Airline terrorism...and so the panic and overreaction begins again...

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notgartner » Blog Archive » No laptops on planes? — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 15:46:03 GMT

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re: Airline terrorism...and so the panic and overreaction begins again...

Benjamin — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:08:52 GMT

I'll say this much. I agree with you in regards to the mayhem, which essentially contributes to officials in Airport Security overreacting. However, I believe the threat of a real life terror incident is very likely. Whether it comes from Osama Bin Laden, a Copy Cat Ordinance, or an Isolated event, the threats related to something happening is very much inevitable. I hear the conspiracy theories, and notions to imply lots of different sources to describe why we're in the position we're in. Still, I just think the most important part is safety. We've lost lives, and nobody wants to die. Also, about the passenger luggage not being cared for. I can vouch for that, because I've seen the way luggage is just thrown on the conveyor belts, and scrambled through like old clothes at times. It bad. It makes ya want to travel with absolutely nothing at times, and just buy the temporary stuff you need while you're visiting someplace else. The security protocol is a little jumpy. I agree, but the threat is real.

re: Airline terrorism...and so the panic and overreaction begins again...

Dr. Neil Roodyn — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 21:31:58 GMT

Overreation is exactly what it is. I hope it doesn't have to much impact on many of us travelling to present at TechEd. I have to bring a number of laptops, UMPCs, Tablets, Pocket PCs and phones for my demos and presentations. I am certainly not happy checking them all in to get damaged or 'lost'.
It looks like at the moment it is just flights from the UK that have this restriction, so I will not be taking my spending money there for a while. They loose out.
Flights from the USA have a ban on liquids and gels etc....
But here is the stupid part (as far as I understand it) if I fly from some other parts of the world to the USA then no such ban exists!
I also think they need to do something about this for long flights, hydration is something many regular passengers know is important. I always take a full bottle of water on a long flight and often ask for it to be refilled several times in the flight. If we can't take bottles of water on board I suggest the government (who are enforcing these insane measures - I think to mostly scare us) should supply every passenger with a 1 litre bottle of water when we board the plane.
Enough ranting....
see you at TechEd if they let me on the plane :)

re: Airline terrorism...and so the panic and overreaction begins again...

mkleef — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 04:42:39 GMT

Hey Ben - I dont think anyone disagrees theres a threat - but lets think clearly here. A violin does not constitute a threat provided that its screened internally properly. Same with other electronic devices.
This idea of using liquids and powders is not new BTW. Its an old threat (from the 80's I think) that was repeated and we clearly didnt learn then. Hence my statement that a proper risk assessment needs to be done that balances the needs of the passengers with the the very real threats that exist right now.

Fragile baggage on an airline...do they really care?

Michael Kleef ::: MSFT — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:47:27 GMT

Im on my way home from TechEd on Saturday morning. As usual I take my server and laptop bag on the flight...