As millions of passengers rely on air travel this holiday season to visit family and ship gifts around the globe, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently launched a new campaign, “Pack Safe,” to raise awareness of the dangers associated with packing hazardous materials in carry-on and checked baggage. ALPA is proud to be a key partner with the FAA on this new campaign that provides detailed information on how passengers can safely travel with certain items that are considered to be hazardous if packed improperly.
Pack Safe is just the latest in the recent push to address the lack of industry and public awareness of the rules governing the shipment of hazardous materials. This summer, ALPA’s efforts to shed light on how some items, such as lithium batteries and other common household goods, pose hidden dangers if handled improperly received a major boost when the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration unveiled the “Check the Box” campaign, geared toward helping to curb undeclared hazardous materials from being shipped.
ALPA has long been on the forefront for improving transport requirements for hazardous materials. Each year, about 1,500 safety incidents result from the shipment of undeclared dangerous goods. More often than not, these dangerous goods go undeclared simply because of a lack of awareness or understanding on the part of the shipper or their customers.
A strong advocate of these collaborative efforts, ALPA will continue to work with aviation stakeholders to educate passengers and shippers and help eliminate risk associated with the improper handling of hazardous materials in order to keep our air transport system moving safely and efficiently.