Gentlemen, You May Fly With Your Lighters

David Savona
Posted: July 20, 2007

Cigar lighters -- most of them -- are being welcomed back to airlines.

Beginning August 4, the Transportation Security Administration will lift its ban on lighters (except torch lighters) in carry-on baggage. "Lighters no longer pose a significant threat," said the TSA in a statement posted on its web site. The United States, according to the TSA, is the only country in the world that prohibits lighters on flights.

The ban on torch lighters, which produce significantly hotter flames than standard lighters and make a loud hissing sound when ignited, will remain in effect.

Part of the reason for the change in policy is the immense number of lighters TSA officials confiscate from travelers. In 2006, travelers surrendered 11.6 million lighters before boarding flights. "Freeing security officers up from fishing for 22,000 lighters every day…enables them to focus more on finding explosives, using behavior recognition, conducting random screening procedures and other measures that increase complexity in the system, deterring terrorists," said the TSA. Disposing those lighters costs about $4 million a year, according to The New York Times.

Regular flame lighters, like this S.T. Dupont lighter shown above, can be carried on the plane.

While torch lighters have long been banned from U.S. flights, the ban on other lighters was inspired by the attempted bombing of a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001 by terrorist Richard Reid, who was subdued while trying to light a shoe bomb with a match in mid-flight. In December 2004, butane lighters were added to the list of banned items on flights, and in March 2005, the ban was extended to cover all types of lighters. By April of that year, lighters became the No. 1 item surrendered at checkpoints, at one point reaching a high of 39,000 a day. In October 2006, Congress passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, giving the TSA administrator the discretion not to enforce the lighter ban. On July 18, the TSA announced it would clear non-torch lighters for flight once again beginning August 4.

(Coincidentally, the lifting of the ban is perfectly timed for those in the cigar industry traveling to the annual trade show, which begins on August 4.)

To see the differences between torch and standard flame lighters, and how to best use them with a cigar, see our video on Lighting a Cigar.

For a selection of different cigar lighters, see our Cigar Toy Gallery.