Story summary
Twenty-five years have passed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which resulted in 2,977 people killed, including 79 workers and 91 guests at Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The attacks also caused widespread destruction and changed the world forever.
Many Americans are still affected by the trauma of that day, as seen in the lives of individuals like Colin McShane, who lost his father in the attacks when he was just 4½ years old. McShane's experience is not unique, as many others have been impacted by the loss of loved ones or personal experiences on 9/11.
In addition to the human toll, the attacks also had significant global implications, including a shift in international relations and a new era of terrorism. In response to the attacks, the United States launched the "war on terror," which has continued under various administrations.
However, the impact of 9/11 extends beyond geopolitics. The attacks also led to a surge in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment in the US, with many Muslim Americans facing harassment, discrimination, and even violence. This phenomenon continues today, as seen in the treatment of Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate nominee who has been called a terrorist and a radical Islamist.
In the years following 9/11, many first responders have fallen ill or died from related health issues due to their work at ground zero. The World Trade Center Health Program was established to provide care for these individuals, but funding has not kept up with the number of people getting sick.
As the US approaches the 25th anniversary of 9/11, many Americans are reflecting on how the country has changed since that day. With a new generation growing up without memories of the pre-9/11 America, there is a growing concern about the need for continued remembrance and understanding of this pivotal moment in history.
Written for “Anniversary of September 11 Attacks” on 2026-09-08,
grounded in this article and the 37 other(s) covering the same event.
Calin Rovinescu was strolling through an art museum in Barcelona on a wedding anniversary getaway when he heard the news.
asserted
he → stroll → news
In a pair of phone calls, his assistant told him planes had just struck the twin towers in New York City.
“I was looking at Picasso’s unique, surrealistic art … as I was hearing a surrealistic story,” Air Canada’s then-executive vice-president recalled.
asserted
president → tell → story
Rovinescu, who would go on to become CEO, remembers scrambling to find a quiet place to dial into an emergency meeting of Air Canada executives, rushing into the street and through the doors of a café.
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who → go → café
“The world was changing before my eyes, and the people around me had no clue what was about to happen,” he said.
asserted
he → change → clue
The attacks and the plunge in air travel that followed forced a frenzy of tough choices among aviation and government leaders in the days and weeks afterward, as Sept. 11 pushed some airlines to the brink and beyond, reshaping Canada’s aviation landscape.
Leading the call with Rovinescu was then-chief executive Robert Milton, who had just woken up from a nap in London after catching a redeye flight from Montreal.
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who → follow → Montreal
Receiving special clearance from the Canadian, U.S. and U.K. governments, Milton managed to fly back to Canada the day after the tragedy alongside Rovinescu, who’d hopped over to London from Spain.
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who → receive → Spain
European airspace remained open.
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airspace → remain → ?
“I remember being on the flight deck with the crew,” Milton said of the voyage, taken in a Bombardier Challenger business jet loaned last-minute by that company’s CEO.
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Milton → remember → CEO
Air Canada’s 300-plus planes were grounded.
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planes → ground → ?
“It was truly eerie because there was no radio communication at all, whereas normally there’d be an armada of aircraft crossing the Atlantic in both directions.
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It → be → directions
Then-Air Canada CEO Robert Milton recalls the surreal sense of uncertainty he and his colleagues faced that day, as well as the financial fallout.
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he → recall → day
Marie-Hélène Lévesque, special assistant to transport minister David Collenette at the time, drove back to Ottawa from Montreal the morning of Sept. 11 with her boss.
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Lévesque → drive → boss
They had ducked out of an airport conference, where his speech was interrupted by the jangle of cellphones in the audience as executives got word of the unfolding disaster.
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executives → duck → disaster
“In that minivan, all the major decisions were taken,” said Lévesque, now director general of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
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Lévesque → take → Canada
Following the lead of American authorities, Collenette greenlit the closure of Canada’s airspace minutes after a Boeing 757 crashed into the U.S. Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.
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Boeing → follow → a.m.
It marked the first time ever that either country had taken such a step.
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country → mark → step
“This was the third plane, and we didn’t know how many more there were,” said then-deputy minister Margaret Bloodworth.
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Bloodworth → know → ?
Before the battery died on his cell, Collenette instructed Nav Canada to order 270 planes over the Atlantic Ocean to turn around and fly back to Europe.
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planes → die → Europe
He also oversaw the landing of 224 other diverted flights carrying 33,000 passengers to 17 Canadian airports in a matter of hours, the most extensive aircraft grounding in the country’s history.
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He → oversee → history
In Gander, N.L., the airport took on 38 planes carrying 6,500 people.
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airport → take → people
The hardiness and hospitality of the town’s 9,000-plus residents became known to the world via the Broadway hit musical Come From Away, which chronicled their experience hosting the stranded travellers.
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which → know → travellers
“Some of them sat for 24 hours because we weren’t ready to let them off the planes until we had enough customs and immigration people there to screen them.
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we → sit → them
We didn’t know who was on them,” said Bloodworth.
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Bloodworth → know → them
“They didn’t know until they landed what had happened because it was not the days where you could have the internet from planes,” she added.
uncertain
she → know → planes
“And the pilots by and large did not tell passengers until they landed, because there’s no point in panicking people.
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they → tell → people
In the weeks and months that followed, politicians and bureaucrats allocated billions of dollars for new security measures and the creation of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which took charge of passenger screening processes that until then had been in the hands of individual airlines.
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that → follow → airlines
An eventual gauntlet of checkpoints and protocols – shoes off, laptops out, liquids limited to 100 millilitres – signalled a permanent shift in how travellers fly.
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travellers → limit → shift
Meanwhile, airlines struggled to absorb the blow of plummeting demand.
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airlines → struggle → demand
A majority of Air Canada revenues stemmed from flights to and from the United States, including routes where Canada was a layover point for overseas trips, Milton said.
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Milton → stem → trips
The plunge in air travel demand in the post-9/11 months severely dented earnings.
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plunge → dent → earnings
Air Canada cut 6,600 workers and posted a $1.25-billion loss in 2001 after losing hundreds of millions of dollars in sales in the fourth quarter alone.
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Canada → cut → quarter
The US$15-billion in grants and loan guarantees that American rivals received didn’t help, as Canadian carriers received relatively little in financial aid – about C$160-million.
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carriers → receive → aid
“When so much of your revenues are generated in the U.S market and your competition receives so much subsidization, you’re going to be destabilized.
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you → generate → subsidization
And we were destabilized,” Milton said.
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Milton → destabilize → ?
The country’s second-largest airline, discount carrier Canada 3000, soon folded.
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airline → fold → ?
It was placed in bankruptcy in November, 2001.
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It → place → November
Numerous airlines across the globe met a similar fate, ranging from Ansett Australia to Swiss Air.
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airlines → meet → Air
Others restructured under bankruptcy protection in the decade that followed, including almost every U.S. legacy carrier and, in 2003, Air Canada.
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that → restructure → 2003
“It led to a big, big restructuring.
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It → lead → restructuring
It highlighted the fragility of the cost structure,” said Rovinescu.
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Rovinescu → highlight → structure
…and 9 more, not listed.
