from the Is-your-luggage-checked...-or-plaid? dept.
Most U.S. airlines set to limit use of 'smart bags'
"Smart bags, also known as smart luggage, have become more popular over the last few months, and they are expected to be a popular gift this holiday season," said American Airlines. "However, smart bags contain lithium battery power banks, which pose a risk when they are placed in the cargo hold of an aircraft."
The bags generally have USB ports where customers can recharge their phones and other devices. They might also have GPS to track the bag's location in case it gets lost, electronic locks and a weight scale to prevent overpacking. Some even [have] a motor to propel the bags so that they can double as a scooter or just follow their owner around the airport.
Airlines are worried that the batteries could cause a fire in the cargo hold that would go undetected. Most of the bans will allow fliers to check the bags if the battery can be removed and carried by the passenger in the cabin. But many of the bags already on the market have batteries that can't be removed.
American was the first U.S. carrier to announce a new policy Friday to require passengers checking smart luggage to remove the lithium ion batteries. If the bag will be traveling in the cabin, the battery can remain installed as long as it is powered off. Now Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines have announced similar policies set to take effect on Jan. 15. Both airlines will [be] requiring that even carry on bags must have the batteries that removed.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Friday December 08 2017, @03:59PM (9 children)
I feel sorry for what seems to be a majority of people in the US that live in a constant state of fear.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 08 2017, @04:05PM
You get used to it. 💊💉💣
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 08 2017, @04:13PM
The USian politicians and their leash-holders have been using the book 1984 as a how-to guide. Governments control the schools, demand attendance to said schools, been impressed with a trust in and reliance on "authority", and the govcorp media has been screaming non-stop about deadly dangers and dastardly deed doers. It's the result of a bunch of big manufacturing corp owners that decided back around the 1900s that they could really use more factory workers that weren't too keen on making intellectual trouble for them.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Friday December 08 2017, @04:23PM (2 children)
How is this "living in a constant state of fear"? I get it that a lot of Americans are indeed paranoid about stuff they really don't need to worry so much about, like street crime (which according to conservatives is out of control, but according to reality has been going down steadily since its peak in the 70s, though admittedly still there's dangerous places and the US overall certainly isn't as safe as Japan where street crime basically doesn't exist). However, this is about batteries, not an irrational fear of other people. Lithium batteries can and do fail, and as Samsung showed last year (and has been shown other times), these batteries can catch fire. On an airplane, that's very dangerous, especially in the cargo hold where there's no one around to see it early and spray it with a fire extinguisher. This is just a basic safety issue, not paranoia.
I say this story is a good example of why it's dumb to be an early adopter of new gadgets. These lazy idiots (you can't even pull your own luggage??) bought these expensive pieces of luggage and now probably won't be able to take them on an airplane. Too bad, so sad.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday December 08 2017, @10:50PM (1 child)
A few months ago I flew from Portland to Boston for a job interview.
United specifically forbid Galaxy Note 7s as well as Hoverboards.
But my iPhone and my Acer Aspire were completely cool.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday December 08 2017, @11:14PM
In the cargo hold, or just the passenger compartment? Most things I read say that lithium batteries are mostly tolerated in the passenger compartment (except those particular devices you mentioned because there've been so many problems with them), but not in the cargo hold.
(Score: 5, Informative) by rcamera on Friday December 08 2017, @06:07PM (2 children)
i feel sorrier for the rest of us (minority?) that DON'T live in a constant state of fear, but are forced to live with the reality of increased "security". i pay for their choice to be afraid of everything.
/* no comment */
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Friday December 08 2017, @09:31PM (1 child)
Yeah, I was being polite. Me, I live in fear of the continued global slide towards fascism.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday December 08 2017, @11:16PM
Not being able to stick lithium battery-powered gadgets in your checked luggage is not an indicator of a slide towards fascism.
Having to let officers peruse your cellphone or laptop or even download the data from them is.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 08 2017, @09:12PM
I feel sorry for people who need to fly places constantly... what a miserable way to destroy the environment.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Sulla on Friday December 08 2017, @04:23PM (5 children)
I believe this to be the real reason. Up until now customers have had to deal with "we will call you when we find it" or "its still being unloaded", how dare customers go so far as to want to know the real location of their bags.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 08 2017, @04:58PM
Replace the battery with a NiCad. It wont last as long but its not against the rules.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 08 2017, @05:02PM (1 child)
Yeah, how dare they endanger the safety of 100s of people because they are so insecure about their fucking bags. Seriously, are you fucking serious? WTF do you expect them to do? Go into secure area to get their stupid luggage because some "GPS" thing? Oh wait, it won't even work inside an airport sorting system anyway, so WTF?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Sulla on Friday December 08 2017, @06:22PM
I guess you are just looking for something to be pissed about. Regardless of whether its lithium or nicad the airline isn't going to want to deal with customers telling them where they think the bag is. I have had a couple of situations where we picked up family in Portland or Seattle after they got stuck due to weather, the luggage gets lost and the airline tells us to just keep waiting. In two different cases we ended up waiting around six hours to be told it was actually at a different airport and had to drive 6 hours home in the snow at night. Knowing where my shit is will tell me I can go ahead and leave early because the airline doesn't have any idea and doesn't really want to help.
The issue of not shipping lithium batteries seems reasonable given those 'hoverboards' being such shit, but I don't think the airline really wants you knowing anyways. These are the same airlines that believe cell phones and tablets being on ruins their communication even though most of the world has no issue with it in older planes.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday December 08 2017, @11:15PM (1 child)
I suspect the real reason is handling customers when gate checking luggage. The airline wants to get people on the aeroplane as fast as possible, and if someone has to gate check luggage the airline does not want the customer to say "no: this bag contains a battery and MUST fly in the passenger compartment".
I also suspect the GPS is useless for most of the luggage's life. The baggage handling is always in the bowels of the airport, so I doubt it can get a useful GPS signal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 09 2017, @07:52PM
You're right. In fact I've never seen an airport where they don't taxi the plane inside the main building before unloading the luggage. /sarcasm (If you couldn't tell)
These should at least be able to give an airport level of location accuracy, hopefully even be able to tell you what terminal building they are in. Luggage gets unloaded from the plane and then taken into the building, the "smart luggage" should be able to get a GPS lock during that period and report its location. The GPS would likely be useless indoors, but if your airline has lost your luggage wouldn't you like to be able to confirm it is at least in the same airport as you are?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday December 08 2017, @05:10PM (3 children)
In the meantime they have no problem with the innumerable other devices with lithium batteries travellers are carrying like laptops, tablets, phones, children's toys, oxygen carts, etc etc.
Aren't regulations whose compliance are stamped on the exterior of every electronic device supposed to cover all this?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Friday December 08 2017, @05:47PM (2 children)
In the meantime they have no problem with the innumerable other devices with lithium batteries travellers are carrying like laptops, tablets, phones, children's toys, oxygen carts, etc etc.
I thought all those things (with lithium batteries specifically) were required to be carried as carry-on, in the passenger compartment. That's consistent with the article.
(Score: 2) by fishybell on Friday December 08 2017, @08:50PM (1 child)
This exactly. It's actually surprising that these were ever allowed at all.
Until someone starts designing a fire-proof lithium battery, they have no place in the cargo-hold of a plane.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday December 08 2017, @11:18PM
Not quite fireproof, but there are specific procedures for putting lithium batteries in cargo holds:
https://www.ups.com/us/en/help-center/packaging-and-supplies/special-care-shipments/hazardous-materials/lithium-battery-preapproval.page [ups.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Zinho on Friday December 08 2017, @05:59PM (1 child)
Not sure whether:
Bag Check [xkcd.com]
or
Lithium Batteries [xkcd.com]
is the more appropriate obligatory comic!
Decisions, decisions...
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by Translation Error on Friday December 08 2017, @06:38PM
(Score: 1) by jrmcferren on Friday December 08 2017, @06:25PM (1 child)
What kind of IDIOT thinks it is a good idea to put a lithium Ion battery in luggage that goes on a PLANE! Use another chemistry, you may have more weight and bulk, but the last time I checked, there isn't a restriction on Nickel Metal Hydride or even NiCd in luggage.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday December 08 2017, @07:47PM
Everyone, right up until we get inconvenienced yet again [nbcnews.com].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Friday December 08 2017, @10:57PM
It is actually possible to remove the batteries? These must not be from Apple! Don't these Smart Bag makers know that they can make people buy a new Smart Bag every year if they make the battery non-removable?
So what are the airlines going to do when everyone has an Apple iBag and all old "dumb" luggage is rotting in a Chinese landfill because ooooold? Good luck banning it while people bitch and whine about the airlines holding them back technologically. Might as well travel by horse and buggy, with floppy disks.
Oh, and their luggage password will still be "12345". :P