Originally Posted by
MSY-MSP
Now I have heard that there is a potential wild card out there that may stop the ban in its tracks. It is something that I have seen next to no discussion of around here, and it has nothing to do with the governments. It is the insurance companies that insure the aircraft. There is a very high possibility that the insurance companies for the airlines and the aircraft will either not cover an aircraft loss when large numbers of electronics are carried in the hold, or they may charge an extremely high premium for coverage when this is true. These guys look at the actual risks associated with this type of carriage, and it is a known risk that has brought down 2 airplanes already and led to the ban on these items as cargo on passenger planes. All it takes is one of these to get too hot and its game over. Imagine what would happen if the insurance guys said we aren’t going to cover you if you allow this in the hold, or we are going to charge you 1000% more for this coverage.
Originally Posted by
iad2jfk
I don't see how they can possibly have this up and running by the end of the month...surely there needs to be a good chunk of time to train staff, implement airline-specific procedures, and inform the public of the new rules.
The hull carriers control the industry because, to my understanding, no commercial airplane moves, anywhere in the world, without hull insurance. So if the hull carriers say "No LiOn in the cargo bay" and if the security regulations say "no electronics in the passenger compartment" then that means that no electronics will fly (assuming exceptions will be made for airline operated equipment so that flight crews can still use their stuff).
I don't think they will want to go that far. On the other hand, it depends how credible the threat really is. Because, for the reasons stated, if the security regulators say "well, let's take a reasonable chance, we don't want to harm air travel" the hull carriers could still say "no LiOn devices on airplanes, anywhere, passenger or cargo" then there would be, as a practical matter, a worldwide ban of electronics on planes.