While the in-flight electronics ban prohibits items larger then mobile phones on U.S. bound flights, it does not specify how airlines must implement the ban. Emirates has come up with a clever solution: gate checking larger electronic devices.
Bloomberg reports–
The state-owned carrier is planning to permit devices affected by the ban within the security perimeter to allow passengers, particularly those flying in premium seats, to use laptops and tablets until the last possible moment, it said in an email. The airline will then take the items for storage in the cargo hold until arrival.
Great news in theory, though I can imagine this might be a logistical nightmare. Emirates does not presently have security at the gate, meaning some form of a second security check will become necessary. My guess is that we will see careful checks of carry-on bags on jet bridges.
This probably would have been necessary with or without the new laptop/iPad “gate check” option because the central security checkpoints at Abu Dhabi and Dubai are not optimized to check boarding passes and segregate USA-bound passengers.
A Viable Plan to Gate Check
While the threat of theft would remain, a specially-designed “gate valet” cart similar to the way bags are checked on regional flights in the USA could provide more secure transport. Here’s how I envision it — create a special cart with a fiberglass enclosure that can be locked. Like a coat check, give each passenger a claim ticket and then lock the cart before loading it.
At landing, Emirates representatives in the USA would be waiting just outside the jetbridge to return personal electronic devices by carefully matching claim tickets to ensure the numbers match.
A perfect solution? Certainly not. But I do appreciate that Emirates is trying to make this ridiculous ban as unobtrusive as possible by ensuring that its guests, especially its premium guests, can use their banned in-flgiht electronic devices until the point of boarding. I’ll provide an update on how Emirates will implement its gate check program.
Emirates Reminder: We Have Great IFE
Whatever the solution, there will be no laptops onboard. Emirates has released a new Jennifer Aniston commercial touting its vast in-flight-entertainament library:
It’s true…between sleep and movies the flight will still quickly pass.
(tip of the hat to Point Me to a Plane)
I am still struggling to understand how a potentially danger device (if someone plants a bomb inside) would make a difference if it is inside the plane or in the cargo area. Would that be related to connecting to the internet to trigger it? I am all for extra security in flights but not really following the rational. I still think there is something behind the scenes to hurt the M3 but since UK followed with a similar ban which affects their own airlines now I am not really sure what to think.
I agree that the ban makes no sense. The clearest explanation I have heard states that the laptop bombs can only be triggered by hand, thus why they are safe in the cargo hold but not passenger cabin. I don’t buy it. Remote technology is so advanced that it seems an unlikely explanation.
Written as is, the ban does not make sense. If you understand the difference between the machines that screen checked bags vs what is done at the screening checkpoints there is a reason.
Checked bags pass through a EDS machine that uses one of several methods to detect explosives, including looking at the atomic mass of the objects in the bags. It is not an xray machine which depends on visual cues. Bags are only xrayed if the bag is suspected of containing explosives and the purpose is to help the manual inspector find the possible item in the bag.
At a screening checkpoint you only have an xray machine which can be difficult to use to find explosives which why they quite often use the cloth and sniffer machine as a secondary.
Unfortunately since we aren’t getting any real information about the threat, anything and everything discussed is pure speculation.
I imagine that the security used to scan checked baggage is stronger than that used on carry on baggage. There are more tools available.
I also understand that in the event of an explosive device all baggage is already in metal compartments which provide an extra level of protection.
While I appreciate what EK is trying to do, I think it also misses the point. It’s not the fact that not having access to a laptop is going to ruin my flight (it won’t – I’ll end up sleeping almost the entire way anyway). It’s that many business travelers are prohibited from checking work laptops, period, because of the risk of loss/misuse of sensitive client and/or commercial information. My previous employer made it very clear that work issued computers were never to be checked. If I still worked there and traveled back and forth to India for work, I’d have no choice but to book away from EK/EY/QR on the return. Or I’d have to try to add an unnecessary connection somewhere in Europe and hope that I could get the fare under the price cap. We were allowed to book J, so losing customers like that is going to hurt (though I still respectfully disagree about the administration’s motives).
The ban is clearly just to piss off and slow the growth of Emirates, Qatar and Etihad. See how they did implemented this for flights from their hubs? This comes from a discussion American, Delta and United had with Trump. Since US carriers cant compete with the Middle East carriers (I would rather fly Emirates than Delta…) they made this ban so customers will be pissed and therefore fly US airlines. Additionally, since electronics have to be checked, imagine someones laptop or camera gets stolen, this customer will be pissed at Emirates and therefore might not want to fly them again, My creating confusion and aggravating customers on other airlines, these customers will want to fly US carriers…
There is just no way I will be checking my laptop — full stop. I’ll fly around the world in the opposite direction before I will subject myself to the anxiety of hoping it re-appears when I land. The worst case scenario is losing your laptop going to your destination, and now having travelled a long journey, at considerable expense, and being unable to do the work I travelled to accomplish. This puts to one side the smaller consideration that if I can’t prepare for my work en route, I have an extra item on my to-do list before I leave for my trip, and also the fact that not having my laptop makes it impossible to do any work en route and destroys my main justification to clients of flying business class. My conclusion is simply that I can’t and won’t take any route which requires me to check my laptop. I think these airlines might be able to convince leisure travelers to check their bags, but I think for their best customers — the business traveler — this is an impossible burden to surmount.
I agree that the airlines are missing the point–the big problem is not lack of entertainment on the flight. I never use my laptop while on the flight, but nonetheless it needs to be in my carry-on bag for security reasons. My flights from the UAE to USA are to visit family, not for business. Nonetheless, I need to keep my laptop secure because I have a lot of sensitive data on it (bank info, tax returns, account info for all the bills I pay online, etc.), which would put me at risk of identity theft in the event of theft or hacking. I have already been the victim of laptop theft at an airport, so this is a realistic fear of mine.
The theft occurred in January 2010, when my husband and I flew from Dallas to New York City. Right as we were boarding, we were told that the overhead bins were full so we’d have to check our carry-on bags. My husband needed to work on his laptop while on the flight, so he removed it and carried it on. Boy, do I wish I had done the same! When we arrived in NYC, our 4 big checked bags came out on the conveyor belt, but not the 2 carry-ons. We were told that they would arrive on a later plane and would be delivered to our hotel. They were delivered the next morning, but upon opening them, we discovered that ALL of our electronics had been stolen–my laptop, our 2 digital cameras, our 2 sets of noise-cancelling headphones were all missing! American Airlines (like all airlines) is not liable if electronics are stolen, so there was nothing we could do about it. The airline rep wasn’t even slightly apologetic. She just coldly said “We don’t cover that.”
We felt particularly wronged because we tried to keep these valuable safe by putting them in our carry-on bags, which we never expected would be taken from us and checked. The financial loss of our electronics was at least 5 thousand dollars. But the biggest loss was family pictures and videos that were on my laptop, which I had not yet backed up. Because of the risk of ID theft, all of our credit and debit cards had to be replaced (in case our bank accounts were hacked) and I had dozens of passwords to change for all the accounts that I pay online. It was a nightmare which took several weeks to take care of! After this experience, there is no way that we will risk having our laptops packed in our checked bags or checked at the gate. We will have our laptops shipped by FedEx, which will be very expensive and will be a hassle, but will be much more secure. We will still have to have wipe some of the data off our laptops before shipping.
@Sally this is the sort of horror story that we all fear. Now imagine the added grief of telling your client or boss that their confidential data is floating around. Laptops are just too precious to allow out of your sight, and the airlines should be working for a solution from this principle — one that involves screening so that one can keep the laptop onboard, and not some extravagant valet service which doesn’t solve the problem. Fortunately for me, I’m a transit passenger in these places, and I can avoid this problem by flying routes that transit elsewhere. If I had to fly from the UAE, I would stop in EU (ex-UK) en route to avoid this nonsense.