FAA to lift mobile shut-down rule

Good. If they were actually that dangerous, we wouldn&#x27;t be allowed to carry them on board.<p>Shutting down cell radios makes sense; as I understand it, a bunch of cellphones moving at a couple hundred miles per hour can do some nasty things to cell towers, but it drives me absolutely insane that flight attendants gripe at me about turning off my Kindle. I usually just turn the backlight off.

The thing that gets me about these rules is what an insane threat to national security it would be if they were actually necessary. If anyone really thought that mobile devices could significantly interfere with instruments on an airplane, they should 1) raise hell over fixing our obviously broken planes, and 2) demand that we put some effort into actually making sure that people are turning their cell phones off (for instance, by actually checking, rather than asking politely).

This looks like it will change little. You&#x27;ll still not be able to listen to music on your device (even if the music is local to the drive) during takeoff and landing.<p>The only change is that you can leave your phone in airplane mode instead of having to power it down.<p>I don&#x27;t know anybody that actually listened to the flight attendants. Most people just put their phones in airplane mode anyway.<p>So basically nothing actually changes. It would be nice to be able to listen to my music without having to hide my headphones so I don&#x27;t get yelled at.<p>At least on Virgin they don&#x27;t bother you because they just assume you&#x27;re using their entertainment system (which I&#x27;d imagine generates more interference then whatever your little device does). I guess on their system you have to watch advertising though - makes it worth it to them.

All of these rules usually drive me crazy. I&#x27;m a private pilot and I&#x27;ll take up friends and coworkers for fun all the time. The most common question before we take off is &quot;Do I need to turn off my phone?&quot; which I usually reply with &quot;I leave mine on for backup GPS&quot;. I do understand the need to stow away items to prevent injuries if anything were to suddenly happen during takeoff and landing, but telling people to turn off their devices because, and I&#x27;ve heard this before, &quot;they will interfere with the navigation systems&quot; is just false.

I will be beyond happy to be able to listen to my own music, read off my iPad, and just begin the whole process of ignoring the goings-on in the flight. Travel will be so much better without the useless electronics rules.<p>Now to get rid of the TSA...

Isn&#x27;t this mainly an FCC restriction? [1]<p>I thought the main idea was to prevent phones from constantly jumping between towers... does the FAA have much to do with this in reality?<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_on_aircraft" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mobile_phones_on_aircraft</a>

Good. These rules are ridiculous and not founded in reality. No consumer communication device is going to cause harmful interference with avionics or communications equipment, especially in modern planes with double redundancy and heavy shielding. These rules, just like many others, are rooted in nothing more than tradition and superstition.

long overdue, everytime i fly i probably see 50% of the people NOT turning off their phones. even more painful is seeing the flight attendant try to actually explain why people need to shut off their devices

Strange. I thought the reason for shutting off your phone was so you were more likely to pay attention to wtf is going on. You know, for safety procedures etc.

When I&#x27;ve been lucky enough to fly private, they have not once said a peep about turning off my phone, which I&#x27;m sure they would have if they were legitimately concerned about safety. Of course, the service doesn&#x27;t work at altitude, so I tend to put it in airplane mode anyway just to avoid the battery drain of it constantly searching for a signal.

I&#x27;m glad this is finally happening. I have had a number of very poor experiences with flight attendants just because they think that something I&#x27;ve got is turned on. Most of them demand to see the unplugged end of my earbuds if I&#x27;m ever wearing them, or stay to watch me power something down.

Well, playing Words with Friends is still not allowed. Of course, that becomes next to impossible to prevent. I&#x27;m not sure why the transmitters need to be disable because in reality many won&#x27;t be.

News like this makes me think there&#x27;s a sliver of hope for America. (Then again the article makes it sound like they&#x27;ll still want you to put your phone into airplane mode.)

Not long ago, there was a piece on the local news about a big lightning storm and how a plane was hit by lightning and they had a guy on from the FAA saying how it is nothing to worry about and that planes are designed such that a lightning strike would not harm it. So, if I am to understanding this correctly... A commercial airliner is in danger from my phone with a 3.7V battery but a million volt lightning strike will not harm anything? hmmmm, that does not add up, sorry. About time they drop this obviously ridiculous rule. Now please, the shoes off at the airport, come on.

I thought airplane mode was used for the entire flight. Does anyone turn their iphone completely off for takeoff?? or their macbook for that matter?

Wow, this is so much more prohibitive than what we have in Europe. I can not remember being asked to switch my phone off it had an airplane mode.

Does putting my iPhone into &quot;Airplane Mode&quot; automagically disable the NSA bugging processes?

This is a bad decision by the FAA. Do you know the most dangerous phase of flight? It&#x27;s takeoff. The next most dangerous phase? Landing. It&#x27;s a good idea to have everyone put their devices away for the first and last five minutes of the flight -- just in case quick action is required by passengers who, without headphone cords and loud entertainment, stand a better chance of following instructions.<p>A drunken asshole on a plane is irritating. A cell-wielding drunken asshole on a plane is unbearable.