FAA Responds to Passengers Being Unable to Use Cell Phones on Airplanes

Say it ain’t so! If you’re a business traveler or view turning your mobile gadget off as a modern form of the guillotine, you’re about to text for joy.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the FAA is set to relax its ban on the use of mobile devices below 10,000 feet.

Here’s what you already know.

You board the plane, stand in the aisle while the person in front of you maneuvers their far-too-large oversized roller bag into the overhead compartment on the wrong side. Then the flight attendant shows up to put the monstrosity on the other side where the bin is bigger. During all of this time, you’re browsing your email, or an equally important task, Facebook FB or Candy Crush.

Then, you get to your seat and in a passive-aggressive attempt to show the passenger next to you that you don’t want to talk, you put your headphones in and listen to some music. Then, the aircraft doors shut and you’re forced to sit there, without your mobile device, feeling completely naked. Your only escape rests in the airline magazine, the safety card or the Skymall catalog. None work.

Your seat partner wants to have a conversation. You endure the awkwardness until the plane reaches 10,000 feet. You put your headphones back in but later repeat the process in reverse as the plane lands.

Those days, to some degree, might be over soon. (“soon” in government terms likely means next year.) The FAA put together a panel to study whether or not mobile devices actually interfere with aircraft systems. The panel is set to report what other studies already concluded: If an aircraft crashes, it’s not because somebody was listening to Rihanna as the plane was landing.

In a shocking revelation, the report, although still preliminary, found that the existing rules that make us stow our devices, which date back to 1966, are outdated. (Which begs the question, what were people carrying onto an aircraft in 1966 that was interfering with aircraft equipment?)

Regardless, it’s time for some updating. USA Today reported that the use of electronic devices of all sorts, increased 24.3 percent year over year. Researchers observed 1,688 passengers in various points in a flight and found that at any given time, 35.3 percent of passengers were using gadgets.

One out of three passengers report that they “accidentally” forgot to turn off their mobile devices, yet there are no reports of commercial aircraft landing in Houston instead of New Orleans as a result. Finally, the FAA seems to agree that it’s time for a change.

That doesn’t mean that you can make phone calls. It also doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to gain Internet access without paying for the in-flight WIFI. What it does mean is that soon, you might be able to block out the screaming baby (with the sweet sounds of Taylor Swift?) for the entire flight and that, to some, is the best news that this Friday has to offer.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing Tim Parker had no position in Facebook.