U.S. authorities will stop enforcing a two-year-old rule against taking cigarette lighters on airplanes, concluding that it is a waste of time, The New York Times reported on Friday.
The move was disclosed by Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during an interview with the newspaper.
The ban was imposed at the insistence of Congress after a passenger, Richard Reed, tried to ignite a bomb in his shoe in 2001 on a flight from Paris to Miami.
Lawmakers said that if Mr. Reid had used a lighter, instead of matches, he might have been able to ignite the bomb.
But Hawley said that the ban had done little to improve aviation security because small batteries could be used to set off a bomb. Matches have never been prohibited on flights.
"Taking lighters away is security theater," he said. "It trivializes the security process."
The policy change, which is to go into effect from Aug. 4, applies to disposable butane lighters, like Bics, and refillable lighters, like Zippos.
Torch lighters, which have thin, hotter flames, will continue to be banned.
Security officers have been collecting some 22,000 lighters a day nationwide, slowing down lines at check points.
Disposing of the seized lighters has cost about 4 million U.S. dollars a year.
Source: Xinhua
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