Airlines
IATA Urges Restraint on Possible New Electronics Ban
Recommends several measures as an alternative to forcing passengers to check their personal electronic devices on flights from Europe to U.S.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed alarm at the possibility of an extension to passengers departing European airports of the U.S. ban on large personal electronic devices in the cabins of airliners as officials from the Department of Homeland Security met with European Commission officials on Wednesday. In a letter to EC commissioner for transport Violeta Bulc and U.S. Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac urged the adoption of several short-term measures as an alternative to the broad extension of the current ban on devices such as laptop computers from several origin airports in the Middle East and North Africa. The measures, said de Juniac, would mitigate the danger of a large number of lithium battery-powered devices in airplanes’ cargo holds, a prospect IATA considers an unacceptable risk.