AIR TRAVEL ARRIVES AT NEW REALITY.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

The skycaps have disappeared from many of the nation's airports, along with those sophisticated electronic check-in machines that spat out a boarding pass and made it possible to breeze from the curb to the gate without talking to anyone.

Gift shops in many airports have stopped selling scissors, nail clippers, eyeglass-repair kits and anything else that might be converted into a weapon.

On board, there are no more steak knives in first class. And perhaps that's just as well, since on many flights, there is no more steak. Meal service is being curtailed or abandoned by airlines that warn they are being forced to the brink of bankruptcy by the collapse in passenger traffic.

Since Sept. 11, the rules of air travel and airport safety in the United States have been rewritten, almost certainly forever.

Commercial jetliners that Americans took for granted as instruments of convenience and pleasure suddenly became weapons of terror and mass murder.

And for many travelers, confidence in those entrusted with protection was eroded - as if most Americans ever had much faith in the often-bored, poorly trained, barely paid security folk to whom the airlines had given so much responsibility.

With demand weak, airlines around the world reduced the number of flights between cities, and even dropped some cities from their routes. On flights to medium-sized cities, large jets have been replaced with small regional jets or even smaller turboprops.

In the first week and a half after travel resumed, most airlines posted schedules of 80 percent of their flights but flew far fewer, as reservations were reported down by more than 40 percent. And travelers who did take to the air reported that the mood on board planes was noticeably anxious.

The tension could ease some in the coming days as President Bush's airport security plan, unveiled late last week, is implemented. Among other things, Bush said the federal government would be put in charge of airport security, and that he was urging state governors to call up National Guard units to handle scrutiny until the plan can be implemented. He also said legions of armed sky marshals will be secreted aboard planes.

In the meantime, travelers - even frequent fliers - battled this past week to overcome their uneasiness over a return to the air.

Many business travelers have refused to stop flying. They have little choice in the matter, they say: either their careers call for it or their anger demands it. But that doesn't mean they are relishing the experience.

Anxiety is reported to be running high, and what may seem like a routine matter in the air could ruffle even the most experienced fliers. Victor Viner, who logs more than 100,000 miles a year, said his business partner traveled to Vienna recently on a flight in which a passenger refused to sit down during takeoff. ``It's hard not to become anxious in that kind of situation,'' he said.

Even before Bush outlined the details of his plans, the federal government and the nation's airlines had responded to the terrorist attacks with numerous measures of heightened security.

The new rules ban curbside baggage check-in, and knives of any size or material from the passenger cabin. Only ticketed passengers are now allowed past security points.

But recent visits to several of the nation's largest airports showed that while the level of anxiety among passengers and airport workers was consistently high, there was little consistency in the level of security found from airport to airport, and from airline to airline. That is likely to change as security comes under the purview of the feds.

``I thought they were going to be grilling people, but I waltzed right through,'' said Boaz Yakin, a 36-year-old filmmaker who flew from Los Angeles to New York's Kennedy Airport exactly one week after the terrorist attacks.

At Los Angeles International, he said, the only obvious sign of tightened security was a restriction on private cars getting close to the curb. At check-in for his American Airlines flight, ``the lady asked me the usual questions - 'Did you pack your bag yourself?' - and so on,'' he said. ``Nothing else. And that worried me.''

``I had expected the El Al treatment,'' he said, referring to Israel's security-conscious flag carrier, which routinely subjects passengers to lengthy interrogations and baggage inspections. Instead, said Yakin, who was born in Israel, the American Airlines check-in agent simply tagged his bag and sent it along to the plane. ``It made me feel we have a long way to go,'' he said.

Those who fly may soon encounter higher fares as the changes wrought by the attacks bring new pressures on the airlines. Fewer passengers and a greater emphasis on security will mean that each plane can spend fewer hours in the air generating revenue, which figures to squeeze the airlines.

SAFETY INFORMATION

U.S. State Department: The State Department travel warnings focus on dangers facing Americans in overseas countries, from pickpocketing and political upheaval to the possibility of terrorist attacks. Its office of Overseas Citizens Services assists travelers in emergencies abroad. Information: [phone]; www.travel.state.gov.

British travel security: For an alternative look at safety issues for travelers, check the British government Web site administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: www.fco.gov.uk (click on Traveling Overseas).

U.S. Department of Transportation: This federal agency has a recorded- information phone line for special travel advisories concerning security threats at various destinations: [phone].

Federal Aviation Administration: The FAA's Web site gives basic advice to travelers on ticketing, overbooking, safety issues and airport security: www.faa.gov (and click on Traveler Info).

Pinkerton: This corporate-security firm provides some information on terrorism and crime as it affects business, but can be of interest to individual travelers: pgis.pinkertons.com.

Kroll Associates: Another business-security firm that sometimes posts comments and analysis of travel-security issues: www.krollassociates.com (click on Kroll Forum or What's New).

- Seattle Times

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2) At Salt Lake International Airport, above, Salvador Ramirez stands a lonely watch at an ice cream counter Tuesday; three major airlines have cut nearly 24 flights departing Salt Lake City. Below, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Curtis Stone attends an x-ray machine Tuesday at Boston's Logan International Airport, the place of origin of two of the hijacked flights.

Douglas C. Pizac/Associated Press

Neal Hamberg/Associated Press

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SAFETY INFORMATION (see text)