Zippo Upset by Federal Airport Ban

[Rose Siding]

Zippo, the Reusable Cigarette Lighter Company, Upset by Federal Airport Ban

PITTSBURGH Mar 3, 2005 — The war on terror is making an American flame sputter.

Zippo Manufacturing Co., which prides itself on its classic brass-and-chrome butane lighters, says new air travel security regulations could cut into sales by as much as 30 percent.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has announced it will ban butane, electric and absorbed fuel lighters aboard all aircraft and in areas behind airport security gates beginning in April.

Zippo officials will meet with federal officials later this month to plead their case. Millions of the metal, rectangular lighters are bought on impulse at duty-free shops and at vacation spots as mementos. Now, the company fears disposable lighters will drain their business.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=546986