Boeing has waded into the debate about the risks of bulk shipments of lithium batteries on aircraft with a warning about the dangers. It took the unusual step of sending a notice to its passenger airline customers around the globe that they should not carry the batteries as cargo “until safer methods of packaging and transport are established and implemented.”

Airlines have grown increasingly wary of bulk shipments of lithium batteries, as they can cause fires capable of destroying large aircraft. Fires in consignments of lithium batteries have been implicated in the fatal crashes of three aircraft over the last 10 years, but there have also been other, less dramatic incidents, where fires in cargo shipments were discovered that had been caused by lithium batteries.

In tests conducted by the US Federal Aviation Administration, laptop batteries burst open and emitted highly flammable liquid. The heat would frequently ignite adjacent cells, while others exploded. More recent tests published by the authority revealed that lithium battery fires reached temperatures as high as 1,100 degrees, which could overwhelm existing fire suppression systems on commercial aircraft in a short time.

Last year the dangerous goods panel of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) suggested a worldwide ban on lithium metal battery shipments from the bellyholds of passenger planes.

Lithium metal batteries can still be shipped in bulk on freighter aircraft, but there is growing opposition to this type of cargo in the freighter camp as well. Several international carriers have banned bulk shipments of lithium batteries from their entire fleets, including all-cargo aircraft.

One recent entrant to the camp of carriers with blanket bans on moving lithium batteries as cargo other than mounted in devices is Cathay Pacific, which suspended them from all its aircraft in mid-April.

Other airlines that have announced blanket bans on the carriage of bulk lithium battery shipments include Qantas, United Airlines, IAG, Delta and Virgin Australia. Several carriers that operate freighters have banned batteries as cargo from all flights, including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Cargolux.

The US Postal Service announced in May that it was prohibiting international shipments of devices containing lithium ion batteries, extending restrictions beyond bulk shipments to batteries in devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets. UPS tightened restrictions on lithium battery shipments in July, mandating all new and existing customers to obtain pre-approval in order to ship lithium metal batteries without equipment.

Following the warning issued by Boeing, the Air Line Pilots Association called for a ban on freighters in a statement. “We hope this warning will encourage others to follow suit and discontinue the bulk shipment of lithium batteries on board passenger aircraft and on cargo aircraft until adequate safety procedures are developed,” it stated.

Most operators have been looking to ICAO, which has been tasked with examining the issue and possible solutions. The organization held a meeting on the issue in May, which produced an agreement to establish a task force charged with coming up with better, safer ways to package the batteries.

Shippers are getting restless with the status quo. Shortly after the Boeing initiative was made public, the European Shippers’ Council argued that batteries should be allowed to be transported but under strict rules. It warned that bans would severely restrict shippers options and possibly prompt some of them to ship batteries without declaring them.

By Ian Putzger

Air Freight Correspondent | Toronto