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The United States has lifted a ban on laptops in cabins on flights from Abu Dhabi to the United States, saying Etihad Airways had put in place required tighter security measures.
Etihad welcomed the decision on Sunday and credited a facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport where passengers clear U.S. immigration before they land in the United States for "superior security advantages" that had allowed it to satisfy U.S. requirements.
Transportation Security Administration officials have checked that the measures had been implemented correctly, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
U.S. officials assessed the airport on Saturday night, Abdul Majeed al-Khoori, acting chief executive of operator Abu Dhabi Airports told Reuters on Monday.
The disruption to passengers from the new measures will be "very minimal" with the processing time for those traveling to the United States unchanged, he said by phone.
Etihad is the only airline that operates direct flights from Abu Dhabi to the United States.
Source: Reuters
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Tuesday July 04 2017, @07:49PM (9 children)
Honestly, the first thing that went through my mind: further proof the USA has become unreliable as a travel destination.
The one consistent thing about the current administration is that if you're travelling to the US, you do not know which rules will be in force once you touch down. Rules can change in mid-air or change during your stay. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me much if at one point, rules will change and planes will be forced to go back to the gate to enforce new rules which wouldn't have existed had they just taken off 5 min quicker.
Me, if I travel to the US for work, I'm staying there for a week at least. I would need a way to work. Given how ground personnel in the USA treats luggage [youtube.com], I'd prefer to avoid subjecting my laptop to luggage handlers. Given the wishy-washy nature of the administration, I wouldn't know if I could take my laptop as carry-on even when I'm on the airport on the way out.
Even if the risk of that happening is small, it's humongous compared to how infinitesimal that risk was only 8 months ago.
I'm not saying that I'll not come because of that, but it's factoring in to the equation. And that's a pity.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday July 04 2017, @08:38PM (2 children)
Hard to quit a work. But way easier to make another choice when the alternatives are with and without USA. After all when doing business predictability and efficiency are paramount.
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday July 05 2017, @08:02AM (1 child)
Exactly: do I go to the US or not? Which is the smart business decision?
Most annoying is that, while the business in the US has very good value, the potential for disaster is included in the trip.
(e.g. my laptop is my one and only computer. If it breaks, I'll definitely lose a week of work.)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday July 05 2017, @12:27PM
Have a hot backup laptop stashed away in some "sane country" ?
As an alternative some backup media and cash which takes little weight. So you can buy and transform any laptop into your liking?
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Tuesday July 04 2017, @11:13PM (5 children)
Shit man, I've been planning to live abroad for a big chunk of my life (slowly coming back from that bit of naivety these days). You should see what we have to do at the basic level [irs.gov] to get out of the USA if we want to remain responsible citizens. I have to wonder if being confused about travel policy is one of the things that unites us right now. Because hot damn it's a confusing bidirectional pipe if there ever was one.
and yeah I can imagine how you feel about the handling. This is exactly why I always do carry on. And I've never even flown outside the US. So condolences if our airports end up killing your laptops hard drive.
Also if I'm going to be brutally honest: It will certainly not get easier whatever the outcome. Every time something like this has been implemented in the past the airport clusterfuck gets worse. I don't really want to see tourism going away because I've made some great friends and discussion through foreign tourism. It's probably good to have you guys around. Even if you sound really funny sometimes. But yeah, all I can say is please do business here - but make sure one of the variables in that equation is your own return on investment.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday July 05 2017, @07:59AM (4 children)
Your comment (with which i heartily agree) brought to my mind how even carry-on for sensitive equipment has changed.
Take laptop out of bag, out of sleeve, put delicate, expensive equipment in plastic bouncy tray where it'll be jostled by all the bags and coats behind it.
On the one hand, I'd like to take a laptop with me that I can work on and that is optimised for travelling (ie.: low weight for high power and decent size). On the other hand, I want the laptop to survive the trip. These two constraints are becoming harder and harder to satisfy simultaneously :s.
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Wednesday July 05 2017, @11:13AM (3 children)
Yes, those stupid wheeled assembly line things. I swear the TSA likes to make it as hard as possible for you to keep your laptop safe. They get pissy sometimes because I put the laptop on top of the sleeve on top of the tray so the bumpy ride is less likely to wreck it, and they expect you to spread it out evenly without stacking anything. Not sure what we're supposed to do besides make sure to keep backups.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday July 05 2017, @12:29PM (2 children)
Buy laptops made with titanium shells coated with rubber?
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Wednesday July 05 2017, @02:01PM (1 child)
Yeah... I should have saved longer and invested in a toughbook. But decided on some Windows 10 tablet hybrid shit. It works though, I mean up until I boot into linux and that driver mess with combo tablet HIDs.
Also would a toughbook actually protect the drive or is it assumed this stuff has SSDs now? I think mine's platter though, honestly not sure because it also supports SSD caching and I can definitely hear moving parts.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 3, Informative) by kaszz on Wednesday July 05 2017, @02:17PM
I'll suspect toughbooks are all flashmemory by now. Any Microsoft tablet is likely prepared to ensure it won't work with FOSS..