It's a real threat. A Russian airliner was brought down with just a soda can. I've avoided business flights in the past few years. Any flight kills at least one day...
Continue Reading in each direction (regardless of the laptop) and remote conferencing works very well. If you must travel, it's probably more productive to get yourself rested (especially if there's a big time zone change) and ready to perform when you get there. In the future, travelling with a Chromebook, with all your information secured back at home, might be a better choice. If it gets stolen or confiscated, no significant loss.