When the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all aircraft last Sept. 11, Winner Aviation Corp. found itself in the middle of things.

As the terrorist attacks unfolded, the FAA directed all aircraft in flight to land at the closest available airport. The federal agency wanted to be sure no other flights had been taken over by terrorists.

Based at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Winner Aviation offers charter services but the other half of its business is refueling, repairing and maintaining planes.

Within hours of the FAA order, seven planes showed up at the company's doorstep. Rick Hale, president and chief executive officer of the company, found that dealing with frazzled flight crews was top priority.

Owned by the Winner family, the company then looked after the planes which prior to that day weren't expected. Flights were grounded for nearly a week as the government tried to sort out how to safely resume services. Hale saw passengers catch trains or cars to reach their destination.

"We didn't have people pounding on our doors saying, 'I have to go somewhere' because they understood the magnitude of what was going on,'' he said.

Even after flights resumed, it took time for travelers to warm to flying.

"People were afraid to get on planes,'' Hale said. "They wanted to see what was happening first.''

After the terrorist attacks, charter services out of major metropolitan areas saw their business surge. Business executives and wealthy air travelers sought ways to avoid long lines at airports due to beefed up security measures. At Winner Aviation, the charter business held steady.

"Chartering out of Youngstown is not a real vigorous business, it's not high demand,'' Winner said. "In metropolitan areas where companies are headquarters, that's where you see people use corporate aviation.''

Executives of major corporations are willing to foot the higher bill for charter service because time is money.

"Everyone thinks it's a luxury, a big shot thing,'' Hale said. "It's a matter of more efficiency. It can mean the difference between making a deal and a good impression on a client or not.''

Of course, there are other perks. Meals on charters can appease those with finer palates versus the bland, luke-warm, served-in-a-cardboard-box versions found on commercial services. Crab legs, lobster, exotic fresh fruit and 20-year-old scotch are at the beck and call of charter passengers if ordered ahead. Naturally, all of this is tacked onto the final bill.

"If you want to pay for it, you're going to get it. It's not a problem,'' Hale said.

Those using charter flights can bypass regular commercial aircraft ticket registration lines and head directly to their departure gate. The chartering company, usually the pilot, typically asks for some form of identification from a passenger, such as a driver's license.

"The pilot has the responsibility that the people who are leaving are the people who are suppose to be on the plane,'' Hale said.

There's no way a charter passenger can just stroll on the tarmac and wave down a plane like a taxi, he added.

"You can't just walk out and onto a plane,'' Hale said. "You couldn't do that before 9/11 and you certainly can't do it now.''

He does see security changes in sight for the industry. Currently, charter services aren't required to search luggage.

This past summer the company saw a decline in chartering service, which Hale blamed on a lackluster economy and a falloff in demand for flights everywhere.

"The economy crimped us more than 9/11,'' he said.