Now that Samsung has issued a mass recall for the Galaxy Note 7, Australian airlines Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia are advising passengers to refrain from using their devices on board.
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The owner of this Galaxy Note 7 was reportedly asleep when the handset exploded leaving him with a burnt finger, along with damaging items in the hotel room such as the carpet and the bed sheet. Earlier today, three airlines also ban the Galaxy Note 7 on their flights.
Samsung is teaming up with its United Kingdom partners and operators on a local recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices over safety concerns.
The American regulatory agency is understandably concerned about recent reports of at least 35 Note 7 devices catching fire without warning after the battery apparently overheated while charging.
It’s the latest in a series of reactions to the Galaxy Note 7 recall that was issued last week. Airlines, however, can decide to ban the use of a unsafe product voluntarily, and that’s exactly what happened in Australia. Verizon has said if a customer wants to return or exchange the product, it would waive through September 30 the restocking fee it charges customers.
That said, it will be interesting to see how these airlines will handle things once Samsung fixes the issues and puts the device back on the market.
The issue of unsafe batteries on board airplanes has been under scrutiny for a good while now. Airlines in Australia were even faster with banning Samsung’s phablet from certain use scenarios during flights. The company, thereafter, issued a global recall of the Note 7 and announced that it will give buyers who had already purchased the device (in the USA, for instance) a replacement over the coming weeks.
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Once the Galaxy Note 7 is available, customers will have to activate the device within the stipulated time to avail the offer.
