Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > Travel Safety/Security > Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate
Reload this Page >

Electronic Devices Banned on Flights to US & UK from 10 ME Countries

Old Mar 21, 2017, 12:52 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: aztimm
US/UK Electronics bans discussion


This thread is intended for discussion of how the recent US and UK electronics bans impact travel with discussion.

For more discussion of this topic, please follow the appropriate thread below:


For basic questions, what is/isn't allowed, use this thread in the Travel Safety/Security Practical forum


To discuss the merits of the rules, with the option of political discussion, follow this thread to the Omni-PR forum
(note: there are time/post restrictions for access to Omni)


Political discussion will not be tolerated in this thread.


Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the (lower right wiki corner)


Print Wikipost

Electronic Devices Banned on Flights to US & UK from 10 ME Countries

Old Mar 23, 2017, 8:33 am
  #346  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: London; Bangkok; Las Vegas
Programs: AA Exec Plat; UA MM Gold; Marriott Lifetime Titanium; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,744
Originally Posted by flyalways
I suspect that a fully reliable detection mechanism is not available. So it is not about having tight security...You may have best security but if the explosive device looks and smells like a laptop battery...it can not be detected....only a guess...
If that were true, it should be a worldwide ban on larger electronics on aircraft. Furthermore, every country would enact the ban, not just the "following you" Brits. The fact that the actions are different indicates that the real reason for this ban is something else.

Originally Posted by ComputerCommuter
Yeh, good job the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is off the market now. That would have been interesting ....
The Note 7 is not the only piece of battery powered electronics that has experienced thermal runaway.

Originally Posted by Section 107
Just have pax get there even earlier to go through similar screening processes as El Al uses....it aint rocket science.
El Al can do what they do because of the relatively limited number of flights and passengers they handle. The security they utilize is not scalable to the extent necessary to handle the plethora of A380s that EK operates from DXB to the U.S. Furthermore, Israeli security very much consists of racial profiling. The protestors would be out en masse.

Originally Posted by k374
In addition, if it was really about security, what do you think is more carefully screened - carry on or checked? Common sense dictates that when you remove your laptop to a separate tray and it goes through xray and is visible and has individual attention the screening is MUCH more thorough than putting it in checked.

So infact, this new rule make things LESS secure not more which is why it is idiotic.
What difference does it make if you can't detect the explosive either way? The operational theory seems to be that remote detonation is not possible [yeah, right] so having the electronic device separated from the passenger eliminates the risk.

I guess one way the ME carries can retaliate is to route all flights to the US via another point where the cost of stopping is pretty low, it could be a very small stopover, something like 30 mins? Can't they do something like this? I am thinking they would have to do this because no business traveler is going to subject themselves to this ridiculousness and I am thinking without business class tickets the flights become economically unviable.
The alternative destination used as a connecting point would have to allow 5th freedom rights and the carrier would have to have the infrastructure in place to handle the flights.

I don't really see a carrier doing that to save passengers from having to check their electronics.

Originally Posted by sdsearch
I heard an interview on the radio yesterday where someone familiar with airline technology said that the baggage area on most planes (used for such long-haul flights, at least) is much more able to sustain and isolate a comparable explosion (of the size excepted from a device fitting into somehting like a laptop) than the cabin is, and that's why it's safer to put the same items in checked bags.

Your assumption (that moving the bag to the checked baggage part of the plane just moved the problem there) seems to be based on an assumption that an explosion in any part of the plane produces the exact same effect as an explosion in another part of the plane. Apparently that's incorrect assumption.
Some parts of the cargo section structure may be stronger, but some parts of the passenger cabin are stronger than other parts as well. And it differs for each aircraft type. I haven't heard anything about electronics being placed only in designated areas of the cargo holds.

This sounds like the media promoting an irrelevant theory.

Originally Posted by airsurfer
Well there can be a loophole.

Imagine a (fictional) flight CPT-DXB-LAX.

Checkin at CPT for EK771: You drop your bags and the clerk will tell you that you should check in laptops, etc. You ignore that an keep in in the carry-on.
Then go to security where they check the boarding pass to be allowed into the security and they don't check the final destination. Then toy will be lined up and after a wait in the line the actual X-ray takes place. Everything is OK, including laptops as they don't know where you are going to.
The CPT-DXB leg it is still legal to take a laptop.

In DXB: You enter the big terminal building and go to security. The boarding pass for EK215 to LAX is checked for access to security only, then you will be in an (long) line. After that the actual X-ray checking takes place, the guys have no idea what your destination is so the laptop is OK.
Go on to the plane and voilŕ, enjoy the 16 hour flight to LAX with the laptop.

To prevent this, all security staff worldwide should be instructed to check the final destination at every security check X-ray tunnel itself, which will generate for more hassle, extra costs for airports and airlines.
I suspect you will find an x-ray machine and metal detector at the entrance to each gate area for flights departing to the U.S. Why do you think the U.S. gave them 96-hours to comply?
Always Flyin is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2017, 1:39 pm
  #347  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,618
Originally Posted by vg247
@ kmersh, thanks so much for the additional details and information for FedEx.
- do you happen to know if your brother insured the shipment contents and for what insured amount if he did?

I am staying at the Grosvenor in the Marina district and will also try to ask them for any feedback they may have.

Please do share with us any additional information you may find out if you hear back more.
I want to say that my Brother In-Law did not insure his shipment as it is a personal laptop iirc it is fairly old, but he very well might have, I just truly have no idea.
kmersh is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2017, 2:22 pm
  #348  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 661
Originally Posted by Always Flyin
What difference does it make if you can't detect the explosive either way? The operational theory seems to be that remote detonation is not possible [yeah, right] so having the electronic device separated from the passenger eliminates the risk.
If they could bring down the place in 1985 from the checked area (Lockerbie) then you think it can't be done in 2017? I think this security ban is ridiculous.

I stand by my earlier observation - it's more likely that a suspicious device will be caught at security screening than in a checked bag. There are strong arguments why this type of equipment should not be in the cargo hold... fires can be more controlled in the cabin vs the cargo hold. So what we are doing here is trading one set of risks for another with a zero net effect but causing a huge amount inconvenience to hordes of people for no reason at all.

And I just went through Abu Dhabi US preclearance a few months ago and the security was about 10X tighter than anything I have seen anywhere... they made me turn on my cell and my laptop which has never happened elsewhere.

Edit - I have gone through various airports with absolutely ...... security heading to the US, somehow that does not seem to be an issue. What about some airports originating in places like Lagos, Nigeria which is a hotbed for terrorist activity? These rules are just arbitrary and totally useless.

Last edited by k374; Mar 23, 2017 at 2:31 pm
k374 is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2017, 5:32 pm
  #349  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA 1K MM, Bonvoy LT Titanium
Posts: 435
Originally Posted by kmersh
I want to say that my Brother In-Law did not insure his shipment as it is a personal laptop iirc it is fairly old, but he very well might have, I just truly have no idea.
Thanks again for everything kmersh, fingers crossed here when I fly April 8th I'll keep everyone posted here as well to help on what/how I decided to handle my Electronics.
vg247 is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2017, 5:33 pm
  #350  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Global
Posts: 5,992
FWIW - Very happy to be in the USA, just off DOH-LAX. (No ban until March 24.)

The "put all the laptops in a small confined area" scares the heck out of me, so I am very happy to have landed ahead of the ban.
Global321 is offline  
Old Mar 27, 2017, 8:25 pm
  #351  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,396
A bit more detail on why: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-uk-laptop-ban
Loren Pechtel is offline  
Old Mar 28, 2017, 1:43 am
  #352  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
That was making the rounds even five years ago.
GUWonder is offline  
Old Mar 28, 2017, 12:06 pm
  #353  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Lausanne, CH
Programs: BA Executive Club Bronze; SAS Eurobonus
Posts: 1
Originally Posted by jonarnold1
I just hope this ban isn't extended to all flights across the world, and as an Emirates flyer I hope Dubai remains off the list for flights to the UK where I live. We'll see....
I certainly dread the day this becomes universal. I mainly travel within western/northern Europe and between Europe and east Asia, so at the moment I'm perfectly fine. But I also always have to carry my laptop, so I do fear this new development.
Since we tend to "get used to" ever increasing security measures, I doubt this new electronics ban will be rescinded soon (if ever). More likely is an extension.

Just look at the liquid ban, that was supposed to be temporary and now it seems to have become as permanent as the X-raying of carry-ons. If (when?) this becomes universal, the risk is that it will never go away.
Gandoon is offline  
Old Mar 28, 2017, 4:03 pm
  #354  
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,582
Exclamation Moderator's Note:

This is the Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate forum.

It is the place to debate, argue, comment and discuss security policy.

This particular thread is for discussing the merits and wisdom of this ban, the reasons behind its implementation and how it impacts travelers.

Practical information concerning the electronics ban, i.e., what travelers need to know before they travel, belongs in the:
And specifically in the following threads:
Posts have been moved.

Please do not cross-post.

Thank you,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator
TWA884 is offline  
Old Mar 30, 2017, 11:12 am
  #355  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 661
Why can't the affected airlines simply add a 45 minute stopover at another airport for flights to the US, that would completely circumvent this ban.

It would be an inconvenience to the passengers to add a connection to a nonstop flight but I would imagine it's less of a inconvenience than being separated from your electronics and not being able to use them.

And you could even have passengers simply get off the plane to the boarding area and then get them back on LMAO! so fight the ridiculous ban with and equal amount of ridiculousness!
k374 is offline  
Old Mar 30, 2017, 12:09 pm
  #356  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Global
Posts: 5,992
Originally Posted by k374
Why can't the affected airlines simply add a 45 minute stopover at another airport for flights to the US, that would completely circumvent this ban.

It would be an inconvenience to the passengers to add a connection to a nonstop flight but I would imagine it's less of a inconvenience than being separated from your electronics and not being able to use them.

And you could even have passengers simply get off the plane to the boarding area and then get them back on LMAO! so fight the ridiculous ban with and equal amount of ridiculousness!
It has been asked many times. Putting aside the cost, the airline would need Fifth freedom flight rights at the airport. Much easier and cost effective to do what QR is doing (provide laptops for use on these flights).
Global321 is offline  
Old Mar 30, 2017, 12:25 pm
  #357  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Originally Posted by Global321
It has been asked many times. Putting aside the cost, the airline would need Fifth freedom flight rights at the airport. Much easier and cost effective to do what QR is doing (provide laptops for use on these flights).
The UAE at least has lots of 5th Freedom rights in Europe. They negotiated well.

But using the rights isn't necessarily all that great an idea, so they don't use most of the possibilities.
GUWonder is offline  
Old Mar 30, 2017, 12:52 pm
  #358  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,253
Originally Posted by CO EWR CPH
I want your life!
Originally Posted by k374
Why can't the affected airlines simply add a 45 minute stopover at another airport for flights to the US, that would completely circumvent this ban.
If memory serves the inbound Royal Jordanian flight to Detroit has a refueling stop in Montreal for part of the year for technical reasons (not sure if it's got fifth freedom for passengers to board or exit) and is on the electronics ban list anyways.
beachmouse is offline  
Old Mar 30, 2017, 6:53 pm
  #359  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: DTW/MBS
Programs: UA 1K, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Formerly Starbucks Gold
Posts: 3,525
Originally Posted by beachmouse
If memory serves the inbound Royal Jordanian flight to Detroit has a refueling stop in Montreal for part of the year for technical reasons (not sure if it's got fifth freedom for passengers to board or exit) and is on the electronics ban list anyways.
RJ does not have fifth freedom to transport between DTW and YUL. But similar to Qantas JFK-LAX-SYD...what's to stop a "technical" stop on the way?
BThumme is offline  
Old Mar 31, 2017, 12:41 am
  #360  
Hilton Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: AA, BA, Accor, Honors Diamond, IHG Diamond Elite and lots more....
Posts: 2,962
A stop enroute would not get around the ban AFAIK.
GentleGiant is online now  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.