The utterly evil attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will forever change the face of air travel and will spawn a culture of paranoia.

In this respect the September 11 suicide terrorists have already won a resounding victory. The repercussions of ploughing passenger-filled commercial airliners into icons of American strength are already being felt worldwide.

No longer will an innocent looking toenail clipper, tweezers or a traveller's sewing kit with a scissors be part of the paraphernalia in carry-on luggage. Because of the hijackers' success with knives and cardboard cutters in commandeering planes, no sharp or pointed instrument will be permitted on board the aircraft. Are lady's stilletos now an endangered item?

It is a cautionery tale on how dramatically established norms can change overnight and the lengths to which determined, desperate and suicidal terrorists will go to achieve their aims.

What decades of sporadic air piracy at the hands of radical groups and a motley group of individuals could not force, a single operation over a couple of hours - albeit the best planned, executed and impactive of them all - has turned air travel upside down.

So instead of sophisticated and expensive equipment scanning passengers for traces of plastic explosives, gelignite or gun powder and X-ray machines looking for tell-tale signs of weapons, airport security has been reduced to more basic and crude sweeps for anything that is sharp enough to inflict mortal wounds. One can't help but feel that even these tougher measures will not dissuade those sufficiently motivated to give their life for a cause they fervently believe in. It is not inconceivable that even jewellery might now have to be outlawed on flights. Chunky pieces of metal can easily conceal wicked slivers of sharpened metal which can cause death. For the 007 fans among the terrorists, the humble looking pen can be effortlessly transformed into a lethal weapon not to mention a false shoe heel being used to stow a pen knife and eyeglass lenses being fashioned into weapons. The possibilities are limitless.

Another casualty of September 11 will be the peace of mind of passengers - even for those who travel well. Bonhomie among fellow passengers is likely to be substituted for furtive, accusing glances. A blameless passenger rummaging clumsily through his travelling bag for his organiser would no doubt now attract nervous stares and thoughts of `is he a hijacker?' Incidents of passengers attacking fellow travellers just on the basis of suspicions are likely to rise. Life on a plane will be much more unnerving.

A variety of compulsory steps - besides seizing disposable razors -will have to be implemented to assure some measure of safety and security on planes. The first and obviously most sensible is to have air marshals stationed on all international flights. Domestic flights would have to be left to the respective governments. These marshals would be on the plane incognito and their numbers would bear some relation to the number of passengers on the flight.

Second, cockpit doors will have to be more secure. On September 11, terrorists swept into the cockpits of four planes as if they were shielded by flimsy blinds. The cockpit door must be more secure and new rules have to be crafted governing the opening of this door. Now that the planes could be easily converted into weapons of mass destruction, cockpit doors may have to remain closed even if the lives of passengers are at risk.

Third, all flight attendants and other staff aboard the aircraft should be trained in basic self defence techniques to enable them to disarm dangerous passengers. The always smiling (at least on some aircraft) air hostess should now also be able to help protect passengers in addition to feeding them.

Even longer check-in times and several examinations of baggage are also in the future of the already harried traveller. It is not a comforting thought.

It doesn't end on planes. Life on the streets of New York and every other city will be haunted by the now more terrifying spectre of global terrorism. We will all spend more time looking over our shoulders and surveying the people around us and in turn we will also be the objects of such scrutiny. This is the new scheme of things.