The Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) bars the usage of all transmit gimmick in the off chance that transmittal could intervene with a aeroplane ’s seafaring and communication equipment and cause organisation malfunctions [ PDF ] . It ’s true that these concernsare a bit overblown , but the FAA likes to slip on the side of cautiousness . ( Can you blame them ? )
ab initio , the reason authorities did n’t want you calling your mom or dialing into a work meeting had less to do with crashing your plane and more to do with crashing the cell phone web . The Federal Communications Commission ( FCC)had determinedthat mid - flight song have a unmediated impact on cell telephone set service on the solid ground . That ’s because cell phones are primarily designed for caller who are securely implant on state , communicate with a single , nearby tower .
If you ’re speeding through the sky at 550 mph , your phone will connect with multiple towers and eat up valuable place on their circuits , play havoc on Robert William Service . A 2007 architectural plan to lift the proscription was powerfully oppose by cell carrier for this reason .
In 2013 , rider gained the ability to use their smartphones and other electronic devices as long as theyremain on airplane mode , which prevent them from connecting to the cellular internet . People could link up to in - escape Wi - Fi andtheoreticallymake vocalisation or video calls that manner , but even thatremains prohibitedfor reason involving more than just safe .
The FCC scurry a plan in 2017 toconsiderletting passengers make call once the plane gained at least 10,000 feet of EL after it face strong opposition . Pilots , flight attendants , and various members of the general public were against it — partly because many don’twant to endurean hours - long flight of stairs filled with competing phone calls . As Ajit Pai , then the FCC chairperson , put it , “ taking it off the table for good will be a victory for Americans who , like me , note value a moment of subdued at 30,000 feet . ”
A rendering of this story originally play in 2009 ; it has been update for 2023 .
