Air travel restrictions

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Did you take your Kindle or leave it at home? Did you have a laptop also? I'll be out of the country for a couple weeks, I really don't want to leave the ereader at home.

My trip was to Egypt, so the restrictions only applied to the return flight. I bought a high-security Samsonite suitcase (no zip) and put my Kindle and iPad in it for the return flight. They were both fine. I never travel with a laptop; when I travel I do stuff on my iPad.

[tubemonkey]

A Laptop Ban on Flights Would Be Terrorists’ Biggest Win Since 9/11

I wonder if American carriers will offer any incentives to these passengers to keep them flying?

Even before attempting any new attack on an airplane, terrorists could be on the brink of inflicting the most serious disruption of air travel since the 9/11 attacks.

If the Department of Homeland Security goes ahead with plans to ban laptops from the cabins of all flights from Europe to the U.S., the economic impact on airlines will far exceed that caused by previous measures, like removing shoes at security and the ban on carrying liquids in hand luggage.

The laptop ban would most affect those who are the most lucrative market for the airlines flying the Atlantic, business and first class passengers. These are often professionals like corporate managers, lawyers, accountants, scientists, and media producers whose laptops contain proprietary or confidential information that their companies will not allow to go into checked baggage for fear of being lost, damaged, or stolen.

[Sweetpea]

Pilots are against this ban. And I can completely see their point of view.

What if an innocent laptop catches fire? Lithium-ion batteries have done so, out of the blue. So, that laptop is in the hold, catches fire, starts to burn through the clothing in the suitcase, fire gets bigger, starts to consume the suitcase, gets even bigger and you have a huge problem. Which nobody can easily handle. You must put the plane down.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/....1494916642152

According to the European Agency for Security of Aviation (EASA), airlines need to take the responsibility to check if all devices in checked in luggage is turned off. Can you imagine the lines at the checkin desk if every single person had to open up their suitcase so that every single device can be checked if it's turned off?

[tubemonkey]

The best solution is to ban passengers. Then the planes will be very secure.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Pilots are against this ban. And I can completely see their point of view.

What if an innocent laptop catches fire? Lithium-ion batteries have done so, out of the blue. So, that laptop is in the hold, catches fire, starts to burn through the clothing in the suitcase, fire gets bigger, starts to consume the suitcase, gets even bigger and you have a huge problem. Which nobody can easily handle. You must put the plane down.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/....1494916642152

According to the European Agency for Security of Aviation (EASA), airlines need to take the responsibility to check if all devices in checked in luggage is turned off. Can you imagine the lines at the checkin desk if every single person had to open up their suitcase so that every single device can be checked if it's turned off?

Electronics ban adds frustration to flying

An extra line at check-in for anyone checking electronics required that an extra four Emirates employees be on duty to pack dozens of laptops in cardboard boxes, a process that added to the boarding time. A frequent Emirates traveler from the U.K. told me it never used to take so long to board, and an Emirates gate agent said that every flight to the U.S. was leaving between five and 10 minutes late because of the ban. My flight left Dubai 30 minutes late. Onboard, a flight attendant told me that the cabin crew felt less safe having laptops in the cargo hold due to the risk of fire from their lithium-ion batteries. They are all trained to put out fires in the cabin, but for a fire in the cargo hold they depend on the sprinkler system to do the job.

Lithium-ion battery fires, however, are hard to put out with water and, once doused, sometimes smolder and burst into flames again. To date, at least two cargo planes have crashed due to lithium-ion battery fires in their holds.

[tubemonkey]

I have some questions:

* Are in-flight movies free or do you have to pay extra for them?

* Do ALL seats have video displays in front of the passengers?

* Do ALL seats have USB chargers?

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I have some questions:

* Are in-flight movies free or do you have to pay extra for them?

* Do ALL seats have video displays in front of the passengers?

* Do ALL seats have USB chargers?

We flew AA: in-flight movies were free (good selection too), all seats had a video display and they all had a 110V American-style power outlet. The BA flights to and from Schiphol and Heahtrow had none (but that's only a short hop anyway, of about 2 hours).

But that was only the 777 from AA, no idea how other companies and other planes are fitted..

Edit: I was looking for a picture of the system we had and found this one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ne...inment-screen/

It's actually funny to read, with the current state of affairs in mind...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

We flew AA: in-flight movies were free (good selection too), all seats had a video display and they all had a 110V American-style power outlet. The BA flights to and from Schiphol and Heahtrow had none (but that's only a short hop anyway, of about 2 hours).

But that was only the 777 from AA, no idea how other companies and other planes are fitted..

Edit: I was looking for a picture of the system we had and found this one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ne...inment-screen/

It's actually funny to read, with the current state of affairs in mind...

Thanks for the info.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Edit: I was looking for a picture of the system we had and found this one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ne...inment-screen/

It's actually funny to read, with the current state of affairs in mind...

No laptops, no tablets, no ereaders, and now no seat-back screens. What fun

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

No laptops, no tablets, no ereaders, and now no seat-back screens. What fun

Well, it is for national flights only, and I doubt even Trump can get American airports so far as to ban all electronics from planes...

But that in-flight system with AA was actually very nice. If you take that picture, you have the screen (it's based on Android) and beneath that there's a remote control, with even a keyboard on the other side. And it's also a game controller, as there are some games on that system as well (think kid games, mostly)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

According to the European Agency for Security of Aviation (EASA), airlines need to take the responsibility to check if all devices in checked in luggage is turned off. Can you imagine the lines at the checkin desk if every single person had to open up their suitcase so that every single device can be checked if it's turned off?

You can't turn a Kindle off.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can't turn a Kindle off.

So, theoretically, you shouldn't even be allowed to put that in the hold luggage either, as the airline can't guarantee it's turned off...

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The best solution is to ban passengers. Then the planes will be very secure.

My personal jet is on its way to pick you up. (Be in your yard 15 minutes before departure so you don't miss your flight.)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

My personal jet is on its way to pick you up. (Be in your yard 15 minutes before departure so you don't miss your flight.)

...can I carry a Swiss Army knife in my pocket?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Or you could listen to security experts like Bruce Schneier

Serious question, because I don't know the answer:

What qualifies him as an expert?

I ask because his own "about me" section just lists what he's published and his appearances, and about his activism. So going by only that, he's clearly expert in giving his opinions, but I missed what ever experience and/or training he has that informs those opinions.