Qantas to Dell owners: Reveal thyselves!

We know that people are unfairly discriminated against everyday for any number of reasons -- their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and even weight -- but a new policy recently enacted by Australia's Qantas airline seems to be the first time in history that folks are being singled out because of the brand of laptop they choose to sport. Due to the recent spate of flaming Dell notebooks and the subsequent, unprecedented battery recall, new Qantas regulations make it clear that no Dell laptops -- not even those unaffected by the recall -- are allowed to contain batteries while on the plane; at one point Qantas even reportedly took the unusual step of requiring Dell-toting passengers to remove their batteries at the gate and tape up the contact points, ensuring that only those clever enough to remove the tape would be able to operate their laptops in-flight. Either way, if you want to get some work done, you'll have to buy a first- or business-class ticket (and probably an inverter as well) to power your lappy from the embedded outlets only available in the pricier cabins. A Qantas spokesperson claims that the policy has been relaxed a bit since the initial Dell owners were pulled aside before boarding; now you won't have to "admit" owning a Dell until an on-board announcement requires you to do so. "Once you've figured out how to operate your seatbelt, located the emergency exits, and safely stowed your carry-on luggage in the overhead bins, please calmly remove the battery from any Dell laptop you may be carrying so that it does not spontaneously combust and kill us all. Thank you for choosing Qantas, and have a super flight."

[Via TUAW]

[so first @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:15PM]

the name says it all

[ipodman715 @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:18PM]

Wow! Lawsuit comin'...

[toodaloo @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:24PM]

Has Qantas still never crashed?

[evanm @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:28PM]

"if you want to get some work done, you'll have to buy a first- or business-class ticket (and probably an inverter as well)"

nono! they use standard 110v North American sockets

[azhure @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:29PM]

Well, no, Qantas have never crashed, and as a regular Qantas traveller, this annoys the *(&*! out of me. I have been to the Dell battery recall site, and I have been specifically told that neither of my laptop batteries are affected by the recall. I'm on their trans Pacific flight in a few weeks, so I hope they've relaxed this rule by then. I should probably print out the page that tells me that my batteries are not affected by this recall. Grrrrr.

[daaper @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:31PM]

why just dell? I don't see how they can do this in the name of passenger safety and single out just one of the companies using the same battery manufacturer as many other companies.

[jalapeno @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:33PM]

toodaloo: Wikipedia has all the answers!

"It is often claimed, most notably in the 1988 movie Rain Man, that Qantas has never had a fatal crash. However, the company's official line is that it has never lost a "jet" aircraft. Prior to the jet era, Qantas had fatal crashes. One was on 16 July 1951, when De Havilland Drover VH-EBQ crashed in New Guinea after an engine failure, killing all seven passengers and crew. Other fatal accidents occurred in 1927, 1934, 1942, 1943 (×2), and 1944."

I guess they have had a few accidents in the last few years but from what I can tell no one died.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas#Incidents_and_accidents

[AUA @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:36PM]

Just goes to show you that even after taking off your shoes and socks and coats and hats, that anything - - ANYTHING - - can be used as a weapon or fashioned into an explosive.



with the exception of custard, which is the World's Only Perfect Substance.

[Ryan @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:40PM]

"they could only use them on battery power...once they have first removed the batteries from the unit."

Dell's got some sweet tech if they can pull that off.

[astutefool @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:40PM]

@ daaper: Sure, other companies aren't free of this problem. But, if my memory serves me correctly, this is the largest battery recall in the history of portable computers. Most of the laptops that have blown up out of Apples and Dells (which are the only ones I have seen so far) are Dells. Also, I suspect that the Dell batteries from Sony have a specific design and therefore a specific design fault.

[tennis guy @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:41PM]

.
Since the latest Dell failures are due to internal cell shorts, it doesn't matter if the packs are removed from the notebook or not.
.
.

[Alex @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:48PM]

Wow can the bad press really get any worse. The people going on these planes with these Dells are going to be key customers, and here they are being told they can't use them because they have design faults. Ouch.

[Dell Lied @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:50PM]

The batteries that were recalled were all Sony manufactured batteries between specific manufacturing dates. Dell is not the only other company to use them, and Dell also uses at least 2 other non-Sony suppliers for their Inspiron notebooks.

I'm no fan of how Dell does some things, but Quantas is overreacting without reason. If they wanted to be realistic, they should ban all Sony notebook batteries with manufacturing dates prior to the recall, or ban all notebook computer batteries, as this issue is less likely with other Lithium-Ion batteries, but still possible.

This sounds to me like someone at Quantas has stock in Lenovo, HP or some other Dell competitor. Or, they're just a bunch of technically ignorant, overreactive luddites running an airline. (oh my!)

[SurferNerd @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:56PM]

Hahaha, I woulda thought the FAA would've been the first to jump on the "ban"wagon and ensure no explodable laptops were inflight. We all were expecting the first report of an inflight explosion due to a Dell laptop, therefore causing them an irreprovable lawsuit of agonizing loss. Not to be a hater, but maybe Sony did it purposely to destroy the good name of Dell (I hate them) and other manufacturers. Has anyone found it true to this story though, that a 3rd party battery is still under this law. Say for instance buying a Energizer 3rd party Dell battery, since its known not to explode yet. The recall included 4.1 million maufactured batteries, but yet how many of those are still in circulation? Majority of those ones from the original shipments should have been recycled by now.

[Alex C @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:57PM]

The batteries that were recalled were all Sony manufactured batteries between specific manufacturing dates. Dell is not the only other company to use them, and Dell also uses at least 2 other non-Sony suppliers for their Inspiron notebooks.

I'm no fan of how Dell does some things, but Quantas is overreacting without reason. If they wanted to be realistic, they should ban all Sony notebook batteries with manufacturing dates prior to the recall, or ban all notebook computer batteries, as this issue is less likely with other Lithium-Ion batteries, but still possible.

This sounds to me like someone at Quantas has stock in Lenovo, HP or some other Dell competitor. Or, they're just a bunch of technically ignorant, overreactive luddites running an airline. (oh my!)

_______________________________

What you don't realise is that it is not the batteries themselves that are the issue, but the way in which they are installed and used in the Dell design that weakens them eventually leading to failure. I'm sure other manufacturers do use the same batteries, but the laptops they use them in are designed with either better insulation and heat disappation, or charge the batteries less agressively.

[dave61 @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:02PM]

@AUA - I hate to worry you but perfect as custard is it can also explode. I used to work for a custard manufacturer whose factory had been badly damaged when a cloud of custard powder ignited creating a fireball that caused severe damage. Fortunately, no-one was killed although one person was badly injured.

[gamemp4 @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:33PM]

Overreacting to the extreme - and I bet soon some government representative will come out claiming that Dell is provably linked to Alkida.

[Phuong Ta @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:35PM]

So do they think taping the battery terminals can prevent the internal short that causes the batteries to overheat and explode?

[Wonderboy @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:35PM]

dave61... that person was me, horrible disfigurement, my wife can't look me in the eyes any more, and I can't look at custard without irepressible hatred creeping onto my facial expression.

*tear

[Gio - NYC @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:38PM]

Ohhh snap, can u imagine if a plane goes down due to a Dell/Sony battery malfunction.

[AUA @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:57PM]

It must have been awhile ago - - I couldn't find anything about it on Google:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=horrible+custard+factory+explosion+maims+local+man%3B+ruins+marraige&btnG=Search+News

[robrob @ Aug 23rd 2006 4:00PM]

Quantas rules, as far as airlines (and airport lounges) go.

also, had this been an american carrier, they probbaly would have banned all laptops.

[Joe @ Aug 23rd 2006 4:23PM]

Howza about them big honkin' 747's running for 14 straight hours having an electrical outlet at each seat ... that would, shall we say, eliminate the need for exploding batteries in flight.

[daub815 @ Aug 23rd 2006 4:26PM]

Why ban just Dells? The FAA has evidence that if it does go up in flames. It will not bring down the plane.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2004329,00.asp

[Ben Brenker @ Aug 23rd 2006 4:46PM]

Sounds to me like all you'd have to do is print up some nice big Gateway stickers and slap 'em over the dell logo... problem solved.

[Zandriff @ Aug 23rd 2006 5:15PM]

Get these mothaf*ckin batteries off this mothaf*ckin plane!

[G man @ Aug 23rd 2006 5:52PM]

I can see it now:

Snakes Dell Laptops on a plane

should be a pretty good film that!

G

[Chris @ Aug 23rd 2006 6:04PM]

Dell's gonna have to do some clever advertisement to recover from this.

[Mr. B @ Aug 23rd 2006 7:42PM]

...guess they wanna do whatever it takes to keep that perfect safety record.

[GetAGrip @ Aug 23rd 2006 10:07PM]

uh, bwhaler, the $100 laptop initiative is a joke. While in the US $100 may not be much, in developing countries such as India it is a decent amount of money and could keep a family fed and clothed for a month. Technology can be a ladder, but not when it tries to replace tried and tested methods such as food, clothing, shelter, and classrooms. And school has an added benefit many techno-geeks ignore: it teaches you how to interact with other human beings, a skill that seems to have gone extinct in the civilized world.

[Justin @ Aug 23rd 2006 11:43PM]

buying a dell laptop has been the worst decision of my life.

those 14 hour la to sydney flights are now going to be a HUGE sea hunt!

ahhhhhhhhh i hate dell!

[zoara @ Aug 24th 2006 11:09AM]

I thought the explosive properties of custard were well-known?

First hit on google:

http://www.big.uk.com/knowledgebase/shows/food_shows.htm

I've always meant to do this since I saw it on TV as a kid.

[Jimmay @ Aug 24th 2006 11:18AM]

That's a big plane...

[QANTAS @ Aug 26th 2006 1:50AM]

is QANTAS, not QUANTAS, idiot

[Steven (Malaysia Dell Customer) @ Aug 26th 2006 4:40AM]

The pathetic Sony had made dell ashamed !!!!

Fuck u Sony and Quantas

[bwhaler @ Aug 29th 2006 10:39PM]

I know Dell didn't make the batteries but this is their fault.

They don't innovate and compel people to buy on features.

Instead, they drive prices to the floor. The problem, as Dell is now figuring out, is to do this you have to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze parts supplier.

So finally parts supplies faced with anemic profit margins and no choice start cutting corners.

And dangerous parts get sold.

I am glad this is happening to Dell. It will send a message that there is a limit to how low you should go.

(And yes, I am a fan of the 100 laptop initiative and putting technology in everyone's hands. Especially the poor. Technology can be a ladder.)

But this is not Dell's purpose. And if they were serious about squeezing vendor costs, start with the copy of Windows. 50 bucks OEM price?

Windows should be 5 bucks, tops.

And take the additional 45 bucks and buy better components like batteries or spend some money on innovation that doesn't involve manufacturing efficiencies...