Techdirt. Stories filed under "flying"

Lots Of People Don't Turn Off Their Devices When They Fly

Mike Masnick — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:29:00 PDT

I've always been careful about putting my phone into "airplane mode" when flight attendants ask. However, a few years back, for reasons that I've yet to see any explanation for, flight attendants changed the script and started insisting that "flight mode" wasn't enough any more and you had to turn the phone all the way off. I've asked many times why this switch was made, and no one can say. At the point when that happened, I happened to have a smartphone that had no ability to turn off. I looked. There was no power button. There was nothing in the software that was a "turn off" function. The only way to turn it off was to pull out the battery. I did that on a few flights and then figured it was stupid. So I stopped. And nothing happened. With my current phone, I've tried to "turn it off" but even when it says it's turning off it's not really turning off (because when I switch the battery, it takes about 3 minutes to boot up -- but if I "turn it off" and then turn it back on, it's ready to go within a second). Today, I still always put it into flight mode, but that's it. I turn off the screen and put the phone away, but I don't "turn it off" because it's pretty clear the phone doesn't actually turn off. And the requirement is silly. Similarly, my tablet stays on in my bag and my laptop is generally in "sleep" mode, but not off.

And I'm not alone. It seems that lots of people leave their devices on when they fly.

In a study released on Thursday by two industry groups, the Airline Passenger Experience Association and the Consumer Electronics Association, as many as 30 percent of all passengers said they had accidentally left a device on during takeoff or landing. About 67 percent said they had never done this, always ensuring that their electronics were turned off. Four percent were unsure.

In another segment of the study, passengers were asked if they turn their devices to “off” when instructed to do so by the pilot. Although 59 percent of passengers said they do fully turn their electronics off, 21 percent said they often simply switch to “airplane mode,” which disables the main radios of a gadget. Five percent sometimes adhere to the rule. And others were either unsure or do not carry electronic devices on a plane.

People give all sorts of reasons for why the devices should be turned off, but none of them make much sense. There is the interference question, but given how many of these devices stay on, there would be at least some real evidence of interference by now if that were really a big concern. There is the "gotta pay attention to the flight attendants" argument, but then they wouldn't let you sleep or read a book during takeoff. There's the "flying device is dangerous if something goes wrong" argument, but that applies equally to books. So, what is the reasoning? There's either some reason that no one's explaining... or just a ridiculous overabundance of caution where it's clearly not necessary.

Of course, as I was finishing up this post, someone passed along a Bloomberg video that claims that phones do interfere with flight GPS. If you look at at the text that goes with the video, they cite a story of a flight that went off course until flight attendants convinced someone to turn off an iPhone. However, nowhere in the video do they even mention that story or give any data or support for that claim. The video claims are also suspect. They name a single study from nearly a decade ago talking about a single phone, which is no longer on the market, that caused some interference. The other "studies" they look at include a very small number of claims from pilots who claim problems and that they "suspect" interference from phones, but those are never confirmed. They found 75 such claims over six years, but without any evidence to back them up.

Again, given how often people leave their devices on, you would expect a lot more verifiable evidence beyond a few pilots "suspecting" that phones were the problem, when a variety of other variables might have been a part of it.

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FCC Boss Tired Of Having To Put His iPad Away For Takeoff, Tells FAA To Fix It

Mike Masnick — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 05:18:00 PST

Numerous people have talked about the ridiculousness of requiring airplane passengers to put away their iPads or other portable devices during takeoff and landing on airplanes. There used to be excuses about how it could impact the equipment in the plane, but no one actually believes that any more. Now, even FCC boss Julius Genachowski is getting impatient with all of this and has asked the FAA to stop procrastinating and start allowing the use of such devices. The letter, of course, was more polite than that, but makes it clear that the FCC is ready to get on with the show and would like the FAA to finally "enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices."

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KLM To Allow People To Pick Seatmates Based On Social Media Profiles

Mike Masnick — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:51:42 PST

I spend way too much time in airplanes these days, and I'm one of those people who tends to be fairly anti-social during the flight. I generally don't talk at all to my seatmates. Most of the time, this is because I tend to view flight time as productivity time, and focus on getting work done. That said, I've found that on the rare occasions that someone else initiates conversations, I've had some pretty fascinating conversations (including a very long discussion once with the VP of a big tech company on innovation tactics that took up much of a 10 hour flight). So I'm... intrigued but skeptical of the news that KLM is trying out a system that will let passengers pick seatmates based on social media profiles. The details are still a bit slim, but it sounds like when you purchase, you can link up your social media profiles (if you choose -- opt-in only), and then as other passengers are picking seats, they can see who they might be sitting next to. My guess is that having a good seat will still significantly outweigh who you might sit next to. On top of that, you'd imagine that a lot of the really interesting people you'd want to meet might keep their info private. But, either way, even if I probably wouldn't participate, it will be an interesting program to watch.

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DailyDirt: Impractically-Powered Planes

Michael Ho — Tue, 1 Nov 2011 17:00:00 PDT

Some methods of flying are better than others. Passenger comfort isn't always the top priority for some aircraft, and that's especially true when engineers are trying out really novel designs and propulsion ideas. Here are just a few examples of some new planes that aren't quite ready for commercial flight, but that look really cool on the drawing board.

A solar-powered plane prototype was demonstrated at the Paris Airshow. Unfortunately, the plane requires almost windless conditions to fly, and it's not too fast. But it *can* stay aloft almost indefinitely (greater than 24 hours so far). [url]
The VoltAir is an all-electric plane concept with superconducting (!) electric motors... "VoltAir is an upstream research concept, not a near-term commercial approach." Duh. [url]
If superconducting electric motors seem plausible, then using a low-energy nuclear reactor (LENR) to power a plane is just around the corner. I'd like a Mr. Fusion generator for my DeLorean, too. [url]
To discover more cool sites about aviation, check out what's currently flying around StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Uh, No, Using An iPad On A Flight Won't Get You On The No-Fly List

Mike Masnick — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:44:33 PDT

A bunch of folks have passed around this story from Jalopnik entitled How An iPad Got A Guy Placed On The No-Fly List. Of course, I would bet that almost nothing in the title of that story is actually true. First of all, if you read the details, the iPad only played a minor role. Basically, as the plane was getting ready for takeoff, the guy was trying to use his iPad, and when flight attendants told him to turn it off, he talked back to them a bit, and didn't actually turn it off the first time (but did so later). That's about it for the iPad. Then apparently he just became a jerk to the various flight attendants, demanding alcohol and being a general nuisance on the rest of the flight, which apparently resulted in the airline having the airport police meet him upon arrival. So, what's the "no fly" list got to do with it? Basically, the Jalopnik author was told by a flight attendant that the guy has been put on the no fly list, but there's absolutely no evidence to back that up. While the whole no fly list is of questionable legality, and ridiculously managed, I've seen absolutely nothing that suggests that being a jackass on a flight can possibly get you onto the no fly list. And, even if this guy got in trouble, it was for being a jackass, not for using his iPad.

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Fewer Amenities When You Fly... But Instead You'll Get A Lot More Ads!

Mike Masnick — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:22:00 PDT

Have you flown lately? It's becoming less and less enjoyable by the day, it seems. Many airlines are dumping features, adding fees and making sure customer service is about as frustrating as possible. On top of all that, it appears that airlines are so focused on cost cutting that they're looking to do whatever possible to shave the slightest bit of weight from each flight (fewer passengers would be one suggestion) including one airline that discovered removing seatback magazines saved thousands of dollars by making the airplane lighter (yes, seriously).

So, what do you have to look forward to on flights these days? Well, advertisements! There's a new startup that is promising to put contextual ads everywhere from your boarding pass to the check-in terminals and (we're sure) to the seatbacks in front of you on the plane. Now, of course, this idea isn't entirely new. Over in Europe discount airlines have been offering up cheap fares while making it up with all sorts of other fees and services. But, then again, no one's talking about cheap fares in the US either. In the meantime, if they're looking for ideas, I still think the flying casino may be the best idea yet. Get people to simply gamble away their money while flying across the country. However, until that comes to pass, expect worse service, fewer amenities, more fees... and tons of advertising.

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Will Self-Control Work For In-Flight Internet Access?

Mike Masnick — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:55:00 PDT

With in-flight internet access getting closer and closer to reality for many airlines, there are still plenty of questions about etiquette and acceptable behaviors. Some airlines are purposely setting up content filters and blocking the use of VoIP (as much as possible, since it's possible to get around most blocks), but as Broadband Reports points out, some believe that people will self-regulate, in most cases. People surfing porn at open WiFi hotspots hasn't been a huge issue, because people know that others are around and so they have enough self-control. The same should be true on airplanes. And while we all know people who are oblivious to how rude it is to hold a loud mobile phone conversation in public, a few reminders and social cues may be enough to keep that from being a serious problem in the air. There will be exceptions -- but is trying to eliminate those few exceptions worth having a near total ban on certain activities?

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Flying Security: Shackle All Passengers With Tazer-Like Bracelets

Mike Masnick — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:03:00 PDT

And we were just talking about how the expected boom in air travel security technology never materialized, and along comes Bruce Schneier to point out a patent on a bracelet that passengers would be forced to wear, which could provide a debilitating shock at the decision of a crew member. And, yes, there's a company trying to commercialize this idea. I'm sure absolutely nothing might go wrong by strapping up all passengers with a potentially debilitating shock. Nothing at all...

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