Ironically what you describe was air travel in the 1980s-1990s, despite several high profile airline hijackings.
The hijackings didn’t make people go crazy.
Unticketed passengers even could walk up to the gate.
Identification wasn’t even checked while boarding — just a ticket was required.
How far we’ve fallen…
Identification often isn't ever checked when flying within Europe _today_. They just check your ticket.
That said you're certainly not getting near any gates without a ticket in Europe these days either.