re: What was air travel like before 9/11?

While I'm glad that you no longer have tons of people at each gate, watching friends board and greeting them when you get off...

I miss the fact that when you had a few hours between flights in Dallas or Atlanta or wherever, you could call a friend and tell them when you were getting there. They could drive out to the airport and hang out with you between flights. Now, you have to have enough time to get out of the gate area and to the general airport, meet your friend for an hour or whatever, then go back through the security line and travel back to your gate.