Rumor: TSA Says No More Gadgets

How about that? The blogosphere has been abuzz with talk about something that TSA wants to do about gadgets and traveling. You might have heard of it – the Transportation Safety Administration is planning on putting a ban on the use of electronic gadgets while a plane is on the air. This is actually nothing new, at least in other countries.

In the United States, though, most airlines allow the use of electronic gadgets once the plane has taken off. In fact, there are many airlines that offer in-flight services such as WiFi. If the rumor is true, this means that these things are out of the picture.

The rumor stems from the recent terrorist attempt on a flight headed for the United States. As a result, the TSA posted an announcement saying:

“Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere.”

The “additional security measures” were not specified – yet. Naturally, this statement induced a considerable amount of (justified, in my mind) panic. People who already hate traveling in the first place will have no way of amusing themselves, especially on a long haul flight. People who just can’t live without fiddling with their gadgets are going to suffer even more.

But we should rest easy for now. After all, they are just rumors. We don’t know if anything is going to materialize. If something does, though, how are you going to take it?