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TECHNOLOGY Thursday 23 March 2017

For some airline passengers, new warnings bring new hurdles

BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — As far as
the indignities of modern
air travel go, the latest ban
on laptops and tablets on
some international flights
falls somewhere between
taking your shoes off at the
security checkpoint and
having your baby food
and milk tested for bomb
residue.
It’s yet another impediment
in the name of security for
already weary travelers, es-
pecially those from or pass-
ing through the 10 mostly
Middle Eastern and North
African countries covered
by new U.S. and British poli-
cies. While not quite as dis-
ruptive as an outright ban
on smartphones — much
less a travel ban based on
nationality — the restric-
tions loom large for some.
“Why are only Middle East- In this Jan. 15, 2015, file photo, a new Qatar Airways Airbus A350 approaches the gate at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany.
ern airlines subject to this Associated Press
ban?” asked Kelsey Nor-
man, a doctoral student
who plans to fly home Fri- smartphones, duffel bags, Northwestern University. or cleaning up inboxes. were widely circulated vid-
day to Los Angeles from coats, small bottles of hand For those who must, there In-flight Wi-Fi is required to eos of Note 7s bursting into
Beirut — and expects to lotion, snacks, earplugs are ways to do a limited send or receive emails. flames. There was no doubt
have to check her laptop, and other small items. amount of work without If travelers need downtime, that this would be bad
a Kindle tablet and her LOST PRODUCTIVITY laptops, tablets or other there is always Netflix or thing at 30,000 feet.
DSLR camera. “Overall this Some, particularly business electronics. Amazon. Users can down- The potential danger cited
policy is inconvenient, dis- travelers, see the potential AWKWARD WORKAROUNDS load content to a smart- by the U.S. and the U.K. is
criminatory, and continues for theft, damage or com- It possible to transfer im- phone before leaving so more ambiguous.
to hurt America’s rapidly promised data if they are port documents to Google that it’s easily accessible. Yet even for some travelers
deteriorating reputation forced to check laptops. Docs and do some work AT LEAST IT’S NOT PHONES who do not mind stowing
globally.” The anxiety is real enough on a smartphone. Features Laptops and other gad- away laptops to abide by
BAN LOGIC that there were attempts can be limited for some gets play only a supporting the new rules, there is some
New restrictions from the to reroute flights to other apps; Microsoft’s Office role to the smartphone for apprehension.
U.S. Department of Home- airports immediately after app, for instance, allows us- many travelers. Yet even in Nick Lieber, a dual U.S.-
land Security prohibit the the ban was announced. ers to open only one docu- cases where there are re- Israeli citizen living in Jeru-
transportation in carry-on Banu Akdenizli, a native ment at a time. strictions on smartphones, salem, plans an April trip to
baggage of laptop com- of Turkey, said that being These apps are good at least in the most recent Chicago that will take him
puters, tablets, Kindles, forced to fly 17 hours with- enough for simple proof- and notable example, the through Amman, Jordan,
some gaming devices, out her laptop will cost her reading and minor editing, reasons were clear. and therefore subject him
cameras and other elec- precious time to work and but will leave users want- Last fall, Samsung asked us- to the ban. He doesn’t an-
tronics larger than a smart- to prepare for a confer- ing when more complex ers of its fire-prone Galaxy ticipate having to do work
phone. The U.S. govern- ence. tasks are required. The text Note 7 to “power down on his laptop during the
ment cited unspecified “It might seem trivial to a will also be small on smart- and stop using the device” flight.
threats as the reason. The lot of people, but what you phones, though there is a on planes. (The phone was But he worries about lap-
U.K. government instituted get from these parts of the way to temporarily refor- later banned, and then re- top lithium-ion batteries —
a similar ban; neither gov- world are usually business mat text to accommodate called.) which have been blamed
ernment’s restrictions af- travelers,” said Akdenizli, smaller displays. One big difference with for past aircraft fires —
fect U.S. airlines. an associate professor of One simple task that can that ban and today’s re- stored in the plane’s cargo
People can still bring with communications at the be done on a smartphone gionally based restrictions is hold. “I’m a nervous flyer
them to their seat items like Doha, Qatar, campus of is communicating via email that with the Galaxy, there already,” Lieber said.q