Qantas Airways, has moved to restrict the use of Dell computers in their airplane cabins and Apple computers may be next on the list. The airline has asked passengers to not use their Dell computers in certain configurations after Sony recalled over 4 million laptops with another 1.8 million being recalled now.
"Dell Laptop computers affected by the recall, that have not had the battery replaced, can only be used inflight by:
1. Battery power only, or
2. Aircraft mains power - but only with the battery removed from the computer. (Removal of the battery should occur before connecting to aircraft power.)"
So far, no other airline has made a similar move... but concern over that very possibility has prompted some companies whose employees have to fly for a living to suggest they'll move away from Dell and Apple laptops, should others follow Qantas' lead.
The batteries in question are supplied to both companies by Sony... and in addtion to Dell and Apple laptops, the lithium-ion cells are also used in laptops made by Hewlitt-Packard and Lenovo. So far, there are no reports of exploding batteries in those products.
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This seems to be an urban myth. The Qantas website says:
"Dell Laptop computers affected by the recall, that have not had the battery replaced, can only be used inflight by:
1. Battery power only, or
2. Aircraft mains power - but only with the battery removed from the computer. (Removal of the battery should occur before connecting to aircraft power.)"
http://qantas.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/qantas.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=553
Posted by: Monte | August 29, 2006 7:39 PM | Permalink to Comment