A traveler walks past a TSA Pre-check application center at Terminal C of the LaGuardia Airport in this Jan. 27, 2014, file photo. | John Moore/Getty Images U.S. to expand laptop ban to all flights that flunk safeguards The mandate would affect as many as 2,000 daily international flights to the United States and potentially throw a huge wrench into business travelers' plans.

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will ban large electronics on flights to the United States altogether — on board, and in checked bags — unless airlines comply with new directives to ramp up passenger and baggage screening.

The mandate, announced by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, would affect 280 last-point-of-departure airports and as many as 2,000 daily international flights to the United States and potentially throw a huge wrench into business travelers' plans.


The restrictions DHS discussed Wednesday would go further than a March order banning passengers from carrying any device larger than a smartphone on U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports, mostly in the Middle East — both in the scope of where they could apply and in expanding the ban to checked bags. Effectively, electronics larger than a smartphone simply could not be carried inside a plane in any fashion unless carriers adopt additional security measures.

“I am concerned that we are seeing new interests on the part of terrorist groups to go after the aviation sector. ... However, we are not standing on the sidelines while fanatics hatch new plots. The U.S. government is focused on deterring, detecting and disrupting these threats," Kelly said in a speech Wednesday afternoon.

Kelly said that the additional security measures being announced Wednesday would be phased in by airlines over time. They will be the first step in his agency’s plan to work with airlines and foreign partners to increase security on a global level, he said.

Not being able to carry any electronics on their person or in a checked bag would be a non-starter for most business travelers, exerting tremendous pressure on airlines to comply. But if they don't, carriers could have their air certificates snatched back by the FAA, a senior DHS official said. An FAA certificate of this nature is necessary for an airline to operate anywhere inside the United States.

The new measures could also allow several foreign-owned airlines currently subject to the ban to get out from under it, if they adopt the additional screening procedures.

DHS wouldn't get into specifics about what kind of additional screening measures are required but said airlines have already adopted many of them and will be familiar with them. Airlines will not have to implement the changes immediately, but some could do so as soon as this summer, a senior DHS official said.

"We will be giving the airlines sufficient time to implement these measures in an orderly fashion," the official said.

DHS said it will send notices to the 180 airlines that operate international flights to the United States, outlining enhanced aviation security measures that must be implemented in order to avoid electronics restrictions.

In the meantime, DHS is advising international travelers to keep in "close contact" with their air carrier for updates on additional screening requirements.

The directive being issued to airlines includes both short- and long-term measures airlines can adopt to reduce risks from explosives planted in laptops and other portable devices.

DHS officials said the agency is broadly pushing airlines and airports to "take the next step" in beefing up security — meaning using more canine teams, adopting more advanced screening technology and enrolling in a Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance inspection program. CBP currently has 15 pre-clearance locations in six countries, including Ireland, Canada, the Bahamas and the United Arab Emirates.

For months, Kelly has dangled the possibility of an electronics ban expansion over airlines and airports in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

European Commission officials have been especially vocal about their wish to avoid the ban and have repeatedly pointed out the fire risks associated with stacking laptops with flammable lithium batteries in planes' cargo holds — a problem this directive would avoid by taking the blunt-force approach of simply banning them everywhere.

U.S. and European officials have had several technical meetings, most recently on Wednesday in Europe.