U.S. Airlines Tell Passengers to Turn Off Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Phones — Skift Business Traveler

What to Know Now

That was fast. Not a week after Samsung issued a recall for its lauded Galaxy Note 7 and the FAA issued a warning, American, Delta and United have implemented bans on operating or even charging the phones on their aircraft.

Out of Chicago this Friday, United agents at my gate to Boston made overhead announcements while screens above the boarding lounge flashed warnings. In Boston, American gate agents raised the same alarm.

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At issue is a series of faulty batteries in the Note 7 that make them prone to overheating and explosion — a known issue with poorly made lithium ion batteries. To minimize the risk, air carriers — at least in my case — asked passengers to turn off phones affected by the recall during flight and leave them unplugged.

Outside of overhead announcements, however, there was little enforcement, suggesting that the ban isn’t being taken too aggressively. But if the phones continue to explode, that will quickly change.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Note 7 Recall campaign is well underway. Even if you’re not a heavy traveler, it’d be a good idea to take part.

Social Quote of the Day

Courage is not removing the 3.5mm headphone jack, but it is Bypassing the security at the Airport & flying with a Note 7.

– @amitbhawani | Amit Bhawani, Founder & Editor-in-chief of @PhoneRadarBlog & @AndroidAdvices. 

Airlines

Southwest Has Tentative Deal With Flight Attendants After 3 Years of Talks: Southwest Airlines Co. and a union representing its flight attendants reached a tentative contract deal after more than three years of talks. Read more at Skift

Air China’s In-Flight Magazine Removed Following Racist London Article: Chinese flag-carrier Air China said Thursday that it had removed copies of its inflight magazine containing an article criticized as racist for telling visitors to take precautions when visiting areas of London with large ethnic-minority populations. Read more at Skift

Airports

San Francisco Airport’s Record Debt Sale to Address Demand for More Gates: San Francisco Airport’s Record Debt Sale to Address Demand for More Gates. Read more at Skift

Delta Is Giving Seattle Residents Free Miles:  For a couple of years now, Alaska and Delta have been at war in Seattle. Historically Alaska is Seattle’s hometown airline. Then a few years back Alaska and Delta announced that they’d grow together. That worked great for a while, but then Delta realized that they didn’t actually need Alaska to provide that regional feed, and that they could just operate those flights themselves. So they did, and they’ve been growing ever since. Read more at One Mile at a Time

How Airport Security Has Changed Since 9/11: Every September 11 anniversary prompts an examination of what has—or hasn’t—happened in the ongoing quest to make air travel safer. And while the U.S. has spent an estimated nearly $100 billion to secure airports and airplanes since the attack, one thing is certain: more needs to be done. Read more at Condé Nast Traveler

Lost In Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport? American Airlines Has An App For That: At the Future Travel Experience expo in Las Vegas this week, American Airlines announced it had rolled out Apple’s Core location-based “Blue Dot” technology for users of its smart phone app at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, joining a handful of others around the country. Read more at Travel Pulse

Tech

Airlines Review FAA Warning About Samsung Galaxy Note Phones: If you travel with a Samsung Note 7, you’re likely on the honor system when deciding whether to use or charge the device during a flight. Read more at Skift

Virgin Galactic resumes test flights 2 years after fatal accident: In 2014, a test flight conducted by Virgin Galactic, the company’s commercial space flight division, ended in tragedy when a crew member was killed in a crash. Now, just shy of two years later, the company has held its first successful test flight since the accident. Virgin Galactic announced on Friday that a four-hour flight had been performed over the Mojave desert at a height of over 50,000 feet, marking the debut of the recently completed SpaceShip Two passenger vehicle, the VSS Unity. Read more at Slashgear

Best Credit Cards for Travelers Depends on Preferences: If you’re not obsessed with your credit card’s travel perks, chances are you’re not carrying the right plastic. Read more at Skift

Hotels

How Hotels Can Drive Revenue by Rethinking the Hotel Package: According to TripAdvisor Insights, 1 in 4 travelers have chosen a destination because a hotel had a special offer or package. While third night-free deals are certainly a staple of the package deal, what more can hotel and accommodation providers do to transform packages, make them relevant, and bring them into the digital age? Read more at Skift

Is Donald Trump’s campaign hurting his hotel chain? The grand hotel soon to open in Washington’s historic 1899 Old Post Office Pavilion boasts the largest suites in the country, and the biggest ballroom in the city — not to mention a stunning lobby adorned with crystal chandeliers. It’s an architectural grand dame worthy of heads of state, not just moneyed tourists. But for all the pluses, it’s very likely some politically opinionated travelers will do their best to avoid the latest Trump International Hotel when it opens its doors on Sept. 12. Read more at The Boston Globe

Your Turn

Eric Cheng, one of the grandfathers of drone aviation as we know it today, is currently trolling through Indonesia capturing some amazing photos both above and below the water. His Twitter feed is here, but if you can, check out his live feeds on Facebook.

Tips and Comments

Can be sent to gm[at]skift[dot]com or to @grantkmartin

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