Laptops now OK on planes

Laptops now OK on planes

The good news is that our flight from Heathrow to JFK (12 and a half hours from now) hasn't yet been cancelled and we will probably be able to take our laptops on board rather than hastily stuff them into our luggage while standing in some horrendous line at the airport.

The bad news is that accurate information is impossible to find.

I've just received e-mail from a friend in the U.S. who had no idea the UK had banned laptops in planes for the past several days. And a couple days ago, I read NY Post and Daily News stories online saying things were back to normal for all flights arriving to New York. Yet a third of all flights out of Heathrow (many going to NYC) were completely canceled and the papers here carried stories about tanks at airports, check-in lines snaking out to the car parks (passengers were given plastic ponchos since they had to wait in the rain,) and people being forced to throw away their iPods, cell phones and just-purchased duty free goods at the gate because the rules had suddenly changed mid-day and if they wanted to check those items into the plane's cargo, it would mean missing the plane.

The papers also said that the US is now (or at least was over the weekend,) requiring all UK to US flights to send a complete passenger list to the US once all the passengers were boarded. Once the US had that list, it would take two to seven hours to approve the list of names and give the OK for that plane to take off from the UK. (One paper said a Virgin Atlantic plane was held on the tarmac for seven hours full of passenggers awaiting clearance. Mind you, this was a plane full of passengers who were allowed to bring nothing on board but passports, plane tickets, keys without an electronic keychain and little else -- nothing to read, nothing to drink or eat, nothing to preoccupy the kids, and of course no laptops, cell phones, Blackberries, iPods.)

However, I should reitterate that I haven't seen any of this first hand, it all comes from the papers, TV or the airline web sites. And the reports frequently conflict with each other to some degree, often within individual stories.

So while I know that tonight's AA141 is still scheduled to fly out on time (though the same-numbered flight last night was already canceled by this time yesterday morning,)I'm not entirely sure what we'll be able to take on board, or how early we're supposed to show to the airport.

We're planning on arriving four hours early. Yesterday I spent about $130 to ship by mail a bunch of clothes and books home so that we'd have more room in the suitcases if we suddenly have to cram our laptops in at the last minute. We also bought bubble wrap, which I assume we'll ditch at the airport if we don't need it to srap the laptop cases before putting them in a suitcase. I backed up the main files on my laptop -- while my head filled with past stories of mass arrests of Heathrow baggage handlers systematically stealing stuff from travelers' bags.

These are today's Heathrow rules from the British Airports Authority:

Passengers are now permitted to carry ONE item of cabin baggage through the airport security search point.

The cabin bag should be no bigger than 45cm wide x 35cm long x 16cm deep (17.7" wide × 13.7" long × 6.2" deep), including wheels, handles, side pockets - equivalent to a small laptop bag or rucksack. Other bags, such as handbags, may be carried within the single item of cabin baggage. All items carried by passengers will be x-ray screened.

The restrictions on contents allowed in cabin baggage have now been relaxed and the items prohibited from cabin baggage are now as follows:

- Any cosmetics
- Any toiletries, including toothpaste, hair gel, lotions, perfume, deodorant, shaving foam, aerosols, etc.
- Any liquids
- Any drinks
- Any sharp objects.

Please note: Baby milk and liquid baby food are allowed but the contents of each bottle must be tasted by the parent. Prescribed medicines in liquid form, eg diabetic medicines, over 50ml, must be verified by a pharmacist at any of the airport pharmacies.

All laptops and large electrical items (eg large hairdryer) must be removed from the bag and placed in a tray so that such items neither obscure nor are obscured by the bag.

Pushchairs and walking aids are permitted but must be x-ray screened. Wheelchairs are permitted but must be thoroughly searched.

If you are travelling to the USA:

Extra restrictions are in place – passengers travelling to the USA will be subjected to secondary security searches at the gate. No toiletries or cosmetics purchased in the departure lounge will be allowed into the aircraft cabin and any drinks or liquid items must be consumed before boarding. Food, however, is allowed. Passengers boarding flights to the USA and items they are carrying, including those acquired after the central screening point, will be subjected to secondary search at the gate and any liquids discovered will be removed.

Yet apparently each airline is allowed more strict rules if they want. And I don't know if that's the reason for some confusion at the American Airlines site, or if merely someone forgot to take out the line about empty pockets and clear plastic bags (which was in place until noon yesterday,) because the AA site, updated overnight reads in part:

Effective 15 August, each passenger departing from the U.K. will be allowed one carryon bag with maximum dimensions of 45 centimeters /17.72 inches long, 35 centimeters/13.78 inches wide, 16 centimeters/6.3 inches deep.

Nothing may be carried in passengers' pockets. Passengers may only take the following items through the airport security checkpoint, in a single transparent plastic bag - all other items must be processed as checked baggage: ...

The bad news is that the media reports are almost entirely useless if you're a travelever in need of specific info about what you can take or not take. They are covering this event, but not in a way that's helpful to someone trying to figure out what is allowed, when to arrive and what to do to lose the least amount of your stuff. Supposedly Heathrow is the biggest airport in the world, so you'd think the implications of these rules have huge ripple effects and the info would be better.

Really the only way to find out the info before you arrive is to go online to the BAA website and your airline's site -- yet you probably need your laptop to do that and really, who wants to travel with a laptop if there's a chance you can't take it in the cabin with you?

Since we were mid-holiday when this all happened, we don't have the option of canceling our flight. But it sure has been a reminder about how much travel is merely a luxury good and not a right or necessity. We're lucky we can afford to spend that extra $130 to ship stuff home, and I can't exactly ask the airlines or terror suspects to reimburse me for that, can I? And if my laptop arrives in two pieces, apparently AA would only be liable for a couple hundred bucks. And who wants to book a flight with no wiggle room just before an important event takes place - say like a meeting or a wedding? Sure this crisis is easing, but you know it's bound to happen again. And if the no laptop/no hand luggage rules were in place at Heathrow, you've got to assume it could happen in the States as well.
- posted by Amy @ 8/15/2006 02:40:00 AM