowest it had ever been. A bribery scandal involving Smisek and an official from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey cost Mr. Smisek his job in 2015. Oscar Munoz succeeded Mr. Smisek as Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Munoz was liked and employee morale turned around. Mr. Munoz was not an airline person though, and Scott Kirby, a former executive from American Airlines was brought in to eventually assume the role as Chief Executive. In 2021, Mr. Munoz stepped down and Mr. Kirby added the title of Chairman of the Board. It was under Mr. Kirby's leadership that United has been able to manage through the devastating downturn in travel caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. This United Airlines in 2021 is far different from the United Airlines in 2001, and I long for that carrier that ferried its "Friendships" all over the globe. What is unchanged is that there is still a base of loyal customers, along with dedicated employees who truly appreciate what it means to be a part of the "Friendly Skies."
RESPECT
I thought and thought about the one message that could define these last 20 years. Respect is a concept that can have as many different meanings as there are people. So to distill it down, I had to ask some questions like "is respect earned or is it simply deserved?" Does a title, a position of authority, or even wealth automatically mean someone is to be respected? Is respect a right or a privilege? Do we think of respect as an argument we can use to our advantage, or do we honor the respect that is bestowed upon us? When and how do we teach, communicate and enforce this concept of respect?
As children, we are told that we must respect our parents, family, teachers, clergy and other adults in our lives, but unless we question it, we are not taught why someone is worthy of our respect. As we mature, we begin to learn how the respect we are supposed to have for others is respect that has been earned, and at the same time we begin to learn how we earn respect from others. As adults, we have already learned that the respect we have earned is not something to take for granted. As adults, we also find ourselves wanting to teach younger generations about respect, how it is earned, and how those who have earned it are to be respected.
How does all of this apply to the events of 9/11 and our lives twenty years later? If you are like me, you have to be worried about the younger generations following us. I worry that they cannot understand why the lessons coming out of this tragedy cannot be forgotten. I worry that they do not understand that those of us who were witness to the event have something to teach them. I worry that they do not understand why this one day - 20 years in the past - needs to carry so much weight. Most of all, I worry that the younger generations do not have the proper examples to draw from that they can respect.
Look at all the recent incidents of flight disruptions, and the violence toward crew members coming from passengers who refuse to follow instructions. A common pattern is emerging that identifies these unruly passengers - they are younger, and it appears as if they have not been taught to respect those in authority that have earned it, or worse yet, the examples that they draw from in their lives have shown them that it is acceptable to defy and belittle anyone who does not agree with them. It is a worrisome pattern. The Federal Aviation Administration mandates that all passengers and crew members are to wear proper face coverings to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Passengers who do not comply can be taken off the flight and will be fined. Some disagreements between flight attendants and non-complying passengers have led to violence and injuries to crew members. Yet, there are those who insist it is their Constitutional right to not wear the mask if they so choose. The Constitution was drafted to give our Federal government the power to protect our borders and the well-being of all U.S. citizens. The FAA mandate is not un-Constitutional, and flight attendants have been put on the front line to enforce the mandate, a job that they do not want. It is a difficult position to be in, and the respect that should be shown to them is respect that has been earned.
The events of 9/11 were a stark reminder that pilots, flight attendants, and all the employees on the front lines of the airlines, have been charged with the momentous responsibility for passenger safety. These good people are all highly trained, they are required to work long hours, and they have to be the ambassador for the airline - and it all has to done with a smile. There are very few airlines that did not have to go through bankruptcy after 9/11. With those bankruptcies, airline employees had to take pay cuts or be laid off, and many lost their pensions. Then there is the slowdown in travel coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unsure of what was going to happen, airline employees came together to do what was needed to keep their carrier flying. This level of dedication by front-line employees is real, they want to keep doing their job and get us traveling again. With this kind of dedication, how can anyone argue that they have not earned the respect they should be shown.
The events of 9/11 also made us aware that front-line employees at the airlines are the first responders in the event of a threat, and they were then tasked with the added responsibility of recognizing new threats before anyone could be hurt. That alone is a burden very few can handle, so anyone willing to watch out for my safety while at the same time having to put up with the challenges that come with the job, there is no doubt in my mind that person has earned the respect they should be shown. Sadly, this uptick in flight disruptions by unruly passengers only confirms that the younger generation has gotten the wrong message. These miscreants think they have the right to be respected, they do not understand that respect has to be earned.
IN CLOSING
It is getting late and I do have to get up early in the morning for my annual sojourn to New York and back on United Airlines. My 20th trip on 9/11. I promise to wear my mask, I found one with the United tulip on it. If I slip up and have to be reminded by the flight crew, it will only happen once. I apologize for any rambling in this post, I found myself with little time to come up with something before tomorrow. The media has done a lot this year to help commemorate this anniversary which makes it extra special. The message needs to keep getting out every year, if not every day, that what happened on September 11, 2001 cannot happen again.
To all my friends at United Airlines - thank you for keeping me safe in my travels over the last 20 40 years. Thank you for always making me feel special, and THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE SKIES FRIENDLY! ☺
