It took a long time, but a couple of weeks back the Federal Aviation Authority finally lifted the rules on use of personal electronic devices during certain stages of the flight such as taxiing, takeoff and landing. A number of major U.S. airlines have already adopted the new rules, allowing passengers to use their devices from gate to gate, provided that they’re on airplane mode. The European Aviation Safety Agency made a similar announcement and Scandinavian Airlines was first to adopt the new rules. Now British Airlines embraces them.
Passengers travelling on BA can now use their iPads, Kindles, e-readers and other electronic devices during all stages of the flight without being told by the crew to turn them off. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the UK, the relaxed regulations don’t include laptops, so passengers must not expect to be able to fire up their laptops the moment they take their seats. The CAA doesn’t allow in-flight texting or calling, whereas the FCC is currently looking into allowing voice calls during flights. A number of airlines have already hinted that they’ll probably not adopt relaxation in in-flight voice call regulations, yesterday Delta CEO made it clear that at least the airline won’t adopt the rules, if they are relaxed, under his watch.