If you’re the kind of person who can’t live without your electronics, you probably travel smart. Meaning you own smart luggage.
Smart Luggage is great for our gadgets, but it could be dangerous due to the potential of overheating on flights. The Federal Aviation Administration does not allow spare lithium-ion batteries in checked luggage – and now, airlines are following suit.
New bans:
Starting January 15, Delta, American, and Alaska Airlines will not allow smart luggage to be checked on their flights if the lithium-ion battery cannot be removed. These suitcases feature USB ports and contain lithium battery power banks that can be extremely risky if placed in the cargo hold of an aircraft. Many other airlines are not going to allow smart luggage for this reason.
What is ‘smart’ luggage?
Smart luggage provides users with the ability to charge their electrical devices. The luggage not only stores belongings, but is a portable charger that allows you to maintain your smart devices without relying on external chargers. Smart luggage not only accommodates belongings but also encompasses a USB port to charge wireless electrical devices.
Some smart luggage even provide WiFi capabilities from the bag itself. However, its GPS tracking device is arguably its most innovative feature.
And GPS locators are the tip of the iceberg. In fact, if you’re someone who likes to over pack, smart luggage provides users with weights scales to prevent overpacking. One of the biggest selling points is that these luggage carriers are super stylish.
Are we becoming high-maintenance?
The question sort of answers itself. We want the convenience of home while we’re out – wherever that may be. The problem is that technology has made us impatient and sort of spoiled. Perhaps this is what has inspired the smart luggage industry in the first place. Luggage bags with sorting capabilities are not great but not necessary.
It doesn’t help that there’s an expectation for us to be available no matter where we are. This puts the demand on portable chargers.
The problem with travel batteries:
Flying is the safest form of travel. In fact, you are more likely to die driving a car than in mid-flight. But fires caused by lithium batteries are increasing, and leading to continued research on the impacts of batteries on flights.
Gases like hydrogen are emitted when the batteries short circuit.When they are ignited, they can lead to explosions, leading to fires that are hard to extinguish. Cargo liners are inclined to melting when they are exposed to melted lithium. This means that batteries that are exposed to heat will inevitably cause other surfaces of the aircraft to melt and overheat.
So far there hasn’t been any fires from the batteries in the smart luggage, but this call is preventative.
Currently, there are no bans set for Canadian airliners, but steps are being taken at WestJet to address potential issues with Smart Luggage. Currently, they do not see many Smart Luggage bags entering aircrafts, but they expect to be more as the demand for this technology increases.
The International Air Transport Association has put many standards for carrying lithium-ion batteries, and we expect them to change within the future.
