96% of Galaxy Note 7s in the US have been returned, airlines no longer required to announce ban

It’s been a long road for Samsung with the Galaxy Note 7 recall, but things are finally coming to an end. Samsung has today confirmed that almost every single Note 7 in the US has been removed from the market.

In a brief statement this morning, Samsung has confirmed that 96% of Galaxy Note 7 devices sold in the United States have been returned, only leaving a small fraction in customers’ hands. While it’s still terrible that these devices are still out in the wild, the good thing is that Samsung is still taking active measures to permanently disable those devices through updates.

Along with this update on the number of remaining devices, Samsung and the FAA have announced that airlines are no longer required to make pre-boarding announcements regarding the ban on the Galaxy Note 7.

All of this marks the tail end of the Note 7 fiasco which should finally conclude later this month when Samsung officially reveals what caused the Note 7 to catch fire.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s decision today to remove the requirement for the airlines to make specific pre-boarding notification reflects the exceptionally high rates of participation in the U.S. Note7 Refund and Exchange Program.

By leveraging our digital technology to target each device, we’ve had over 96 percent of Galaxy Note7 phones returned to date.

Together with our wireless carriers, we have taken aggressive action to limit the remaining phones’ ability to work as mobile devices, further enhancing participation in the recall. We thank the Department of Transportation, airlines, airports, our partners and Note7 owners for their patience and support during this time.