TSA Has Banned This Popular Travel Item Just In Time For Summer

With the busy spring and summer travel season upon us, many Upstate New Yorkers are taking the skies to travel to their vacation destinations. Of course that’s not without a certain amount of anxiety these days given all of the recent problems at airports across the country.

The latest problems have stemmed from technical glitches at Newark Airport in New Jersey that has cause delays and cancellations for many travelers both coming and going. Now the TSA is taking some steps to be sure more unwanted problems aren’t going to cause chaos in the skies.

Just announced this week the TSA has immediately put a ban on a few items that most people travel with for every one of their trips.

Power Banks Banned

Making sure your devices stay charged is a top priority for many travelers. While airports do have charging stations, sometimes it can be unreliable. There could be many other travelers already using them or they could be broken. Having a portable power bank has saved me more than once.

I usually carry these in my carry on bag so I can get to them. However it appears some passengers are loading into their checked bags which is where the problems start. The FAA issued the following statement:

When a carry-on bag is checked at the gate or at planeside, all spare lithium batteries and power banks must be removed from the bag and kept with the passenger in the aircraft cabin.

This safety advisory has prompted the TSA to fully ban these items from checked bags. It is to prevent a short circuit in the batteries while stored with the rest of the luggage.

Read More: Do Kids Need a Real ID To Travel?

If you have your spare batteries with you you could put out a fire and prevent a disaster from taking place. But if your bags are in with all the others no one would know and the result could be deadly.

I do think it’s silly, because no one is putting power banks in their checked bags. What would be the point? However I do think it is a good idea to be overly cautious than to just wait and see what might happen.