Mobile Phone Flight Mode - Easyjet

budgetflyer

If its my airline and I make a rule stating you cant get on MY plane with a pink shirt on, thats it end of story. Ben sherman might make airline friendly pink shirts, but as far as Im concerned, I dont want them on my plane.Wear a pink shirt and you dont get on.

Seriously though,mobile signals can interfere with airline instuments, its to do with the frequencies that the networks opperate at.I heard of an incident recently where the controls on a low cost flight from Scotland went crazy,and plane went into freefall when a passenger used her phone during a flight to Canaries. Air Hostess ended up being battered trying to take phone of drink/drug crazed female passenger.
Captain only got control of the plane back when they eventually got phone off her and switched it off
Ryanair are sorting out a deal with a specialist network so that passengers can use their phones on board safely without intefering with the plane controls (Yes, no doubt at a higher cost )

hammy_the_hammer

but that's not right cause that means i've got to buy another shirt for my holiday and well , you know , umm i saw an easyjet pilot with a cerise vest on under his uniform and he fought in the last war and well umm, err, sept.11th , wibble etc

angel

My sister is cabin crew with virgin atlantic. She says that they've been told that it's only to stop people using them and annoying other passengers and that there's no risk to controls etc. Same as in hospitals, I was in hospital recently and every doctor that I saw had their mobile with them some even answered calls. When I asked about it they just laughed it off, said it was fine. One did tell me me that there wasn't an issue with machines, just with patients annoying others. When I then used mine to text I wasn't told to turn it off.

As for the petrol station thing. I was listening to a radio phone in and a caller said that the old style pumps had displays that could be set to zero after filling up with a mobile phone. Urban myth maybe!? :rotfl:

humancoin

Jimbo333 wrote:

I always use my mobile phone (IN FLIGHT MODE) on planes. I watch feature films on it, listen to music, play games. Done this on Easyjet, Iberia, BA, Eastern Airways, Air Transat, possibly others, no complaints from staff ever (except the occasional "can you turn that off now sir" during the final descent).

Maybe it's cos my phone looks like a PDA? I've got a Motorola A1000.

What have you been using? Does it look like a phone more than a PDA/CAmera/iPod?

Used my phone too, and the cabin crew were not bothered at all... a couple of times i've used it.

hammy_the_hammer

i'm not sure whether cabin crew are best placed to give counter technical advice to what engineers suspect about EMI (no not the music company )....now for laymen who want to be silly ....your mobile phone is placed near a radio or you are on a landline just before your mobile rings ....what do you hear on the radio or landline ? anyone got gsm on qa laptop ...have you heard what that chucks out when you are 5 metres away on a landline?
remember some of the aircraft you fly on were designed and built before cellphones had even been thought of ? ....do you see a potential problem? do you really need to use a mobile phone onboard ? is it more important to minimise any risk to the plane on landing by a wonky light ...or is it more important to ring ahead for a taxi ?

cundall

I dont know why you did not ask them first as if anyone has been on any plane within the last few years would know that during the video they put on at the start it always states this...

As to your question its up to the airline... They can do what they want, though now most good airlines have very good music channels IE Virgin ect but if you are flying with EasyJet its going to be a short flight so its not a big problem!

waster_2

They use the same excuse about interfering with equipment in hospitals. And that is known to be cr*p too.

The articles linked above use the usual words when there is no concrete evidence. The word "could", "may", etc does not mean the same as "will" and "can". You can dr\w your own conclusion as to why these words are used!!

xzibit

Many pilots use their phones and have them on inflight. Apparently, they can and do work, so I have read. I think the only problem is that the phone is travelling so fast, it confuses the base stations on the ground. As it's also operating at maximum signal (as it's trying it's hardest to locate a base station) it's more likely to interfere with the pilots headsets/radio.
Ryanair are planning on putting base stations on the aircraft, therefore the planes will operate at minimum signal to reduce interference.
I have used my phone in flight only mode, and never been told to turn it off, but if I was to do so, I would turn it off without any problem.
I just hope that phones are NEVER allowed to be used for calls/texts in flight, as it's about the only place left on earth (well kind of, a bit higher) that we are free from those annoying ringtones and people shouting into their phones.

iceman_2

Yeah, as already said, the reason you can't use your phone in flight mode is because, unless the cabin crew are experts at all phones available on the market at any time, they have no way of telling that it really is in flight mode.

You can try complaining to easyJet, but i can promise you wont get anywhere.

No-one can really prove whether or not mobiles do interfere with systems, but who wants to take the chance?

And finally, they generally only work when the aircraft is low and slow, so a very small proportion of your flight.

Cheers

lisyloo

Why doesn't the same rule apply to car, trains, boats etc.

They don't tend to travel at 500mph so don't cause the same problems with the base stations.

Also on intercity trains you will find about 2 carriages out of 8 are designated "quiet" or "business" carriages where you are not supposed to use mobile phones.

I agree that there should be some rules to prevent people being disturbed.
It would be really annoying if you had someone working next to you for 8 hours on a phone if you were trying to sleep.

I don't think you can leave these things to peoples manners as that doesn't seem to exist much anymore - it's everyman/woman for him/her self.