Despite attacks, Mainers take flight After initial slowdown, businesspeople resume normal travel patterns

While last September’s terrorist attacks curtailed the travels of many Mainers, people once again are taking to the skies.

“It shocked everyone, but it didn’t stop them,” said Peter Ramsay, a travel consultant with Main 1 Travel in Bangor.

His company is as busy as it was last year, he said. However, it is booking more train and cruise ship trips as some people remain leery of flying.

For most, the reluctance to fly was short-lived, Ramsay said. That is especially true in Bangor, far from the nation’s big cities.

“We’re in an area where people are stuck. You have to fly,” he said.

Ramsay himself flies to New York City once a month “just for fun.” He plans to fly there on Sept. 11.

Traffic at Bangor International Airport has actually increased since the attacks. That’s because people are seeking to avoid the delays and hassles of large airports such as Logan in Boston, Ramsay said.

Immediately after the attacks, in which four commercial airliners were crashed, many businesses ceased corporate travel altogether and others cut back dramatically. Within a few months, however, businesspeople were back in the air as face-to-face contact remains important, Ramsay said.

The first month after the attack, FMC Corp. placed a moratorium on travel, said Mike Stumbo, manager of the company’s Rockland facility. Once travel resumed, business trips were less frequent. By December, things were back to normal, Stumbo said.

FMC uses seaweed from around the world to produce carrageenan, a natural binding ingredient used in products such as toothpaste, diet soft drinks, pudding, ice cream and candy. The company also has plants in Europe and the Philippines and imports seaweed from Canada, Tanzania, Indonesia, the Philippines and Chile.

Since the attacks, the largest concern for the company has been the security of the containers it routinely receives, Stumbo said. The issue is still under review.

International Paper Co., whose corporate headquarters is in Stamford, Conn., just outside New York City, had been on a path to reducing travel to save money and time when the terrorist attacks occurred.

“September 11 quickened the pace,” said Dave Libby, human resources manager at the company’s Bucksport mill.

Since then, the company has relied more heavily on teleconferencing and videoconferencing to conduct business meetings.

There have been no lingering effects of the attacks at the Maine International Trade Center. Gov. Angus King went on a trade mission to Mexico just two months later and a group traveled to Switzerland in the spring.

“Here at the trade center, it’s business as usual,” said Richard Coyle, MITC president.