New gadget ban on some US international flights

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Fred99

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#210295 21-Mar-2017 14:35

It seems to have started with this:

According to news reports, the ban applies to flights to and from 8 countries, but there's no official announcement - so no list of countries affected.

Saudi airlines have confirmed the ban applies to them. Presumably this is in response to some known specific threat. I guess a concern is TATP can't be picked up by airport scanners, and the bad guys seem to be getting better at making and using it. But if concerns about quality of screening/security at those foreign airports is the issue, that doesn't really explain why outbound flights from the US are also affected.

Could be rather upsetting if you had to surrender your new camera or ipad at check-in - possibly never to be seen again.

I hope it doesn't spread - increase to cover more destinations / departure points.

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#1745202 21-Mar-2017 14:50

Interestingly, that tweet has now been deleted.

Fred99

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#1745205 21-Mar-2017 15:02

It has too.

There's still a message up on Saudia twitter - how's your Arabic? I can only make out Kindle, iPad, and Laptop.

Wonder what the story is - possibly a borked roll-out of a new policy rather than error/fake news - but hard to know these days.

MikeB4

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#1745209 21-Mar-2017 15:12

This on Stuff. Now it is Stuff so who knows

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/90677315/most-electronics-being-banned-on-certain-usbound-flights

sbiddle

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#1745210 21-Mar-2017 15:14

Devices aren't banned. They simply need to be put in checked luggage rather than carry on.

This then raises the whole issue of lithium battery fires in an environment where they can't be contained!

blakamin

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#1745352 21-Mar-2017 20:14

sbiddle:

Devices aren't banned. They simply need to be put in checked luggage rather than carry on.

This then raises the whole issue of lithium battery fires in an environment where they can't be contained!

Yeah, that cracks me up... Until now(?) you haven't been allowed to put those things in checked luggage!

Drives me nuts with my daughters laptops and tablets. Imagine an 8 (and 13) year old going through security (UM) having to unpack all that. I started making their mother pull the batteries and leave them at home, just send the PSUs.

Tatou

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#1745987 22-Mar-2017 18:13

My main concern is putting expensive cameras and lens in the hold ready to be damaged and stolen.

The ban will prevent them being carried in the cabin.

However as I am going to the UK via Wgtn-Melbourne-Dubai- London it looks like it will not be a problem as Dubai is not one of the airports that is affected if you are going to the UK UNLIKE the US where is mentioned in the ban.

blakamin

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#1746005 22-Mar-2017 19:00

I wonder if Captain Tangerine is hoping a laptop on a flight from one of those countries will cause a plane to go down so he can claim "TERRORISM!!!one!"

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blakamin

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#1746009 22-Mar-2017 19:05

AAAND the UK has done it now too.

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#1746026 22-Mar-2017 19:55

read this http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11823052

jonb

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#1746055 22-Mar-2017 20:39

Tatou:

My main concern is putting expensive cameras and lens in the hold ready to be damaged and stolen.

The ban will prevent them being carried in the cabin.

However as I am going to the UK via Wgtn-Melbourne-Dubai- London it looks like it will not be a problem as Dubai is not one of the airports that is affected if you are going to the UK UNLIKE the US where is mentioned in the ban.

Being cynincal one would wonder if the lobbying by US carriers against competition from the big 3 emirates airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, has had any influence here. Those airports are some of the most modern and secure in the world, also with TSA pre-authorisation.

Fred99

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#1746183 22-Mar-2017 23:26

Priceless nonfactoid from UK expert:

jonherries

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#1746207 23-Mar-2017 01:20

Saw the conversation with the "expert" on tv this morning, he appeared to be knowledgeable but not very media savvy.

I think the point he was trying to make was that depressurisation of the cabin is much more catastrophic than the same sized explosion in a non-pressurised cargo area in the plane, and that is the origination of this advice. He also mentioned but didnt elaborate on the additional screening undertaken on checked luggage - presumably sniffer dogs etc.

He also said he didnt think it was a particularly well thought out decision and listed off a few reasons, mostly mentioned here I think, with also the one about terrorists now just changing airports.

Be interesting to see if it widens, also be interesting as I read somewhere that some carriers have been making decisions not to implement inflight entertainment as everyone has their own devices and really just want network connectivity...

Jon

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#1746209 23-Mar-2017 01:41

I agree with the NZ Herald article, I think there is a good chance that this is purely political.

Why the laptop ban may not be about airplane security

It may not be about security.

Three of the airlines that have been targeted for these measures - Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways - have long been accused by their US competitors of receiving massive effective subsidies from their governments.

These airlines have been quietly worried for months that President Donald Trump was going to retaliate. This may be the retaliation.

These three airlines, as well as the other airlines targeted in the order, are likely to lose a major amount of business from their most lucrative customers - people who travel in business class and first class.

Business travellers are disproportionately likely to want to work on the plane - the reason they are prepared to pay business-class or first-class fares is because it allows them to work in comfort.

Its also interesting that the UK (which have "copied" the US on this) are not including some of the countries that the US are restricting.

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jonherries

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#1746210 23-Mar-2017 01:57

jarledb:
I agree with the NZ Herald article, I think there is a good chance that this is purely political.

Why the laptop ban may not be about airplane security

It may not be about security.

Three of the airlines that have been targeted for these measures - Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways - have long been accused by their US competitors of receiving massive effective subsidies from their governments.

These airlines have been quietly worried for months that President Donald Trump was going to retaliate. This may be the retaliation.

These three airlines, as well as the other airlines targeted in the order, are likely to lose a major amount of business from their most lucrative customers - people who travel in business class and first class.

Business travellers are disproportionately likely to want to work on the plane - the reason they are prepared to pay business-class or first-class fares is because it allows them to work in comfort.

Its also interesting that the UK (which have "copied" the US on this) are not including some of the countries that the US are restricting.

Be interestinng if that is the case, my guess, based on the past few months is that sort of motivation wont stay secret for long...

Jon

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#1746220 23-Mar-2017 06:58

Aircraft holds are pressurised. What the would-be bomber can't control is the proximity of any device to the skin of the aircraft if the it is in a cargo hold. Not such an expert after all.

Does the theory that it is being done to affect Emirates, Qatar and Etihad mean that all the other affected airlines from the region are just collateral damage?

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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