FAA May OK In-Flight Electronics

It’s one of air travel’s many little annoyances: Flyers must power down electronic devices during taxi, takeoff, and landing. This is for so-called safety reasons. Yet few people believe that the electronic signals emitted from a Kindle will bring down a plane. Now—finally—the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is catching up with conventional wisdom.

Last March, an administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that the agency was rethinking its ban on electronic devices. Since then, the FAA has been taking a hard look at the genuine effects of electronics used in flight, conducting a study to see if it should relax its current rules.

A year later, there’s more news of the FAA’s reevaluation of the ban. The agency hasn’t officially made any statements yet. But according to a report in The New York Times, two anonymous sources involved in the study said that the FAA is “under tremendous pressure to let people use reading devices on planes, or to provide solid scientific evidence why they cannot.” There has been no hard proof that passengers’ electronic devices are a real safety hazard during flight.

However, you likely won’t be allowed to text away during takeoff anytime soon. The more relaxed rules wouldn’t include cell phones, says the Times. But virtually everything else electronic, from e-readers to fitness-monitoring bands, would at long last be liberated.

Do you think the FAA should discontinue its electronics ban?

You Might Also Like:

• JetBlue to Offer Premium Seats
• Flyer Alleges United Under-Awarded Miles
• Miles & Points: The Week’s Best Frequent Flyer Deals

(Photo: Woman Using Computer via Shutterstock)