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Gentlemen, You May Fly With Your Lighters
July 20, 2007
By David Savona Cigar lighters -- most of them -- are being welcomed back to airlines. Beginning August 4, the Transportation Security Administration will lift its ban on lighters (except torch lighters) in carry-on baggage. "Lighters no longer pose a significant threat," said the TSA in a statement posted on its web site. The United States, according to the TSA, is the only country in the world that prohibits lighters on flights. The ban on torch lighters, which produce significantly hotter flames than standard lighters and make a loud hissing sound when ignited, will remain in effect. Part of the reason for the change in policy is the immense number of lighters TSA officials confiscate from travelers. In 2006, travelers surrendered 11.6 million lighters before boarding flights. "Freeing security officers up from fishing for 22,000 lighters every day…enables them to focus more on finding explosives, using behavior recognition, conducting random screening procedures and other measures that increase complexity in the system, deterring terrorists," said the TSA. Disposing those lighters costs about $4 million a year, according to The New York Times. While torch lighters have long been banned from U.S. flights, the ban on other lighters was inspired by the attempted bombing of a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001 by terrorist Richard Reid, who was subdued while trying to light a shoe bomb with a match in mid-flight. In December 2004, butane lighters were added to the list of banned items on flights, and in March 2005, the ban was extended to cover all types of lighters. By April of that year, lighters became the No. 1 item surrendered at checkpoints, at one point reaching a high of 39,000 a day. In October 2006, Congress passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, giving the TSA administrator the discretion not to enforce the lighter ban. On July 18, the TSA announced it would clear non-torch lighters for flight once again beginning August 4. (Coincidentally, the lifting of the ban is perfectly timed for those in the cigar industry traveling to the annual trade show, which begins on August 4.) To see the differences between torch and standard flame lighters, and how to best use them with a cigar, see our video on Lighting a Cigar. Read
New Policies for Lighters and Breast Milk In an effort to concentrate resources on detecting explosive threats, TSA will no longer ban common lighters in carry-on luggage starting August 4, 2007. Torch lighters remain banned in carry-ons. Lifting the lighter ban is consistent with TSA's risk-based approach to aviation security. First and foremost, lighters no longer pose a significant threat. Freeing security officers up from fishing for 22,000 lighters every day (the current number surrendered daily across the country) enables them to focus more on finding explosives, using behavior recognition, conducting random screening procedures and other measures that increase complexity in the system, deterring terrorists. The U.S. is the only country in the world to ban lighters – all other nations, including Israel and the U.K., do not. When dealing with security issues, threats evolve. In aviation, terrorists hijacking and diverting planes was the threat for decades. On 9/11, aircraft were used as weapons, and recent plots have included liquid explosives. Below is a timeline of the evolution of the lighter ban. December 21, 2001 - Richard Reid made a failed attempt to detonate an improvised explosive device in his shoe onboard a Paris to Miami flight. His shoe-bomb device malfunctioned and he was overpowered by cabin crew and passengers. He was using matches as an ignition source.
In an effort to address this threat, TSA soon required travelers to remove their shoes for security screening.
December 17, 2004 – The President signs into law the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 which, among other measures, requires TSA to add "butane lighters" to its prohibited items list. (Torch lighters have long been prohibited for hazmat reasons.)
March 31, 2005 – TSA recognizes Congressional intent and adds all common lighters to the prohibited items List.
The United States becomes the only nation in the world to prohibit lighters from carry-on luggage.
April, 2005 – Lighters immediately become the number one prohibited item surrendered at checkpoints across the country – at times, almost 39,000 a day.
October 4, 2006 -- Congress passes the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act which gives the TSA administrator the discretion NOT to enforce the lighter ban.
August 4, 2007 -- Common lighters are no longer banned from carry-ons. Q. Are lighters not a threat anymore?
A. Lighters are not a serious threat. Lifting the ban is a common sense, risk-based security decision. This change allows officers to focus on finding explosives and IED components. TSA collects 22,000 lighters a day. Q: Why were all lighters banned as carry-on items in the first place?
A. In April of 2005, TSA began enforcing a Congressional mandate to ban common lighters on the secure side of airports or onboard airplanes. Q. What is a torch lighter?
A. Torch lighters create a thin, needle-like flame that is hotter (reaching 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit) and more intense than those from common lighters. Torch lighters are often used for pipes and cigars, and maintain a consistent stream of air-propelled fire regardless of the angle at which it is held. Torch lighters continue to be banned. Q. Does your lighter need to be in a baggie since it contains liquid?
A. No. TSA's common-sense approach harmonizes with worldwide standards for lighters. Q. Why is breast milk not a threat?
A. Breast milk is a medical necessity and it is being classified as such. It must be declared at the checkpoint. Q. How do you ensure liquid explosives disguised as breast milk or medications are not brought through the checkpoint?
A. Since September 2006, certain liquid medications have been permitted at the checkpoint as long as they are declared to security officers and are subject to additional screening. Q. Do passengers carrying breast milk need to taste it to prove it is not a liquid explosive?
A. No. We will not ask a traveler to taste breast milk. Q. What does "additional inspection" of exempt items include?
A. We don't discuss our specific security procedures. Since the liquid ban, passengers have been required to present exempt liquids at the checkpoint to undergo additional scrutiny. TSA is also modifying the rules associated with carrying breast milk through security checkpoints. Mothers flying with, and now without, their child will be permitted to bring breast milk in quantities greater than three ounces as long as it is declared for inspection at the security checkpoint. Breast milk is in the same category as liquid medications. Now, a mother flying without her child will be able to bring breast milk through the checkpoint, provided it is declared prior to screening. Read
Lift airline ban on lighters, TSA urges
6/29/2006
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The nation's aviation security chief says Congress should lift a ban on passengers carrying lighters on airplanes because screeners are spending too much time looking for lighters instead of bombs.
"The lighter ban does not add to security anymore," Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley told USA TODAY on Wednesday. Forcing screeners to confiscate lighters at checkpoints "is a distraction from the serious nature of finding (bomb) components."
Hawley said he has briefed lawmakers and "recommended they consider whether that ban needs to stay."
Congress enacted the ban in late 2004 in response to concerns that a terrorist could light explosives on an airplane, as "shoe bomber" Richard Reid attempted on a trans-Atlantic jetliner in late 2001. The ban took effect in April 2005.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., an author of the ban, said he would listen to arguments in favor of lifting it.
"What the agency (TSA) has to do is show how what it wants to do will make America more secure," he said.
Hawley said the lighter ban hurts aviation security because screeners are "spending time hunting through bags looking for items that are not the serious threat."
The TSA says its screeners confiscate 30,000 lighters a day at checkpoints. Although lighters are just one of 68 items passengers cannot carry on planes, they represent 80% of the confiscated items, the TSA says. Matches are allowed on planes.
Hawley said some passengers try to beat the lighter ban by packing several lighters in their carry-on bags, in the hope that screeners won't find the extras. Screeners will continue to confiscate lighters as long as the ban is in effect, Hawley said. Lifting the ban would require an act of Congress.
Lighters are the only item that Congress has specifically banned, Hawley said. The TSA decides the remaining items barred from an airplane cabin. They include guns, knives, box cutters and baseball bats.
Hawley said lighters "do not represent a particularly effective ignition source for terrorists," who could use other means to detonate a bomb. Last year, Hawley lifted the TSA's ban on scissors and tools less than 7 inches long so screeners could focus on finding bombs. Read
The Team From Zippo Goes to Washington
July 12, 2005
By JOE SHARKEY
NOTE to air travelers, including the tens of thousands whose lighters were confiscated from checked bags at airports in April, when the government began enforcing a ban on lighters: Never mind.
It's now O.K. to pack unfueled lighters, which had been prohibited from all bags in April. The latest change is described on the Transportation Security Administration's Web site, www.tsa.gov/public/, where the revised list of "Permitted and Prohibited Items" can be found. While it is still forbidden to take a lighter in a carry-on bag, "lighters without fuel are permitted in checked bags, but lighters with fuel are prohibited," the revised list says.
The revised list doesn't specify this, but it's now also O.K. to pack two Zippo-brand lighters, fueled, in your checked bags, if they're in a certified vaporproof case.
All politics allegedly being local, it's interesting to me that the political catalyst for the change came from Bradford, Pa., a town of about 9,000 in northwestern Pennsylvania.
How unexciting is Bradford? Well, at Bradford-Online.com, the town's Internet site, there's a 24-hour Webcam trained on a downtown street scene. In a recent posting on the site titled "Boy, you people go to bed early," a woman from Philadelphia, visiting her daughter in town, wrote that around 10 p.m. she "stared at that 'Bradcam' for five minutes and NOTHING, not even a stray cat" was stirring.
Bradford is, however, home to the Zippo Manufacturing Company, which annually churns out about 14 million of the familiar flip-top metal lighters. About 425 million Zippos have been made in Bradford since the company was founded in 1932.
With 780 workers, "we're the biggest employer in the city and in the county," Greg Booth, the chief executive, said.
When the ban on lighters went into effect in April, "we were sitting here saying, 'Wait a minute, if the Department of Transportation and the T.S.A. regulate lighters out of the air, that's going to affect American manufacturing jobs,' which is something the U.S. government fights all the time to keep," Mr. Booth said.
Mr. Booth and some colleagues hurried to Washington for a series of meetings with initially skeptical representatives from the Transportation Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the T.S.A. Prohibiting lighters without fuel in them from checked baggage made no sense as a safety measure, and was especially damaging to Zippo, Mr. Booth argued. Zippos, he said, are often purchased by travelers as souvenirs, and gifts make up 40 percent of the company's business. "We're talking about empty lighters in which all the materials are inert," he said. "Why would they be considered dangerous or hazardous?"
Zippo executives then pushed a step further and said, What if we come up with a vaporproof container to store fueled Zippo lighters in checked bags?
Zippo contracted with Otter Products, a maker of protective cases for carrying personal electronic devices, cigars and other possessions. Otter Products, based in Fort Collins, Colo., agreed to modify one of its OtterBox models to accommodate Zippo lighters and remove any danger of fuel vapor leakage. "At Otter, we found this box - we knew it was overkill - that was the most effective container we could get our hands on," Mr. Booth said. "I mean, this doggone thing, you could drive a vehicle over it and you wouldn't crush it. You put the lighter in it and it seals effectively. It's a very dandy box, even if it does cost $12.95 to transport a $10 lighter."
On June 23, the Transportation Department granted an "emergency exemption" specifically for Zippo, allowing passengers to pack two fueled Zippo lighters in the new, certified, vaportight Otter cases. Mr. Booth said: "We're never going to get lighters back into the cabin in carry-on baggage. We never really argued with the T.S.A. on that because we don't want to compromise safety in any way." Zippo is thriving despite changes in smoking habits in the United States. "We've got markets all over the world, in 152 countries," Mr. Booth said. "We're in markets like China where one-third of the world's smoking tobacco is consumed."
In the United States, he added, about four million hobbyists collect Zippos. "If you take the tourist business, the collector business and the duty-free business and add them all together, we estimated that if the regulations kept us out of the airports completely, our business and work force could have been cut by 20 to 30 percent," Mr. Booth said.
In Washington, "we laid out a logical argument in front of the T.S.A. and the D.O.T., and they said, 'By golly, you've got a good point.' " Common sense prevailed, he said. Let's hope it's a trend. Lighters Let Back On Board
Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2005
By Michael Moretti
Once considered too dangerous for air travel in light of the threat of terrorist attacks, lighters are now being let back on board airplanes.
The Transportation and Security Administration announced this week that all lighters are still banned from carry-on baggage, but lighters without fuel will be permitted in checked bags. Lighters with fuel remain off-limits anywhere on the plane. Strike-anywhere matches are still prohibited in checked bags as well. Four books of common safety matches are permitted as carry-on items.
This latest revision slightly loosens restrictions laid down by the intelligence reform and terrorist prevention bill. Prior, up to two non-torch-flame lighters were allowed in carry-on bags. After the regulation went into effect on April 14, all lighters -- from the run-of-the-mill Djeep disposable to the high-end bejeweled models -- became illegal on flights.
Penalties for breaking the rules remain the same. According to the TSA, the mere act of bringing banned objects and substances to the airport security checkpoint can result in criminal or civil prosecution.
Items Abandoned at Airport Checkpoints Selling 'Like Hotcakes' in Md.
April 14, 2005 Claude Misher plunks a set of studded spurs, a police-issue baton, an old-fashioned wood planer and an unexploded artillery shell down on his desk at the Maryland State Agency for Surplus Property. The odd assortment of items has one thing in common: All were "voluntarily abandoned" at airline security checkpoints by travelers trying to get on a plane, and were then turned over to the state for disposal. Despite assurances by the Transportation Security Administration that it is "always trying to educate the public" about what can and cannot be carried on to flights, the boxes keep coming to Misher's warehouse, hundreds of pounds of items every few months. The vast majority of abandoned items are mundane things like scissors, nail files and letter openers. But TSA officials said they still find people carelessly carrying guns - or more exotic items like those in Jessup, Md. "Unfortunately in this day and age, people have new responsibilities," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. "Sometimes people get a little too comfortable and relaxed." Which could explain the fierce-looking pistol with an array of tubes and nozzles that is in a display case at the front of the state surplus warehouse: It is a semiautomatic paintball gun that someone tried to bring on board a plane. Like almost everything else abandoned at airport checkpoints, the paintball gun is now for sale at the warehouse, priced at $60. TSA says that prohibited items are never confiscated from airline passengers, but are voluntarily abandoned by people at airport security. Dangerous or illegal items are handed over to law enforcement authorities, but the rest are turned over to various state surplus agencies. In Maryland, that is the Department of General Services, which handles all of the security checkpoint detritus from Baltimore/Washington International Airport, as well as from Pittsburgh International Airport and Long Island Macarthur Airport in New York. Pickups are made at the airports every three to four months. Staffers at the warehouse sort through the material and remove anything illegal or dangerous that may have slipped through, or anything that can be sold individually. The rest is separated into 50-pound boxes that are sold to the public for $50 each. The boxes of prohibited items sell out "like hotcakes," said Gary Gray, a manager at the surplus warehouse. They are so popular that Gray said the warehouse has had to impose a limit of five boxes per customer per day. Gray said the surplus warehouse's last shipment from BWI weighed in at 600 pounds, and all 12 boxes were sold within a day. "It doesn't last," said Misher, who is director of the Maryland surplus property agency. He said that most of the box buyers separate out the contents and sell the pieces at flea markets or other venues. Some buyers have told him they use the proceeds to buy uniforms or sports gear for local schools. After Sept. 11, 2001, there was a sharp increase in the amount of materials that people left at checkpoints, Misher said. Nationwide, more than 7 million items were voluntarily abandoned at airport security checkpoints in 2004, and more than 17 million have been abandoned since a new prohibited-items list was introduced after Sept. 11, 2001, according to TSA officials. TSA does not have any means of returning abandoned property to passengers. Once it has been left at checkpoint, it is gone, said Amy Von Walter, a TSA spokeswoman. The staff at the surplus warehouse will occasionally try to return an item to its owner, but since few items can be definitively connected to a passenger, few ever make it back. But Stempler said passengers should not expect to get prohibited items back, saying it would create an enormous administrative burden on security officials who have more important things to worry about. And Stempler said he is not as worried about the array of contraband as he is about the people who absent-mindedly walk on to a plane carrying the items.
Cigarette Lighters Banned From Airplanes
April 14, 2005
By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Starting Thursday, air travelers will have to leave their lighters at home. Unlike guns, knives and other dangerous items that a passenger cannot carry aboard but may stow in checked bags, lighters are banned everywhere on a plane. The rule change is expected to produce a large number of seizures of lighters even though airports, airlines and the government have been telling travelers for the past 45 days about the impending ban. "I'm sure we'll have a bunch of them," said George Doughty, executive director of Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa. TSA screeners already seize a half-million prohibited items every month. They've been more vigilant about finding and confiscating banned items than were the private screeners who worked at airports before the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings. Lighters haven't been permitted in checked bags for at least 30 years because they might start fires in cargo holds. Congress passed a bill last year adding lighters to the list of items prohibited in the cabin. The genesis for the ban was Richard Reid, who tried unsuccessfully to light explosives hidden in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001. He used matches. The sponsors of the ban, Democratic Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Ron Wyden of Oregon, worried that a lighter might have worked. "This is a commonsense step to protect passengers in the face of a proven threat," Wyden said. Mark Peterson, a Sioux Falls, S.D., appraiser who was grabbing a smoke outside Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday, wondered why it took so long. "It's been 3 1/2 years since 9/11 and they've finally figured it out," Peterson said. The ban does not include matches. Passengers still may carry aboard a plane up to four books of safety matches. Not allowed on planes are "strike anywhere" matches, which can be struck using any abrasive surface. David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said the lighter ban is long overdue. But he said matches ought to be included, too. "The problem with the TSA on the matches is the inability to detect them," Stempler said. Kevin Mitchell, president of the Business Travel Coalition, said the ban on lighters amounted to "silliness in the extreme." "It only adds to consumer confusion and longer lines, and longer lines represent a security threat," Mitchell said. Wehns Billen, visiting Washington from Micronesia for a conference, said he was told of the impending ban by his airline. He left his expensive lighter at home. People can mail prohibited items, take them to their cars or give them to someone who is not traveling. Otherwise, seized items are not returned. "The whole thing is silly," Billen said. "I wish they'd put a smoking section on the plane." Billen may be typical of overseas travelers. They are more likely to smoke than U.S. citizens, said Steve van Beek, executive vice president of the Airports Council International, which represents airport officials. "How are we going to notify every other passenger in the world connecting through and transiting the United States that their lighters are going to be seized?" van Beek said.
http://news.yahoo.com/
Zippo, reusable cigarette lighter company, upset by U.S. federal airport ban March 3, 2005
CHARLES SHEEHAN PITTSBURGH (AP) - The war on terror is making an American flame sputter.
Zippo Manufacturing Co., which prides itself on its classic brass-chrome lighters, says new air travel security regulations could cut into sales by as much as 30 per cent.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has announced it will ban butane, electric and absorbed fuel lighters aboard all aircraft and in areas behind airport security gates beginning in April.
Such lighters were already banned in checked baggage, but passengers previously had been allowed to have two lighters in their carry-on luggage.
Zippo officials will meet with federal officials later this month to plead their case. Millions of the metal, rectangular lighters are bought on impulse at duty-free shops and at vacation spots as mementos.
The travel restrictions are unlikely to affect any other lighter company as drastically as they will Zippo, the company said.
The company makes all its absorbed fuel lighters in Bradford, a town of about 9,500 in northwestern Pennsylvania. The company sold 14 million of them last year, said Greg Booth, president and chief executive.
"This really has the potential to hurt our business," Booth said.
The ban on lighters in the cabin is logical, Zippo officials said, but they are upset at Zippo's "hazardous" classification by the transportation department for checked baggage.
Zippo lighters have passed stringent standards for both the American Society for Testing Materials and those of the International Standards Organization, Booth said, meaning the lighters have been classified as nonhazardous.
Joe Delcambre, spokesman for the transportation department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said the ignition source on such lighters is too close to flammable materials to be allowed in cargo holds.
That separates Zippo from other items allowed in airline cargo holds that might be considered dangerous, including ammunition, firearms and spear guns. http://story.news.yahoo.com
TSA: Airplane lighter ban to take effect in April
February 28, 2005 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Airline passengers, who already are prohibited from carrying torch-like butane lighters onto commercial aircraft, will be prohibited from carrying any type of lighter on planes and into secure areas of airports beginning April 14, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday. But the TSA is not prohibiting matches, at least not yet. The TSA says it is considering banning matches, but will seek public comment before making any change. The butane lighter ban was mandated by Congress as a provision in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which was signed into law by the president on December 17. The TSA said that after evaluating the security threat, congressional intent and operational considerations, it determined that passengers should be prohibited from carrying any lighter on their person or in carry-on luggage in the secure areas of airports or on board an airplane. The policy will be fully enforced beginning April 14. "TSA is moving quickly to implement this provision passed by Congress," said retired Navy Rear Adm. David M. Stone, assistant secretary of homeland security for TSA. "By creating policy to add lighters to the prohibited items list we are closing a potential vulnerability in air travel security." "Travelers are a valuable partner in the screening process," Stone said. "If they pack smart and avoid bringing lighters to the checkpoint, passengers can accelerate the screening process and allow us to focus on those individuals and items that may be a threat to their flight." Included in the ban are absorbed-fuel (Zippo-type), electric/battery-powered and novelty lighters. TSA will dispose of lighters brought to checkpoints. Passengers at some airports may be able to ship them via a private company for a fee, but TSA strongly urges passengers to thoroughly inspect their carry-on and checked baggage for banned items before going to the airport. Lighters have long been prohibited from checked luggage. The Department of Transportation classifies lighters as hazardous materials. The possible ban on matches is being delayed by a concern that it would be difficult to enforce, because matches are not easily detectable. "There is a concern that we just simply do not create rules that inconvenience the public, but do not enhance our security capability. So that's what we're weighing," Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson told Congress last summer. http://www.cnn.com/
RE: Ban on Matches, Lighters Vexes Airports Was the congressional vote to ban butane lighters, or was it to ban all lighters and matches? Under what authority can these restrictions continue to be revised by the TSA, if initially congress had to vote on the issue? I checked the TSA website January 26, 2005 (IL Smokers Group post #805), and at that time it read: "Disposable lighters and absorbed liquid lighters are allowed in your carry-on baggage. Strike anywhere matches are NOT permitted. If you are uncertain as to whether your lighter is prohibited, please refrain from bringing it to the airport." Are these discussion how government leaders are protecting our country now? If the TSA would have been satisfied with banning lighters, they wouldn't look like fools now. Chemical compounds already exist that will burst into flame on impact. A "fire" ban will have no bearing on improving security. Implementing a "match" ban will only cause a greater percentage of us to become criminals by concealing contraband when we fly. It is sheer stupidity to implement laws that cannot be enforced.
"....But as airports and government leaders began discussing how to create flame-free airport terminals, the task became more complicated. Would newsstands and other small airport stores located beyond the security checkpoint have to stop selling lighters?"...... "......Would airports have to ban smoking and close smoking lounges? How would security screeners detect matches in passengers' pockets or carry-on bags when they don't contain metal to set off the magnetometers? And what about arriving international travelers, who might have matches and lighters with them as they walk through the terminal?......" "......TSA Administrator David M. Stone is expected to face tough questions on lighters and on TSA budget issues before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee today, as President Bush has proposed to cut several major programs from the agency and raise passenger security fees. " This entire airport security concept grows more ridiculous every day! Can't our policy makers think beyond the end of their noses. Their paranoia is expanding beyond the limits of sanity. I'd like to know what genius conceived the idea to expand this "fire" ban on airports. The boogey-man terrorists are continuing to disrupt our society without even lifting a finger. I can't wait to read world opinion on this latest US airport fiasco. The TSA has told airports that for now they can keep smoking lounges open, and perhaps airports can install wall-mounted lighters." Wall mounted lighters in airports?? -- increased passenger security fees?? -- for now airports can keep smoking lounges open?? Shame on me, and this is based purely on my suspicious nature, but I wonder if the CDC and/or other powerful anti groups are orchestrating the entire idea. Maybe the news will give us some answers tomorrow, since the TSA representative was before the Senate Committee today.
Ban on Matches, Lighters Vexes Airports By Sara Kehaulani GooFebruary 15, 2005; Page A02 When Congress voted last year to prohibit passengers from bringing lighters and matches aboard commercial airplanes, it sounded like a reasonable idea for improving airline security. But as airports and government leaders began discussing how to create flame-free airport terminals, the task became more complicated. Would newsstands and other small airport stores located beyond the security checkpoint have to stop selling lighters? Would airports have to ban smoking and close smoking lounges? How would security screeners detect matches in passengers' pockets or carry-on bags when they don't contain metal to set off the magnetometers? And what about arriving international travelers, who might have matches and lighters with them as they walk through the terminal? With these questions unanswered, the Transportation Security Administration has told airports that it won't begin its ban on lighters and matches until mid-March even though the intelligence bill passed in December mandated that the TSA begin the ban by tomorrow. The TSA currently allows passengers to carry "up to two lighters or four books of safety matches" in a carry-on bag, but not in checked luggage, according to the TSA's Web site. "The rule governing this change is in the final stages of clearance," spokesman Mark Hatfield said. "Once enacted, it will be followed by a public awareness campaign." TSA Administrator David M. Stone is expected to face tough questions on lighters and on TSA budget issues before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee today, as President Bush has proposed to cut several major programs from the agency and raise passenger security fees. "If [shoe bomber Richard Reid] had a butane lighter, there wouldn't have been any question about igniting his shoe bomb," said Barry Piatt, a spokesman for Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), a major advocate of the lighter ban. Dorgan hopes the TSA "will develop a sense of urgency" about the issue, Piatt said. Carter Morris, senior vice president of transportation security policy at the American Association of Airport Executives, said airports need more time to make the adjustment. "Not being allowed to travel with matches or a lighter is a big change for folks who travel, whether you smoke or not," Morris said. "This is a complicated operating environment. There are a number of folks who have legitimate needs for lighters and matches to complete their job." One example, he said, is that workers at airport restaurants located beyond the security checkpoint would need matches to light candles on tables. The TSA has told airports that for now they can keep smoking lounges open, and perhaps airports can install wall-mounted lighters. Read
TSA delays lighter ban on planes | | |
| | Smokers will have a little more time to get used to the idea of leaving lighters and matches behind before boarding an airplane. A new federal law prohibiting passengers from taking butane lighters past security checkpoints, part of the intelligence reform bill signed by President Bush in December, was scheduled to go into effect today.
Transportation Security Administration officials said Monday that an announcement is "imminent," but the TSA does not plan to begin strict enforcement of the ban immediately.
"The actual ban won't go into effect until several weeks after the announcement to give the TSA an opportunity to educate the traveling public and to give travelers an opportunity to adjust to the change," said Ann Davis, the agency's regional spokeswoman.
Although the legislation specifically bans only butane lighters, Davis said the TSA will add matches and all other types of cigarette lighters.
That call was made "after looking at the congressional intent and the threat that incendiary devices still pose to passengers on aircraft," Davis said.
Meanwhile, other aspects of the intelligence law require the TSA to create a system for travelers to correct inaccurate information that led to their placement on a no-fly list.
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Matches banned on flights to the US Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
17feb05 SMOKERS dying to light up at the end of a long flight may soon find themselves in serious trouble if they take matches or a cigarette lighter on board US-bound aircraft. Qantas has been told by US authorities that lighters and matches have been added to the prohibited articles list and screeners must start confiscating them before embarkation from the end of next month.
But the ruling presents security screeners with a quandary - their equipment is not designed to pick up matches. And it could mean spending more time at the secondary screening points required for US flights. "I got a notice ... saying that we've got to take book matches off every passenger going to the United States," said Qantas group head of security Geoff Askew. "I'm not sure how we're going to do that." The issue underscores the problems facing airlines because of the failure of governments to standardise global security regimes. Passengers flying within Australia and to destinations other than the US will still be able to take their lighters on to aircraft. But a forgetful passenger discovered with matches on arrival in the US could face unpleasant repercussions. "It's actually been added to their prohibited articles list, so it would be like getting on the aircraft with a knife," Mr Askew said. A spokesman for Transport Minister John Anderson said Australia had no plans to follow the US example. "We're not going down the same path," he said. "We are facilitating discussions between the US and the airlines that fly out of Australia ... effectively it's a matter between the US authorities and those airlines." Sydney Airport Corporation, which is responsible for primary screening at the nation's biggest international terminal, also pointed to the airlines. "The responsibility is on the airlines because it only affects a certain number, not all airlines," a spokeswoman said. "So they'll capture that at the secondary check-in point where there are visual bag inspections anyway." Airline officials have already expressed doubts that articles such as tweezers and small nail files should be on the prohibited list. Apart from the time taken up confiscating these articles, they say it is impossible to make an aircraft interior weapons-free.
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