Royal Jordanian Airlines Bans Use of Electronics After US Voices Security 'Concerns' (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Royal Jordanian airlines banned the use of electronics on flights servicing the U.S. after government officials here expressed concerns. Details are scant, but CNN is reporting that other carriers based on the Middle East and Africa may be affected as well. The news broke when Royal Jordanian, a state-owned airline that operates around 500 flights a week, posted this cryptic notice on its Twitter feed. The ban, which includes laptops, tablets, and video games, but does not include smartphones or medical devices, is effective for Royal Jordanian flights servicing New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal. A spokesperson for Royal Jordanian was not immediately available for clarification. Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that Royal Jordanian may not be the only carrier affected by these new security provisions. Jon Ostrower, the network's aviation editor, just tweeted that as many as 12 airlines based in the Middle East and Africa could be impacted. A Saudi executive also tweeted that "directives by U.S. authorities" could affect passengers traveling from 13 countries, with the new measure set to go into effect over the next 96 hours.

Comments

Oh, shucks

[ugen]

This probably has nothing to do with the fact that several middle-east based carriers have been consistently highly rated by passengers and, with their top notch service and low fares luring plenty of international travelers away from legacy US carriers.

Re:Oh, shucks

[fisternipply]

The direct Dreamliner flight from JFK (and back to ORD) is actually quite nice. Wish they went back to JFK though. Most of RJ's long haul fleet are Dreamliners and it's a nice airplane. On-board staff are friendly and accommodating. Jordan is not a fundamentalist Islamic country where the women cover their heads and say nothing. The royal family are very progressive and people in Jordan are pretty normal.

Visiting the US is becoming a lot of fun lately

[Lisandro]

Seriously, what the living fuck?

Re:Visiting the US is becoming a lot of fun lately

[Lisandro]

Doesn't work that way. I travel to the US regularly for business and the current recommendation is not to carry smartphones or computers with you; i'd normally dismiss horror stories on US borders as bullshit except i have a number of coworkers who were asked for their laptop passwords by customs officers in the past few months.

It hasn't been my experience (yet), but it is incredible that we have to follow the same considerations as if we were traveling to North Korea in that regard.

Re: Thanks Hillary!

[lgw]

C'mon now. HRC was a terrible candidate, but against Trump? She was Churchill. I honestly can't believe the later was a viable option for half the country.

Half the country is very concerned with job loss due to immigration (and for some, increased crime in their neighborhoods). Most candidates responded to these concerns - the hot-button single issue for a huge swath of voters - with "shut up, you racist". Trump didn't. Why is it in any way surprising he had a strong base?

Only Trump and Cruz even presented an immigration plan of any kind. It was obviously going to be one of those two who won the GOP primary, but I'm still surprised that it was Trump. I think credibility of anyone who works in DC is just that damn low now with the American working class. So low they took "crazy" just to get "outsider".

Re:Thanks Hillary!

[bobbied]

Your emails have cost us yet again. Everything that's gone wrong for over a year has been ALL HILLARY'S FAULT!

E-mails where the least of her failures.. Remember, she lost the election to Donald Trump of all people... She lost to a guy who had never run for ANY public office before.... She lost to an opponent even though she had significantly more money. She lost, even though she didn't have a serious primary challenge and had the nomination sewed up long before her opponent. She lost even to a guy who said the stuff on that Access Hollywood tape that came out as a great October Surprise. She lost to a guy who got into stupid twitter fights though out the whole campaign. She lost the election yet won the popular vote because she campaigned in the wrong places... Hillary was horrible as a candidate...

Even more, this isn't the first time she lost to a novice, trying to be president, she lost in 2008 to a freshman Senator......

Jon now reporting the tweet is deleted

[xmas2003]

Jon now reporting that Royal Jordainian has deleted its tweet.

Re: Thanks Hillary!

[Anonymous Coward]

The only jobs we lose to immigrants are low pay shit jobs. The good jobs are not list to illegals, not taxes, not even the EPA, but to machinery that works nearly 24/7/365.

Your. Shovel. Can't. Compete. With. A. Dump. Truck.

Re: Thanks Hillary!

[Motherfucking Shit]

Half the country is very concerned with job loss due to immigration

Yet they seem far more interested in kicking out the immigrants than in punishing the companies who are hiring them. An immigrant can't take your job unless your employer gets rid of you and hires the immigrant. Instead of ICE showing up at courthouses to round up and deport people, maybe the Department of Labor should start showing up at corporate headquarters and carting those folks off.