The new rule will limit passengers to a total of two spare batteries, including power banks.
While there is no limit on the number of spare batteries below 100 watt-hours, carrying power banks exceeding 160 watt-hours will remain prohibited.
Power banks will be capped at two units regardless of power capacity.
Do you need to be intellectually challenged to understand this?
Political class whore: “Should we regulate the corporations producing these faulty batteries?”
Corporate Lobbyist: “nah, let’s just ban consumers from using them when they need them the most”
Political class whore: “yes, master”
What flights are you on that you need a powerbank? Any decently modern phone will last for 24h on flight mode playing video. I’ve done 12-13h flights (Germany to Singapore) with 60% of battery remaining.
What if a person wants to do something else from watching video like playing games? What if they have an older phone with bad battery life? What if a dizen other things?
I need them at my destination for work. And I’m not allowed to put them in checked luggage.
My phone would last 2h max 🤷
You do know other electronics exist, right?
They’re doing that too:
The concern driving this ban is primarily centered around defective units already in circulation, and the acceptance that they cannot realistically be certain about their ability to prevent manufacturers in other countries from shipping in more potentially defective units. Most modern airplanes I have seen have in-seat USB charging ports, which at least cuts down on the need some, and a few hours without a charged device is not going to end the lives of anyone traveling (especially since this rule has carve outs for medical devices, I’m told).
Shockingly, when I travel abroad I’m usually out and about for the most days. And that’s where power bank is needed.
If can’t have them in my checked luggage and and I can’t have them in my carry on, am I expected to buy a power bank every time I fly and then throw it away?
On the topic of in-seat charging ports: your luck may wary. Even if you do find a plane which has these and they actually work, the power is not usually enough to charge more power hungry devices - bigger phones, tablets, steam deck. Don’t get me started of you actually want to use your laptop during the flight.
Yes, if you fly business there are usually power sockets which you can use, but who has money for that?
As much as it would be convenient, a plane simply does not have the electrical capacity to supply all passengers with high wattage USB outlets. Large numbers of high-capacity of lithium batteries are a solution, but are also a risk and given the recent number of fires caused by faulty Lithium battery packs, it’s unfortunate but reasonable for carriers to move to restrict them for the sake of passenger safety.
Most modern airplanes I have seen have in-seat USB charging ports
You probably shouldn’t trust those to actually work. Or even to be safe enough to not kill whatever you plug into them.
Yeah, aircrafts are famous for being unsafe and allowing high voltage connectors exposed to passangers.
Also you shouldn’t plug your phone into random USB ports, although i guess carrying a charge pass through adapter is an option.
Just use your regular charger, there are typically outlets under the seat in front of you on B737/A320 and larger. Even many regional jets have them these days. I never plug into a random USB port.
If you’re that worried about it (and don’t have at least a passthrough charging cable), you can just turn your devices off and bring a book. I don’t know why you’d be worried about it killing your devices though, if a plane’s electrical system has failed so badly it’s going to fry things on the USB bus then you’ve got much bigger problems.
Damaged ports with shorted pins, voltage fluctuations, etc.
The passenger electrical system is as isolated from the the rest of the plane as possible, but if the entire thing fails, sure then yeah you’re fucked and have bigger problems
A USB transceiver is required to withstand a continuous short circuit of D+ and/or D- to VBUS, GND, other data line, or the cable shield at the connector, for a minimum of 24 hours without degradation
Shorts aren’t really a concern with decent hardware, but as far as I can tell that’s the problem with the power banks that are failing - they’re not decent hardware, so minor damage attached to a very energetic bag o’ chemistry results in (very occasional) fiery disaster.
If you really really need to charge your phone on a plane, all modern ones have AC and USB.
I’d be wary of just plugging your phone in a random USB port.
Have you tried using them though…? Half of the time they’re broken/unpowered for some reason or the internal retention springs are so utterly fucked that it doesn’t maintain consistent contact with the plug and your charger just falls out.
In my experience, the USB plugs are even more uncommon, and USB-C ones doubly so - and they’re always low power ones, so you’re fucked if you’re trying to drive a laptop off of that.
These are US airline problems. Don’t fly US airlines.
Yes, I haven’t had any issues like that.
And if you can’t charge your laptop off the USB port, that’s what the AC outlet is for.
all modern ones
laughs in outdated aircraft that always run my route
angry spirit airline noises
In this thread “This isn’t a problem for the 0.1% of the world so therefor not a problem”.
