Scenes from the 1990s: In 1991 a friend needed to fly home. She was anxious about flying. I went with her to the gate until loading, to help her keep her calm.

Scenes from the 1990s: In 1991 a friend needed to fly home. She was anxious about flying. I went with her to the gate until loading, to help her keep her calm. Not possible now. You could also meet people at the gate when they arrived. In 1998, working for a startup, my boss came in on a late flight. I volunteered to pick her up. I got to the airport about 15 minutes early. It's late, and not busy. I park right in front of the terminal and wait. While waiting, I cleared up some trash from my car. Now, due to concerns about possible car bombs, the airport prohibits parking in front of the terminal. In the early 2000s I flew from New Mexico to Sweden pretty regularly. The group I visited had a weekly sauna. I would bring a 6-pack of Modelo, tortilla chips and salsa as my contribution. Not possible now, due to the liquids rule put into place a few years after 9/11. You say with PreCheck and Global Entry security is easier than before, but in the 1990s it was easy. Luggage in the X-ray machine, walk through metal detector, and done. No pulling out of laptops, liquids, no TSA id check. And I think even that security wasn't done 100% of the time. There was still an id check at check-in but that was because in th early 1990s the airlines wanted to prohibit the ticket resale market. In the 1980s if you had a New York/LA ticket and couldn't make the flight, you could sell the ticket to anyone else. Even with the id check, a partial match was accepted - my mother and I have the same initial, so either of us could fly with "A. Dalke". I heard from older people that in the 1980s kids who were plane enthusiasts would go to the terminal just to watch the planes. Back then there was no security check at all. Each of these are small things, but they add up.