A new survey by the Business Travel Coalition polled travel managers on the proposed U.S. airplane electronics ban and the results indicate that the business travel community would prefer other security solutions.
The research, released on May 22, polled 112 corporate, academic institution, and government travel managers over four days and found that 60 percent currently have policies regarding checking electronic equipment putting them at odds with the proposed ban. A majority of respondents, 79 percent, indicated that their travelers are likely to reduce trips if the ban is implemented.
Some comments from survey participants showed that they support safe travel policies but are concerned that the ban creates, “an atmosphere of fear and paranoia versus one of safety and security.” Others question why the hold is a safer part of the plan for electronics, and another participant asked why sophisticated scanning techniques at airports are not sufficient.
Kevin Mitchell, BTC founder, said, “These survey results should illuminate the economic risk of such a ban on electronics that are larger than a cell phone and encourage the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to collaborate with travel industry stakeholders to identify, test, and deploy risk mitigation solutions short of a ban on laptops and tablets.”
