If you own a Dell laptop, or even if you don’t, you’ve probably heard about the tiny little problem of laptop batteries catching on fire. If you haven’t heard about it and you own a Dell, uh, you may want to check here to see if you’re at risk.
Today, Apple announced it’s following suit and recalling iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 batteries from the past three years for similar problems. Both of these battery recalls related to Sony-made batteries.
As this continues to become a bigger issue, airlines are likely going to start looking at this much more closely.
First up to bat is Qantas. They have now banned the use of affected laptops if the battery is in and the unit is plugged in. Yeah, it’s that convoluted. So, if you use battery power, that’s fine. If you plug it in where they have onboard powerports, you must first remove the battery. And of course, this only applies to batteries that have been recalled. Not sure how they’re going to enforce that one.
That doesn’t affect too many people, but this could just be the tip of the iceberg. If more batteries are recalled, keep an eye on changing airline policies.