A discussion about the airline industry, airline employees, and all things related

re: handling of check-in. I believe the movie was very close to what happened (from
http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm):

1.1 INSIDE THE FOUR FLIGHTS

Boarding the Flights Boston: American 11 and United 175. Atta and Omari boarded a 6:00 A.M. flight from Portland to Boston's Logan International Airport.

When he checked in for his flight to Boston, Atta was selected by a computerized prescreening system known as CAPPS (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System), created to identify passengers who should be subject to special security measures. Under security rules in place at the time, the only consequence of Atta's selection by CAPPS was that his checked bags were held off the plane until it was confirmed that he had boarded the aircraft. This did not hinder Atta's plans.

So from what you gave via the 9/11 report, the employees did their job correctly, by pulling off the bags until confirmation that he had boarded the aircraft.

So some questions remain, what is AA so upset about? Were the airline employees protrayed that bad? Or was it just a government program that did not go far enough in screening passengers?

Rob, you are right, the 9/11 report does say the employees did their job correctly. However, a full reading of the report shows that several potential hijackers were flagged across the country at different airlines. Why single out AA and paint them in such a negative light? To drive ratings? It almost seems like a coordinated shot at the biggest airline to accomplish I don’t know what…

If the public had read the reports and had all the information, then the dramatization of this event is no big deal. The problem is that this is a sensitive, passionate issue for most Americans and this leads to extreme reactions - like the boycott threats after the showing.

It’s unfair to put any airline employees at any company through these accusations in the afterglow of 20-20 hindsight. I think if the scene had shown the CAPPS screenings across the country (which would have been more dramatic), you would not see AA complain. Of course, going the extra mile was obviously not part of the plan when they made this “docudrama.”