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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ted Reed, a Forbes contributor, who has been covering the airline industry since 1989 discusses the impact of the proposed ban of Laptops on U.S bound flights. He quotes varied experts\u2019 opinions suggesting that the ban will be digging new holes to fill old ones. Here are some highlights:<\/em><\/p>\n Should (U.S) ban airline passengers on U.S.-bound flights from carrying on laptops and other large electronics?<\/p>\n Or, already three weeks into what is expected to be the busiest summer travel season in U.S. history, should (the world) just keep talking about it?<\/p>\n The latter course has so far been the preferred one, not surprisingly, since banning laptops seems to be an exercise that eliminates one potential problem while creating others.<\/p>\n “Placing {laptops} in cargo doesn’t solve the problem,\u201d Todd Insler, chairman of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association told\u00a0TheStreet<\/em>\u00a0las month. \u00a0\u201cIt just creates a different problem.<\/p>\n “Lithium-ion batteries are clearly hazardous — I don’t want a hazardous device in my cargo hold,” said Insler, a New York-based Boeing 767 captain.<\/p>\n Additionally, the International Air Transport Association has estimated global airlines could suffer an impact of $1 billion from delays that would increase travel time and eliminate productive time aboard aircraft.<\/p>\n At the same time, last week top executives from United Airlines and American Airlines questioned whether the laptop ban in itself would discourage passengers from flying.<\/p>\n \u201cMy guess is not better than anyone\u2019s in this room about what the impact on demand will be,\u201d said United President Kirby, who spoke at an investor conference.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to me to see that {checking} a laptop or personal entertainment device would lead to much change in demand,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cI\u2019d be shocked if it\u2019s 15% of people who are affected by that.\u201d<\/p>\n However, he said, a laptop ban could dramatically impact operations because passengers would have to check more baggage and also the level of monitoring that baggage would likely increase.<\/p>\n The executives stressed that United and American are perfectly willing to carry out whatever security policies the government devises.<\/p>\n \u201cSecurity is our number one priority,\u201d Kirby said.\u00a0 “We don\u2019t have the right clearance level to know everything about what the risk is. {Other} people have much better intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview Wednesday with\u00a0Bloomberg News<\/em>,\u00a0American CEO Doug Parker also deferred to the government regarding safety.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are dependent upon the U.S. government, who has the intelligence to let us know what their view is about the risk is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asked the financial impact of a laptop ban, Parker responded: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to tell: we never had one.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Parker continued, American has questioned its larger corporate clients, who say \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t stop them from traveling just because they couldn\u2019t bring a laptop.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, he said, \u201cmany companies today don\u2019t allow their employees to take laptops to China at all.<\/p>\n They\u2019re worried about privacy. So, we have a case study where there are customers flying to China without a laptop at all.\u201d Yet people still travel to China.<\/p>\n A limited case study occurred in March, when the U.S. decided to ban arriving passengers from carrying on laptops and other large electronics at 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n No U.S. carriers serve the affected airports, and passengers had the option to fly to the U.S. from other airports.<\/p>\n The only major player to acknowledge a significant impact on traffic has been Emirates: In April, the carrier cut its weekly Dubai-U.S. flights by 20% to 101, citing reduced demand due to \u201crecent actions taken by the US government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0reported Friday that airlines are scrambling to prepare for the additional security checks and angry passengers that would likely result from a ban of carry-on laptops on international flights, if there is to be a ban.<\/p>\n At a meeting in Malta on Friday, U.S. officials including Attorney General Jeff Sessions presented European counterpart with a list of extra security measures that, if imposed, could forestall a ban, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n If a ban were to occur, \u201cthe most likely measure would be secondary airport checkpoints to temporarily confiscate most electronic devices from passengers,\u201d the Wall Street Journal said. \u201cThose could lead to longer lines, delayed flights and higher costs, and could be the industry\u2019s biggest logistical challenge since 2006, when a suspected bomb plot against trans-Atlantic flights led to limits on liquids and gels on board, say aviation experts.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/In-flight-laptop1-300x210.jpg\")
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