Not my experience in US airports.  That restriction didn't exist at most airports (any airports that I boarded or arrived at) until after 9/11.<p>Watch TV shows from the era (Friends, for example, or the Jet Li "Romeo and Juliet" movie) and you'll see the same thing: we used to be able to see people off at the gate.  Such people still needed to go through security, of course, but they did not need a boarding pass to do so.