CHANGE IS GOOD!

With much fanfare, most of the major airlines have now switched over to allowing passengers to keep their iPads and Kindles running during take-off and landing. Laptops must still be stowed, since they are considered “larger electronics.”

Monday, November 18th, may have been United Airlines’ first day to implement this new policy. At least I know that it occurred sometime after November 14th. This change seemed to make passengers happy, and most of the people on our flight appeared to take advantage of it.

Along with these new advances for using electronics, United seemed to take a step backwards with the video entertainment offered on this new 737-800/900 plane. On a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, there were no video screens onboard — not in the ceiling or on the wall or on the back of the seat in front. Did they just decide that no one would miss them?

The crew seemed at a loss without the video equipment, as they had to give a live safety briefing. It was evident that they were out of practice.

Following other changes as international airline safety measures continue to evolve, a new liquids scanner developed in the U.S. is being installed at London’s Heathrow Airport and will enter service in January to screen items carried onto the plane. The liquids are analyzed for explosives by passing a radio frequency wave and an ultrasonic pulse through them and then evaluating the signals given off afterwards.

Although specially packaged duty free liquids and medicines purchased at the airport will be allowed to pass through under the new protocol, other liquids will be phased in over the course of the year.

The TSA has said they are not planning to lift their ban on larger sized liquids due to the continued threat from liquid explosives. It appears that they are allowing other countries to test the new scanning machines before deciding on their effectiveness. After the enormous expense of installing and then removing the unsafe body scanners throughout the country, this may be a wise decision.

We can only hope the new liquid scanners prove successful and that we will soon be able to pack larger sized toiletry items in our carry-on bags.

What travel changes have you noticed lately and are they positive or negative?