Working on your laptop inflight from Europe might, or might not be, verboten (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
It looks like the Department of Homeland Security’s widely-reported plans to expand its in-flight laptop ban to Europe has been put off at least for a few days.
Earlier reports this week suggested that the ban’s announcement was expected by Thursday or Friday, and would apply to U.S.-bound flights from the continent and perhaps the U.K., prohibiting flyers from carrying anything larger than a smartphone into the cabin. (Yes, tablets would be forbidden, too.) That kind of ban is already in place for non-stop flights to the U.S. from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa.
There was even a notice at a Delta gate at Cincinnati on Friday that the ban would take effect May 12 (posted by SFO 1K on FlyerTalk), but that was premature. A DHS spokesperson referred all inquiries about the sign to Delta. Late Friday, Vocativ.com reported that a Delta spokesperson said the notice was posted by error and should be regarded as erroneous. (yeah, but…)
The sign, which has since been removed, said: Attention International Passengers. Effective May 12 passengers will only be permitted to carry a cell phone onboard flights returning to the United States. All other personal electronic devices with be required to be checked.
A sign at Cincinnati Airport spotted by FlyerTalk member SFO 1K on Friday morning (Source: FlyerTalk)
According to reports Friday from Reuters and Politico.com, DHS agreed to hold off on any order pending a meeting with European officials in Brussels next Wednesday (May 17).
EU officials are said to be concerned not only about the logistical problems that would be created by a sudden imposition of a laptop ban, but also about potential threats to safety if thousands of travelers start to put electronic devices into their checked luggage for stowage in the hold of the aircraft. The lithium-ion batteries in such devices are known to pose a small risk of igniting.
In fact, the European Aviation Safety Agency says on its website: “You should carry your portable electronic devices (PEDs, such as cameras, laptops and phones) in your hand baggage (carry-on), and not in your checked baggage,” because of the fire risk.
U.S. airline officials have been in talks with DHS in recent days about the looming announcement of a laptop ban for European flights, presumably to give them time to prepare their operations for such a possibility.
So we can all breath a sigh of relief … for now.
How will the laptop ban affect the way you travel? How or will you adapt? Please leave your questions and comments below.
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@JohnSmith, yes good photo equipment is worth many times what the airlines will insure if lost, stolen, or damaged. Will have to look into additions to my homeowners policy to see what might be covered. I have trips to Svalbard and southern Africa planned for this year, and an imminent ban will affect those trips. This ban is pretty much just security theater…
johnandbellasphotography. Hey ssandphoto, I share your thoughts as I am also a photographer. And as far as I’m concerned, this is lunacy. However, they were also saying that no photo equipment or laptops will be insured, as these items are too expensive.
And next year, I am planning on Iceland, Norway and Alaska. However, that being said: If this goes into effect, millions will be lost, as people have already cancelled flights, and two airlines from the middle east have cancelled flights. And with the summer fast approaching, it will be a mess.
I have been dreading this expansion of the electronics ban. I am a photographer. Not only do I travel with a laptop, various i-devices, but I also tote around a lot of very expensive cameras and lenses. I also regularly go through JNB, notorious for theft from checked luggage. This will be more than an inconvenience for me, it could be a disaster. And I agree with @salvatorejohnson:disqus, the terrorists have won when we cower in fear and react this way to terrorist threats.
Agreed with the battery issue. As with several of my previous posts about this, the potential for a fire (Samsung Note7) looms. Slim but possible. The focus must be technology the recognizes explosives not some person with distractions of life. The shear volume of passengers (especially the USA) scream for it.
I don’t need to tell you all how much this really sucks. Not the hassle of this, the possible thief of computers and ipads that the airlines won’t cover, the big possibility of these getting broken as bag handlers throw baggage all over the place and it could land wrong.
But as I see it the biggest problem is that we are starting to now lose personal freedoms. When those terrorist attacked the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers the government has gone out of their way to make sure that we still had a lot of freedoms, of course at a great cost in homeland security. Because of this all Americans could feel that these bastards didn’t get the best of us because we were still able to keep a lot of our freedoms.
But with this ban we are now telling terrorist that you won, that you have accomplished your goal in making us so scared that we have to seriously alter our lifestyle. I am very disappointed that the government couldn’t do anything like put officials in foreign airports to make sure that they see that computers and Ipads are working and don’t have bombs in them.
God help that one plane that finds a fire breaking out in the baggage compartment because of that one overheated computer or Ipad that catches fire and bring a jet down.
It’s just too bad that the government has given up in a manner that tells every terrorist under the sun that yes you can scare us into losing personal freedoms.
So this ban is more that it looks, it’s the start of now giving in to terrorism which we all should be very disappointed about.