The Department of Homeland Security appears open to alternatives to an expansion of the electronics ban, such as random screening of passengers, an airline source tells CNN.
“Originally the industry felt the only outcome was going to be a laptop ban,” the source said. But after initial talks between DHS officials and their European counterparts, where the Europeans expressed outrage about the potential ban, “things felt different,” the source said.
The source said the airline industry’s meetings with DHS a few weeks ago left the industry with the impression that the ban expansion was mere days away. Since then, the source says the lack of action on the part of DHS coupled with the ongoing discussions makes industry insiders feel like the agency is open to other ideas.
“Things feel different, as if they are open to alternatives like additional random screening and additional secondary screening,” the source said.
However, the more open stance has not eliminated the possibility of expanding the electronics ban to flights between the US and Europe.
In fact, DHS said in a statement that an expansion of the ban remains very much “on the table.”
In response to the industry source’s claims, DHS spokesman David Lapan told CNN the agency is keeping all of its options open and will act “based on evaluated intelligence.” Lapan said the agency is “exploring an array of options to secure the aviation sector – in addition to, but not necessarily instead of – the possibility of expanding” the electronics ban.
“These are not mutually exclusive,” Lapan said.
DHS Secretary John Kelly had a call with counterparts in Europe Tuesday and the parties agreed on the need to “raise the bar for aviation security globally, including through a range of potential seen and unseen enhancements,” the agency said in a statement.
Kelly “made it clear,” according to the statement, that a potential expansion of the ban on electronics larger than a cell phone “is still on the table.” The statement came after Politico, citing unnamed sources, reported the issue of a potential European expansion was closed.