References to September 11, 2001, are so prevalent in travel risk and security documents as to
be ubiquitous. Unfortunately, subsequent acts of aggression – such as Mumbai, Indonesia, or
London – make globalized terrorism close and personal for all travel managers. As we
approach a decade since September 11, it is necessary to reflect on what was, what is now,
and what is necessary to continue tracking and reporting travelers to ensure the due diligence
and duty of care components evolve as the business needs and environment changes.
On that horrific day, many corporate travel managers were required to identify who was in New
York or the vicinity and contact them, as well as confirm if any employees were on United
Airlines flight 175/93 or American Airlines flight 11/77. By 9:25 a.m., the FAA had grounded all
domestic flights; and it was necessary to secure alternate accommodation or transportation for
stranded travelers. Reliance on Global Distribution Systems (GDS) technology and
management level communication were compromised or challenged. The need for qualified
and specific information mounted as the day progressed. Many companies had not considered
domestic response planning and many corporate travel managers and security personnel
experienced fear and panic as they realized their inability to deliver this critical information. It is
important to remember that at this time, many companies did not have a managed travel
program or an integrated security protocol. There were only a few tracking software programs
or centralized data repositories. Travel management company (TMC) reporting was limited and
could not be manipulated easily, forcing reliance on GDS data that did not include online or
direct system data. These and other related challenges later led to the resulting changes with
regard to tracking and risk management within many companies.