Homeland Secretary Kelly considers laptop ban on all flights into US

close

Video

John Kelly on Manchester investigation, keeping America safe

Secretary of homeland security on protecting the nation on Memorial Day Weekend

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Sunday he’s considering a ban on passengers carrying laptop computers on all international flights in and out of the United States.

“I might,” Kelly said on “Fox News Sunday.” “There's a real threat -- numerous threats against aviation. That's really the thing that they are obsessed with, the terrorists, the idea of knocking down an airplane in flight, particularly if it's a U.S. carrier, particularly if it's full of mostly U.S. folks.”

Since taking over the agency in January, Kelly has already limited laptops in airplane cabins.

He instituted a ban in March on flights from 10 cities, mostly in the Middle East. Beyond laptops, the ban also covers tablets and other electronic devices and requires such equipment larger than a smartphone be checked in.

The ban applies to nonstop U.S.-bound flights from international airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. About 50 flights a day, all on foreign airlines, are affected.

Earlier this month, there were reports that the Trump administration would broaden the ban to include planes from the European Union, affecting trans-Atlantic routes that carry as many as 65 million people a year.

U.S. officials have said that the initial ban was not based on any specific threat, but on longstanding concerns about extremists targeting jetliners.

Kelly on Sunday also signaled that aviation security -- dramatically increased since the 9/11 terror attacks -- will get even tighter. And he hinted about soon getting help in such efforts from “new technology …  not too far down the road.”

However, the Trump administration's spending plan for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 would make significant cuts to airport security programs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.