Electronic device ban on takeoffs and landing soon to go

The Guardian reports:

A US ban on the use of electronic devices in-flight below 10,000 feet could be lifted as soon as 2014, which would mean you could use your tablet, ereader or laptop throughout the entire flight.

A 28-person advisory committee is set to recommend the removal of the ban in a report that will be delivered to the FAA on Monday, industry officials familiar with the deliberations told the AP.

About time. It is silly that you can’t use an iPad or Kindle (in flight mode) during landing and takeoff. On a one hour flight between Wellington and Auckland it means you can’t read books on your electronic devices for almost half the flight.

The report is set to recommend that most electronic devices can be used, although some might still need to be switched to ‘airplane mode’ with their mobile network connectivity disabled.

That’s fine.

Modern planes are insulated against electromagnetic interference, which means the general consensus, before the full report is published, is that the use of low-powered devices is safe.

One of the primary reasons why the FAA’s expert advisers appear to have recommended the policy change is at least partly because so many passengers flout the rules currently, and seemingly without consequence.

I think on any flight probably 10% of the devices are actually on. I’ve discovered once or twice that I hadn’t turned a device off by accident.

I look forward to this change.