If they make us put electronics in luggage (Page 2): That could ultimately be the solution - once they find a way to detect the explosives. The problem right now, as I understand it...

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

rook2c4 wrote:

Rather than delaying flights, what may happen is that travelers will be required to check in even earlier to give inspectors more time to analyze the x-ray scans of check in luggage.

That could ultimately be the solution - once they find a way to detect the explosives. The problem right now, as I understand it, is that the nature of the explosives to be used defies TSA's ability to perform that detection, even with more time.

cthahn

Quit crying ahead of time. You don't have to take all that equipment if you are not a professional photographer on a job. Four lenses? What happened to the one lens for everything? If you do not like their rules, don't fly. Everyone is making up a variety of stories just for something to say.

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

jerryc41 wrote:

I was discussing this with a friend yesterday. He knows a man who travels all over the world for business, and his laptop is like part of his body. When he's on a 12-hour flight, he's working with it. Putting it in checked luggage would prevent him from working, and it would risk damaging or losing his computer. Totally unacceptable. Maybe Business Class will offer another benefit - being able to work on business while flying.

At an extra additional fee of course. Thèy won't overlook that cash cow.

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

I am still a believer that this tactic of travel restrictions and upcharging for all things is part of a long range plot to undermine the USA.
If you are old enough to remember think back to the 40s and 50s when the communists gained and kept control in Europe and how..... they restricted or rationed fuel and gasoline to specific uses and ultimately restricted travel. This is still the case in some areas and the USA is starting down the same road. It may take time but it will happen

Mama Bear984 Loc: Langley, BC Canada

Totally agree.
We are going to Australia later this year. I've had the flights booked for months.
Vancouver-Los Angeles-Sydney, hubby wanted to fly on the A380 with Qantas.
Well after all the ruckus about electronics I've changed my booking. It cost me an extra $800, now we fly on Air Canada, as my countries national carrier I have to say I hate flying them & avoid them at all costs. But at least I know I won't be subject to checking all my camera gear. When we go to Florida next year it will be the same. I won't be traveling any US airline until things gets settled. If I don't have to go to the US I won't be going. Most of my friends here in Canada feel the same.

Mama Bear984 Loc: Langley, BC Canada

None of my flights will be going through the US until you get all this electronics stupidity gets fixed.

Mama Bear984 Loc: Langley, BC Canada

None of my flights will be going through the US until you get all this electronics stupidity gets fixed.

Tigger1 Loc: Surrey, BC Canada

Mama Bear984 wrote:

None of my flights will be going through the US until you get all this electronics stupidity gets fixed.

Quit travelling to the USA on business and pleasure in late 2001 right after 9/11. The hassle of entering the USA was not worth the benefit gained at that time. In my opinion the American government via its various security agencies has got the American public whipped into a security conscious frenzy and is using the American airlines companies as its agent to carry out its policies.

At one time I truly believed that "America, the land of the free" was real and meant something, not so much anymore.

Totally agree with your posted comments Mama Bear.

redlegfrog

therwol wrote:

I realize this is still up in the air. I believe that such a policy will hurt business travel and businesses in general, and it has nothing to do with cameras. Business travelers carry company owned laptops that may have sensitive information on them, and there may be software on them that allows users to connect to their work in order to be productive while traveling. My company tell us to maintain control of their assets at all times. If businesses don't allow their assets to travel in luggage, they may also realize that travel isn't really necessary at all. The work that their employees may do overseas can often be done from home through the internet through an encrypted connection, up to and including video conferencing. So when they take their employees off of the planes, it will hurt airline business and the economies of countries where they send them to spend money on things like food and entertainment, car rentals, hotels etc.

As for me personally, I throw my cameras into the equation. The last time I went to Europe last year, I traveled with a Nikon D810 and 4 lenses, a Canon Superzoom compact for backup, a dedicated camcorder, a laptop, a tablet and a GPS device, all in the same bag I carried on the plane, an investment of thousands of dollars that I can't afford to lose. Would the airline replace these devices if stolen by baggage handlers?

And then there is the issue of the lithium batteries in most of these devices. Airline pilots have said they are opposed to having large numbers of lithium batteries in the cargo hold. A Jet Blue plane recently had a lithium battery fire in the cabin, and they were able to put it out. They would not have been able to put out the same fire in the cargo hold. There was a case of an exploding headset that made the news a few months ago. It happened in the cabin of the plane, and they were able to put the fire out. I've seen luggage literally thrown out of planes onto the ground, and I wonder if the shock of that might cause damage to equipment and their batteries resulting in a fire later.

We don't know what will happen with the proposal to ban electronics from the cabin, but if they go ahead with it, I won't feel as safe on a plane because of the battery issue, and I definitely won't take so much equipment with me the next time I travel overseas.

I realize this is still up in the air. I believe ... (show quote)

If they make us check our camera's and laptops etc. it will be a gold mine for the thieves in baggage handling, not to mention the damage that will be done by rough handling. Remember why we endured the headache of carry-on in the first place.

DJCard Loc: Northern Kentucky

I went to Banff in mid May and carried my camera with attached lens, iPad, iPhone and all my chargers in a carry-on backpack with no problems, not even a second check after scanner. However, TSA is now considering banning all electronics bigger than a mobile phone on all domestic flights within USA!! As noted above, the financial impact for airlines and destinations would be huge, so I'm waiting for their deal makers to work it out with TSA and related "agencies" to avoid a potential financial catastrophe if business travelers were to switch to electronic communications/conferencing.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

It would seem there could be three responses to this potential problem. 1. don't travel by air - use internet etc. for meetings. 2. Send your valuables via Fed EX - many equipment vendors do this. 3. use an cloud service or something similar to access your your information or computer remotely. (won't work for photo gear.).

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

rjaywallace wrote:

Well stated. The airlines don't fully appreciate the fact that we can easily reduce our travel, both within our country and abroad. Unfortunately that plays right into the hands of terrorists who want to disrupt our lives, so it's a lose-lose situation for us. /Ralph

Simple solution is to stay stateside. I can drive anywhere in Canada or the USA.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

fetzler wrote:

It would seem there could be three responses to this potential problem. 1. don't travel by air - use internet etc. for meetings. 2. Send your valuables via Fed EX - many equipment vendors do this. 3. use an cloud service or something similar to access your your information or computer remotely. (won't work for photo gear.).

You better check the cost of shipping packages internationally with UPS, Fedex,or DHL; you might choke on the cost.

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

While it does not address the issue of being able to work while flying, sending valuables to your hotel destination by FedEx, etc. is an option. Of course, shipping to some destinations can be riskier than trusting baggage handlers.

ghill42 Loc: Colorado

I once toured the security section of a major airline's baggage handling area in Miami. Impressive. Numerous monitors for the entire area and monitored mostly, at that time, by police officers working part time. I did not see any process measurements on how effective it was. Baggage pilfering was a big problem at that location but I'm sure those counter measures have mitigated it to some extent. No matter, I would never put anything of real value, like a laptop or camera, in checked baggage.