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Home » News » TSA to Ban Toner Cartridges Tomorrow
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TSA to Ban Toner Cartridges Tomorrow

Matthew November 7, 2010 5 Comments

Security Directive 1554-10-05 is out: starting tomorrow, November 8, the TSA is expected to announce that airline passengers will be prohibited from flying with printer ink and toner cartridges, sized at 16oz (by volume) or larger. This ban will cover both carry-on and checked baggage.

But there’s a problem: ink or toner volume is not readily listed on the cartridge itself. That’s going to make screening interesting!

One DOD terrorism analyst told Flying Fish:

“The prohibition of printer ink and toner cartridges does nothing to enhance the security of passenger flights."

This is not surprising. After all, terrorists do not play the same cards more than once. Once again, the TSA is pandering to the naive public, engaging in security theatre to mollify anxieties that are exacerbated by the TSA and DHS in the first place.

The Yemenis bomb plot that was foiled the week before last was due to intelligence gathering, not careful security screening. That should be the focus of the TSA.

Reactionary polices are rarely effective. I trust that the TSA will quickly realize that a blanket ban of ink toners will do little to keep us safer and serve only to burden us with further inconvenience. I say that as a traveler who frequently flies from coast to coast and has flown with a large ink toner in my checked bag twice this year.

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About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120 countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying international relations, American government, and later obtaining a law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House. His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles. Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the direction and coordination of company travel.

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5 Comments

  1. Gene Reply
    November 7, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    I guess I won’t be using my laser printer on-board anymore.

  2. Halothane Reply
    November 8, 2010 at 2:37 am

    We should just ban people, packages, and all luggage from flying on commercial airliners. Problem solved!

  3. Kevin Reply
    November 8, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    I find it funny that a big ad to buy toner cartridges pops up right next to the story.

  4. Michael D Reply
    November 9, 2010 at 12:02 am

    I think Google adds ‘scans’ the blog post looking for ‘add words’ which people have bought or might be relevant and populates the adds on the page with adds keyed to those words.

  5. Matthew Reply
    November 9, 2010 at 4:52 pm

    @Kevin + Michael: That’s good ol’ Google AdSense!

    @Gene: ROFL!

    @Halothane: Brilliant!

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