What year was “Flight” supposed to have taken place?

Question

At least one part of the movie "Flight" suggests its story takes place before September 11, 2001:

About 30 minutes into a flight, the pilot played by Denzel Washington exits the cockpit, goes part way into the cabin in view of the passengers, and talks to the passengers over the intercom. If the pilot had done this after 9/11, I think he would have been violating FAA procedure, as after 9/11, pilots must stay in the locked cockpit for the duration of every flight, except to use the bathroom. But after the plane crashes, the investigators never mention the cockpit exit, suggesting it wasn't yet a violation of protocol.

Am I correct that "Flight" took place before September 11, 2001? And is it possible to pin down the precise year in which "Flight" was supposed to take place?

Update 7 May 2013: After looking around the web a bit more, I have learned that pilots do not have to limit themselves to either the cockpit or the bathroom... they just have to make sure that when they leave the cockpit, it is locked behind them. So it was not necessarily a breach of rules for the Denzel character to make the speech to the passengers, even under post-9/11 rules.

Answer 1

According to the film's website, the story has its genesis in 1999, before Sullenberg or 9/11, so screenwriter John Gatins did not have those references when he wrote it, and obviously he decided not to reference them in his film made this year. The movie does have three scenes shot in Atlanta's St. Regis Hotel, though, which it mentions by name. The hotel opened in April 2009. So it's current in its setting, but perhaps without recent events having been calculated in.

Given that Washington's character had been drinking and on drugs, perhaps he would not be concerned about breaking an FAA rule. In fact, going back to talk on the intercom was the only way he could access the little bottles of vodka,