My son worked in an Apple store while he was in college and would relay stories about international customers who walked in with wads of cash to buy phones, laptops and tablets that were significantly less expensive in the United States than in their home countries. Sometimes the cash transactions were large enough that a security guard had to be on hand while the money was counted out on the counter. I always found these stories amusing because it was hard to envision people coming to Washington for bargains.
What I didn’t think of at the time is that customers who buy and then travel with multiple lithium battery–powered devices increase the risk of an in-flight fire, but apparently this is enough of a problem to have attracted the attention of the airline industry.
“When we fly, a lot of us have a laptop, tablet, a phone, even two phones, and that’s quite reasonable,” said Dave Brennan, assistant director, cargo, safety and standards, International Air Transport Associat…
