E-Cig Banned on American Airlines

[Jim Davis]

Devices that are not allowed to be activated at any time are those, including e-cigarettes, that could cause damage to equipment or diminish the design, function, or capability of the aircraft.

Can be found here;
Onboard Technology

[Wildsky]

So a screwdriver would be ok? (damn fools! LOL)

That is seriously the funniest thing I've read ALL day.

[NY JETS]

Comeon guys, I expect 10 letters to be sent to AA and a formal response from them by Saturday. Don't F with us!

[secretsquirrl]

Devices that are not allowed to be activated at any time are those, including e-cigarettes, that could cause damage to equipment or diminish the design, function, or capability of the aircraft.

Can be found here;
Onboard Technology

They've used that excuse before. It used to be old 90s' gameboys', but what the airlines don't take into consideration is that the newer devices usually have technology within them to prevent any kind of interference with aircraft functionality.

Sounds to me like a cheap cop out.

I seriously hope this isn't amongst new industry trends, I was hoping to one day fly(definitely not on American Airlines anyway, their aircrafts suck IMHO and the stewardesses are both mean & ugly) to Japan.

This subject was relevant to my interest; So I dug this up as well:

"As of this post, the airlines that have made definite decisions on the electronic cigarette and DO NOT allow their use while inflight are Virgin Atlantic, TUI and Thomson, and Thomas Crook (TCX). TUI and TCX are British airlines who primarily fly within Europe. None of these three have any mention of electric or electronic cigarettes anywhere on their websites. However, their cabin crew members have said they have been given the no-go. Please note that as of 1/10/2009, Continental has included the e-cig on non-usable in flight items."

According to: http://www.e-cig.org/2008/12/17/usin...n-an-airplane/

[Jim Davis]

They've used that excuse before. It used to be old 90s' gameboys', but what the airlines don't take into consideration is that the newer devices usually have technology within them to prevent any kind of interference with aircraft functionality. Sounds to me like a cheap cop out.

If any electronic device had a chance of making an aircraft fall out of the sky, I would be strictly banned. Yeah, it's a cop out, but that's their right.

[BiteMe]

Well... I can't speak for American Airlines, but I can address the claim that they are making.
Please let me explain.
I work in Experimental Flight Test at the Boeing Company. I've been here in Flight Test for 22 years, and in that time I've seen quite a few items that could potentially "alter the form or function of the aircraft". These items are usually things like hair dryers, electronic games, radios, computers, cell phones and the like. The only thing that I can think of that would cause this type of regulation, is the fact that the atomizer of the e-cig produces heat. Where the airlines are concerned, they don't care if the heat source is contained or not. (Like a hair dryer) The folks that write these regulations have NOTHING to do with the manufacturer (Boeing), but apparently think of the absolute worst case scenario and then invent some kind of restriction to control the use of these items on their planes. Quite possibly, these people have never even seen an e-cig except in photos.
I asked one of our liason engineers about this and he just laughed when I showed him American's regulation. He agreed that nothing could PROBABLY ever happen, but given the right set of circumstances, somebody might be able to melt a panel or something.
(Imagine if you sat on your manual switch and fried your battery and atty into oblivion)
Probably never happen, but in somebody's fertile mind, it could.
By the way... when I fly with one of the planes that we are testing, I bring my Dura. You can take that for what it's worth.
Hope this helps.

Chris

[Wildsky]

If any electronic device had a chance of making an aircraft fall out of the sky, I would be strictly banned. Yeah, it's a cop out, but that's their right.

They should not LIE about it. Say NO but don't make some lame excuse/lie. If e-cigs did any "damage" or cause any problems, there would be planes falling out the sky all over the dang place.
We should all write to them saying:
THANK YOU, I was flying last week and your flight steward let me use my e-cig all the way, it was fantastic!
If they can lie so can we - right?

[secretsquirrl]

We should all write to them saying:
THANK YOU, I was flying last week and your flight steward let me use my e-cig all the way, it was fantastic!
If they can lie so can we - right?

It wouldn't exactly be a lie, over at the "public" section of the forum. There's been known and documented cases of people using the e-cig on the planes. It's no worse than snakes on a plane cellphones on a plane.

If any electronic device had a chance of making an aircraft fall out of the sky, I would be strictly banned. Yeah, it's a cop out, but that's their right.

I understand and agree. It's their plane they can do whatever they want to. But if I can find an airline that accommodates the use of e-cigs, I'd definitely switch airlines.

[Wildsky]

It wouldn't exactly be a lie, over at the "public" section of the forum. There's been known and documented cases of people using the e-cig on the planes. It's no worse than snakes on a plane cellphones on a plane.

I've vaped on a few planes, but never american.

[secretsquirrl]

I've vaped on a few planes, but never american.

Exactly, and personally speaking I'm not some diehard nicotine addict. I can understand if they won't allow vaping in flights under x hrs, but when it comes to international flights(15-18 hrs) it just seems more practical.

I've been to Narita airport in Japan for a connecting flight, they accommodate smokers with a small apartment sized room with air filters, but it's like a mass exodus when flights are coming & going. Those rooms are almost always full.