VelvetJones

Yep. The only thing this move would do is cause a boom in stolen electronics being sold on eBay.

gobluetwo

Will never happen. This is one dirt rag's way of taking something out of context and blowing it way out of proportion to cause a stir and create pageviews/sales.

gailwynand

This report was just on NPR so I think we can start giving it some credibility.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...ound-christmas

Spiff

No way I am flying commercial period under such ridiculous conditions.

STBCypriot

I've got a (reluctant) trip scheduled for the Christmas holidays from Cyprus to the UK with carry-on luggage only. If this goes into effect, I'm cancelling and I'll take the hit on the cost of the ticket if I have to.

chollie

From the cite: Seriously? the xray that scans checked bags can tell if the contents of a laptop are really laptop guts or something else? And the checkpoint xray can't display the same thing?

LoganTSO

Well, I think it comes down to the individual airline as you know some want the old "bag templates" returned to the front of the x-ray machines and those executives salivating over all the excess checked baggage fees they'd rake in.

mikeef

Please note: The following is in the hypothetical. I don't believe for a second that this ban is being seriously considered anywhere, regardless of what some tabloid says.

Even if somebody were to take this plot seriously and propose a carry-on/electronics ban, it would never happen. The airlines would push back fiercely against it. They don't have much power, but they have some and there are rare occasions of security being rolled back (reversal of total liquid ban, earlier attempts to ban carry-ons). Heck, even public opinion has mattered (no pat-downs on kids or seniors, excluding gun-toting 94-year olds).

It would be very difficult to enforce such a ban on TATL flights only ("The terrorists know we're on to them! Now they'll switch to domestic flights!"), meaning that thousands of business travelers will have to shut down their laptops and parents everywhere will have to explain to their kids why they can't watch "Peppa Pig" on the flight to Florida. Planes would immediately go from full to empty.

In a worst case scenario, there would be electronics screening at security (e.g., Power up your laptop.) and pre-check would become extinct. Truthfully, though, if such a ban were to go into place, the terrorists wouldn't even have to get out of bed on Christmas morning. Global commerce would come to a halt, which is something the terrorists could never do with a bomb on a plane.

Mike

mikeef

Welcome back! Admit it, you were the guy who fell through the ceiling at Logan.

Mike

chollie

It also comes down to the elites and how much collective clout they wield.

IME, the biggest consistent 'should know better' carry-on abusers are elites - in the front cabin or in the back. They are not carrying on to save $ because elites don't pay that fee. They are carrying on because they want to be sure they arrive with their valuables, luggage unmolested.

It isn't the once-in-a-lifetime flyer who is arguing with the gate agent because their Tumi or Briggs carry-on won't fit in the sizer.

sh1982

So they are trying to force you to put your valueble things sometimes worth a couple of thousends of dollars in your checked bag which you cannot lock on tatl flights. Is this maybe some early christmas present for TSA and bagagge handlers lol plus i would when i see how baggage sometimes get thrown on the plane by baggage handlers i can only guess how much alone the damage caused by that would cost.And if they say ban all carry on luggage do the also mean that cannot check say you handbag or so?

chollie

It has happened before, although only briefly - look up the news accounts after the LGA scare, the one that triggered the LGA restrictions.

IIRC, there were accounts of folks not being allowed to board with anything more than a clear baggie with money and documents and needed meds.

mikeef

A little birdie told me that some people have even had needed meds confiscated...

Mike

chollie

But...they weren't confiscated because they were meds (because meds are supposed to be allowed), they were confiscated under the 'no explosives' rule.

TSA has changed the medical information on the website, but it has not changed the explosives information, so as it stands, my pills could still be confiscated.

Same logic applies to one brand of contact solution, ClearCare. It is allowed under medical rules but disallowed under 'evil substances' rules. Hey, TSA is a new agency, it takes time to settle in and get up to speed, and as most tech-familiar people know, it takes a long time, months of effort and $$$ and a staff of thousands to keep website rules updated.

Of course, if the website rules were kept current, questions at the checkpoint could be settled by referring to the website (and perhaps the SOP), instead of making up lies.

guflyer

My understanding was that it is dangerous to check anything with a lithium battery. In Australia, I have had the agents at the check-in desk ask me specifically whether there are any items with these batteries in the checked bags. Wouldn't a ban on carry on luggage bring about danger because of the amount of lithium batteries that would need to be placed in checked luggage?