Lansing - Air travel across the country, including flights from Capital City Airport, will be suspended until at least noon today.

Mike Lynn, assistant director of Capital City Airport in Lansing, said the Federal Aviation Administration ceased all domestic air travel and rerouted international planes in response to hijacked commercial airliners that crashed in New York and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Lynn said the attacks will change the way airports operate in the United States.

“The world as airports know it changed this morning, and I think the world as you know it changed this morning,” he said. “I would expect there are going to be a ton of changes.

“What they will be, I don’t know.”

Security was increased at the airport after the attacks, Lynn said. People attempting to come to the airport were not allowed to drive directly in front of the terminal building. Several of the roadways coming into the Capital City Airport were closed, and traffic was diverted.

Less than a dozen travelers remained at the airport at noon Tuesday.

Lynn said anti-hijacking measures have been in place and made public in the past.

“We try to make sure we are as secure as we possibly can be and still provide the level of convenience to passengers,” he said.

Devon Allard was left in Florida today, unable to get a return flight.

But Allard, a political science senior, said he was more concerned about family and friends in New York City and Washington.

He said he was relieved to talk to his cousin and learn he was unharmed. His cousin, Matthew Allard, works about a mile from the World Trade Center and witnessed both plane crashes.

“He said it was chaos, at the time they didn’t know what was going on,” Devon Allard said. “There could have been attacks anywhere. He said he walked six miles from his office to his apartment (after the attack).”

But Allard said he was unable to contact his friends in Washington because cellular phone communication was down.

After attending a conference near Fort Myers, Fla., he had planned to return to Michigan on Tuesday, but now he’s unsure of his plans.

“I have to just wait it out and see what happens, they are unsure if more terrorist attacks will occur,” Allard said. “Certainly I am concerned, but I am sure they will take the appropriate security measures.”

In the meantime, Allard said he will stay in his overcrowded hotel until he can take a flight home.

Mary and John Scott were among those stranded at Capital City while trying to return home to San Antonio.

“I was stunned. You don’t think that something like this can happen here,” Mary Scott said. “It was just spooky to come to the airport and not see bunches of people. It makes you feel nervous and unsettled.”

The Scotts were considering renting a car instead of flying.

“I am afraid to fly,” John Scott said. “Wouldn’t you be?”

Mary Scott said she felt fortunate.

“We are lucky enough to not be in the middle of it,” she said. “But it just is so horrible and makes you scared.”

State News staff writer Kristy Austin contributed to this report.