--- title: Laptop Ban on International Flights: Reason Behind It description: The new U.S. ban on carry-on electronic devices on some international flights has raised many questions. Here's what you need to know canonical: https://time.com/4708332/laptop-ban-electronics-international-flights/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-21T20:55:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:57:29.543Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here’s Why the U.S. Is Banning Larger Electronics on Some Overseas Flights og:description: The logic behind the ban on devices larger than cell phones og:url: https://time.com/4708332/laptop-ban-electronics-international-flights/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28b1213a368ba639/6988bf46ab6d77444b6ad4cb/travel-regulations-laptop-electronic-devices.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4227 og:image:height: 2378 og:image:alt: US Airplane Security Laptops og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here’s Why the U.S. Is Banning Larger Electronics on Some Overseas Flights twitter:description: The logic behind the ban on devices larger than cell phones twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28b1213a368ba639/6988bf46ab6d77444b6ad4cb/travel-regulations-laptop-electronic-devices.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s Why the U.S. Is Banning Larger Electronics on Some Overseas Flights > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 21, 2017 8:55 PM UTC  This May 8, 2014 file photo shows Emirates passenger planes at Dubai airport in United Arab Emirates. This May 8, 2014 file photo shows Emirates passenger planes at Dubai airport in United Arab Emirates. Kamran Jebreili—AP  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 21, 2017 8:55 PM UTC The Trump Administration’s new [ban on carry-on electronic devices](http://time.com/4707584/electronics-ban-overseas-flights/) on some international flights has left many wondering why certain devices and airports are being targeted, and why carry-on and checked luggage are treated differently. Passengers traveling on foreign airlines to the U.S. from 10 airports in eight majority-Muslim countries will be [required](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/03/21/qa-aviation-security-enhancements-select-last-point-departure-airports-commercial) to place all personal electronic devices larger than a cell phone into checked bags. That includes laptops, tablets, iPads and electronic games. The rules took effect Tuesday, and airlines have 96 hours to implement them. TIME spoke to aviation security experts about the reasoning behind the rules. Here’s what you need to know: **Why ban laptops and not cell phones?** The Department of Homeland Security directive, which did not reference a specific credible threat, mentioned a [February 2016 incident](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/11/africa/somalia-plane-bomb/) in which an explosive device in a laptop blew a hole in a Somali passenger jet, forcing an emergency landing. One person, the suspected bomber, was killed. Experts reached Tuesday said smart phones don’t pose the same kind of threat. “This is a world in which size matters,” said Bennet Waters, a counterterrorism expert at the [Chertoff Group](http://www.chertoffgroup.com/) who served in the Department of Homeland Security. He referenced the [TSA rule](https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/liquids-rule) that limited the volume of liquid passengers could bring on a flight, concluding that “within certain quantities and if contained in certain ways, liquids, creams and gels did not pose a threat to commercial aviation. But in quantities above that, they might.” Waters said the same logic applies to small smart phones, compared to larger laptops and tablets. “The bigger the device, the more you can get in there,” he said. **Why ban carry-on devices but allow them in checked luggage?** The new security measures suggest a difference in the potential threat associated with carry-on luggage versus checked baggage. Checking electronic devices subjects them to a different screening process and removes them from passengers for the duration of the flight. “The bags are screened in a different way, often using more advanced technology,” Waters said. “The policy separates the devices themselves from their owners, and they’re placing them into the cargo hold as opposed to having them potentially moving about in the cabin.” Explosives are easier to spot in checked luggage because the screening process relies on explosive detection systems, which can be more thorough than the standard x-ray machine used at the carry-on security checkpoint, Jeffrey Price, an aviation security expert and aerospace professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said in an email. Price said it’s harder for someone to detonate a bomb when it’s in cargo because that would mean setting it off with a timer or with a trigger device based on barometric pressure. “It’s less complicated to command detonate when it’s with you,” he said. **Why target these airports?** The new restrictions affect airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. A statement from the Department of Homeland Security said the affected airports and airlines were selected “based on the current threat picture.” Sheldon Jacobson, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studies aviation security, questioned whether the rules could create a “porous security environment” if other countries don’t adopt similar rules. The United Kingdom followed the U.S. on Tuesday by announcing [ a similar ban on certain electronic devices](https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/additional-airline-security-measures-on-some-routes-travelling-to-the-uk), affecting select flights from six countries. Waters said the targeted rules were likely a result of the TSA’s varying confidence levels in screening procedures at different airports. **How will this affect travelers?** The primary effect on travelers will be two-fold, Waters said. They’ll have to endure a long flight without a laptop or tablet, and they’ll have to check a bag if they’re traveling with one of these devices. Waters, who will be traveling through one of the 10 affected airports during a trip next week, praised the measures as a “very reasonable set of mitigation strategies to limit the overall risk.” While some travelers have already criticized the rule as a hassle, Waters said he saw it as a relatively small sacrifice. “I’m never a guy who checks a bag, and I’m always a guy who uses a laptop during the flight,” Waters said. “I will be inconvenienced by this, and I have absolutely no heartburn whatsoever with what TSA has done.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4708332/laptop-ban-electronics-international-flights/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4708332/laptop-ban-electronics-international-flights/"},"headline":"Here’s Why the U.S. Is Banning Larger Electronics on Some Overseas Flights","datePublished":"2017-03-21T20:55:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:57:29.543Z","description":"The logic behind the ban on devices larger than cell phones","url":"https://time.com/4708332/laptop-ban-electronics-international-flights/","keywords":["Aviation","Transportation","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28b1213a368ba639/6988bf46ab6d77444b6ad4cb/travel-regulations-laptop-electronic-devices.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28b1213a368ba639/6988bf46ab6d77444b6ad4cb/travel-regulations-laptop-electronic-devices.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US Airplane Security Laptops","caption":"US Airplane Security Laptops","creditText":"Kamran Jebreili—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aviation/","name":"Aviation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4708332/laptop-ban-electronics-international-flights/","name":"Here’s Why the U.S. Is Banning Larger Electronics on Some Overseas Flights"}}]}] ```