Virgin staff turn battery quality control inspectors

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 26 September 2006 17:08

Your IT - Home IT

The good news for passengers who own Apple and Dell notebooks is that they can now use battery powered computers on Virgin Atlantic flights. The bad news for them and Virgin staff is that they will have to have their batteries inspected by the cabin crew.

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Virgin has decreed that Apple and Dell notebooks are OK as long as they don't come loaded with the Sony Lithium Ion batteries affected by the recent recalls involving 6 million computers sold around the world.

Thus, Virgin cabin crew need to inspect the serial numbers of all the batteries of Apple and Dell notebooks taken on the plane by passengers. Any notebook containing a battery with a serial number found to be on the recall list can't be used unless the battery is removed and the seat happens to be fitted with a power supply. Notebooks with batteries not on the recall list can be used normally.

Given the amount of notebooks being used on planes these days, checking the serial numbers on batteries during trans-Atlantic fights is probably an additional task that cabin crew didn't need. However, from Virgin's point of view it's perfectly achievable and a far superior solution to a blanket ban on the use of battery powered notebooks on flights.

It remains to be seen whether Korean Air and Qantas follow the lead set by Virgin Atlantic.