Electronics ban: The problem is hardly a bomb!
The electronics ban looks like a commercial step rather than a security step. And a silly one
You come home from your awesome Mediterranean holiday in Turkey, having enjoyed cheap fares, a two-luggage advantage, free and limitless drinks and food and the smiling faces of your stewards and stewardesses (and the chef with his tall hat), the salt of the sea still on your skin. You open your suitcase; you find that note from the Transport Security Administration (TSA) to the effect that it was opened and the contents were checked.
At the beginning of this practice, you might have thought that secure luggage is a secure airplane. But travel experts started saying that authorities have begun doing what is called a "deep scan" and "indexing the contents of luggage." Although some people did not have items that trigger the TSA to open their luggage, still their suitcases were opened. Soon it became clear that a pattern was emerging as to whose bags were being checked: the owner being of a certain profile, such as Muslim, mid- and far-eastern origin, having visited certain geographic areas, etc. No wonder the TSA is one of the fastest growing bureaucracies in the U.S. They now employ almost 45,000 people, and they continue hiring.
The Trump administration banned carrying laptops, notebooks and tablets into the cabin section of airplanes coming from Cairo, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Doha, Amman, Kuwait City, Casablanca, Jeddah and Riyadh. The affected airlines are Egyptair, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Turkish Airlines. What is the common feature of these cities and airlines? Some of them are the largest airlines at the busiest hubs in the world. American authorities say the aim is not to protect the individual airplanes, but to prevent the importing of bombs into the U.S. in carry-on luggage.
There could be tens of different ways to find out if a PC or tablet had a bomb disguised as its battery. The TSA or U.S. Federal Aviation Agency could ask these countries to install devices that screen for those items. Besides, there are thousands of other items in which an ill-willed person could hide a bomb, which airport authorities all over the world are preventing. A terrorist ring importing bombs in notebook PCs into the U.S. could travel to other countries that are not on the list.
Since the first day of this electronics ban, people have seen that the motivation behind the move is not a security concern. Take Turkish Airlines for example. It is the fastest growing airline in the world. It has the highest number of destinations among airlines. Its gross income, profit and the planes in its fleet have been increasing for the last 13 years (except the small reduction in the rate of growth last year). Thus, Istanbul is becoming a new hub in Europe. More people have started travelling to the Middle East and Asia from the U.S., and Istanbul is now the second busiest airport in Europe and 10th in the world.
This ban looks like a commercial step more than a security step. And a silly one.
At the beginning of this practice, you might have thought that secure luggage is a secure airplane. But travel experts started saying that authorities have begun doing what is called a "deep scan" and "indexing the contents of luggage." Although some people did not have items that trigger the TSA to open their luggage, still their suitcases were opened. Soon it became clear that a pattern was emerging as to whose bags were being checked: the owner being of a certain profile, such as Muslim, mid- and far-eastern origin, having visited certain geographic areas, etc. No wonder the TSA is one of the fastest growing bureaucracies in the U.S. They now employ almost 45,000 people, and they continue hiring.
The Trump administration banned carrying laptops, notebooks and tablets into the cabin section of airplanes coming from Cairo, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Doha, Amman, Kuwait City, Casablanca, Jeddah and Riyadh. The affected airlines are Egyptair, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Turkish Airlines. What is the common feature of these cities and airlines? Some of them are the largest airlines at the busiest hubs in the world. American authorities say the aim is not to protect the individual airplanes, but to prevent the importing of bombs into the U.S. in carry-on luggage.
There could be tens of different ways to find out if a PC or tablet had a bomb disguised as its battery. The TSA or U.S. Federal Aviation Agency could ask these countries to install devices that screen for those items. Besides, there are thousands of other items in which an ill-willed person could hide a bomb, which airport authorities all over the world are preventing. A terrorist ring importing bombs in notebook PCs into the U.S. could travel to other countries that are not on the list.
Since the first day of this electronics ban, people have seen that the motivation behind the move is not a security concern. Take Turkish Airlines for example. It is the fastest growing airline in the world. It has the highest number of destinations among airlines. Its gross income, profit and the planes in its fleet have been increasing for the last 13 years (except the small reduction in the rate of growth last year). Thus, Istanbul is becoming a new hub in Europe. More people have started travelling to the Middle East and Asia from the U.S., and Istanbul is now the second busiest airport in Europe and 10th in the world.
This ban looks like a commercial step more than a security step. And a silly one.