And all of them came from countries which are not on the proposed Muslim Ban list.
Am hearing from pretty good sources that the limits on what can be carried into the plane cabin may include medical equipment - which is currently allowed. That could be an even bigger issue than laptops for some individuals. Medical equipment is often somewhat delicate, certainly not designed to be carried in the cargo hold jumbled in with other bags. If you need this equipment to essentially stay alive or have any quality of life, what can you do except potentially rent equipment at your destination. How scary would it be to have to check that kind of equipment…
"Air travel in the near future will be done naked, with luggage sent on a separate, robot-piloted plane. Guaranteed safety! Terrorist-proof! "
you can never be to “safe”!
there are actually people who would say that and believe it.
DH carries a CPAP and a highly locked-down gov’t computer on his work travels. This is nuts. Lithium batteries in a non-climate controlled,hull scares me more than the terrorists. I carry on the plane the things I absolutely need on a trip and that I don’t trust not to be stolen/damaged – my cameras, a netbook, my 13 bottles of meds (because I am reluctant to take large quantities of unlabeled meds overseas), and a change of underwear and shirt.
Some of us need medical equipment DURING flight. I know I do. Yes, it is operated via lithium ion batteries and I am required to bring enough battery power to have the equipment run 50% longer than projected total travel time. I am required to carry this all on board my flight.
Cruising regularly between HNL and CA or Washington DC doesn’t seem too viable, IMHO.
“The 911 hijackers were all in the U.S. legally in 2000, a year ahead of the attacks. Don’t blame Canada!”
There have been several cases of terrorists setting up in Canada, intending to do their preparation and planning there, then drive down to the US to actually do their deed. In all of the cases that I have heard of the terrorists have discovered (rather suddenly for them) that the RCMP is actually a very effective and very professional police force.
I trust the airplane security folks in Canada to be at least as effective as their equivalent in the US.
Ressam (I don’t remember first name), the LA millenium bomber, tried to enter the US from a ferry from Vancouver, but was questioned and arrested by an alert immigration officer. This was back in 2000. Ressam had refugee status in Canada.
Interesting coverage by someone who experienced the laptop ban coming from the Mideast. This was on Emirates, which generally has its stuff together.
Thanks, @greenwitch. I’m impressed with Emirates approach. The Asian carrier I am on every 2 -3 months has a very organized 2nd screening of all passengers to the US (as opposed to some of the European carriers I’ve flown that just make a hash of their 2nd screening through disorganized, impolite, ill-explained methods). Of course, the airline already allots more than 30 minutes for this second screening before passengers can move into the secured waiting area to await boarding. I can imagine that looking for specific items and carefully tagging and packaging them will add even more time.
Their boxing method could put the laptops in the cabin but it would take up a LOT of space. The EU people are complaining about the safety of all those batteries in the cargo hold:
http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/12/news/laptop-ban-batteries-fire-risk-europe/
Sounds like arriving at the airport early, with as few electronics as possible and being as patient as possible will become increasingly important.
Politico and The Hill reporting no personal electronics ban will go out this weekend. DHS and EU will talk again Wednesday. Sounds like EU is doing everything they can to minimize this potential action, either by limiting the number of airports involved or kill it altogether.
Impressed with the process Emirates cobbled together so quickly - kudos to them. So if this is the basis for a process going forward, how much do you think it will add to the prices of a ticket? Think they’ll end up charging for this ala carte or bury it in the security charge? You know it’s not gonna be free…
They’re more expensive than regular laptops, but there are rugged laptops for sale that are almost indestructible. On theft, has anyone ever had a laptop in checked luggage stolen or is this a hypothetical?
Of course they are stolen. Anything valuable and easily portable can be stolen. There have been many, many documented cases with the culprits being baggage handlers and even TSA agents. It hasn’t happened to me and my checked bags are often gone through by the TSA (they leave behind a little calling card). I make sure to have dirty clothes in a bag on top.
Why do you think you can plastic-wrap your luggage and you can even have a combination lock on your suitcase? Stuff gets stolen all the time. Stuff gets put inside luggage all the time too (you have to beware when you’re in a certain countries as your suitacase can be used as a mule for illegal transport).
^It looks like TSA gets about 10k complaints a year about lost, damaged, or stolen luggage. They screen 466 million checked bags a year. That sounds like a low risk to me. The theft issue seems like it’s easily solved by adding more cameras in the screening areas.
^Multiply this by all the airports in the world, then add all the people who don’t complain.
The only report I’ve heard was that 1° the US is hell bent on this 2° it’ll greatly inconvenience everyone 3° but mostly it puts all transatlantic flights at high risk due to ion-lithium batteries causing fires.
In short, in order to decrease a danger, you create one that’s even more likely.
I’m already revising some of my travel plans.
^I think most people who lose a laptop or tablet do complain.
Can’t steal something that is not there. Most people do not pack valuables like laptops in the checked luggage. Make that a requirement, and theft reporting will go up.
Reason #2 - reporting only happens when the theft is major. We certainly never reported any stolen watches, electric shavers, etc. that we foolishly forgot to take with us into the cabin. Not worth the time to report…