Air New Zealand Air Points - Cellphone/PDA Use During Taxi from 19Nov

Hi all,

As of 19 November, it will be permitted to switch on their mobile phones after landing, during taxi to the airbridge. This change is consistent with other Star Alliance partner policies. It also represents one of many upcoming customer related improvements.


How about iPods, MP3 Players, Laptops etc? Electronic devices that are small
enough to be safely stowed in the seat pocket or on the customer’s person are OK to be used on taxi to the airbridge. The objective to keep the cabin clear of obstructions so not to slow or hinder an evacuation has not changed.

Any exceptions? Yes, there are two new exceptions from existing restrictions:

1. When disembarking using airbridge AND steps combination: Mobile phone
use is not permitted until inside the terminal building.

2. B777 operations in low visibility: When reported visibility is less than 800m an announcement will be made that mobile phones and PDAs must not be used during taxi.

Hi all,

Any exceptions? Yes, there are two new exceptions from existing restrictions:

1. When disembarking using airbridge AND steps combination: Mobile phone
use is not permitted until inside the terminal building.

Are NZ now going to be using both the airbridge and steps at the rear?
I would not like it personally especially if it is raining, windy cold....much of NZ really.:eek:

This whole subject of what is allowed and how much notice is taken off the instruction, has been bugging (excuse the pun) me for a while. I am in LAX and have just come off a United flight from Chicago and the passenger beside me used his IPod during the enitre taxi and take off procedure. On the flight ChCh to AK, thpassenger who sat beside me, was playing a game on her cellphone during landing and I suggested to her she might like to turn it off but she rebuked me and said the phone part was off! Then on an earlier flight from ChC to Queenstown a gentleman in row12 on a Boeing, was working on his laptop the entire journey - including takeoff and landing. If I hadn't been to a luncheon hosted by Air NZ 18 months ago when the 777 Training Capt spoke about electronic devices, I would have been sceptical about the whole issue. He gave the example of an aircraft losing it's entire communications systems 30 mins out of Melbourne. After an extensive think about what could have caused the problem, a search of the passenger cabin found what was causing the problem - a clone gameboy! When it was turned off the communications returned. They took into cockpit and turned it on again and lost communications once more. So I don't know what to believe and in my experience a lot of passengers are simply ignoring the instruction and it is left to the poor crew to catch them but they have a lot a do at takeoff & landing and often miss the the recalcitrants.

Then on an earlier flight from ChC to Queenstown a gentleman in row12 on a Boeing, was working on his laptop the entire journey - including takeoff and landing.

So where were the Flight Attendants ? Surely they did a walk through before takeoff and landing ? They should/would have seen this! :rolleyes:

So where were the Flight Attendants ? Surely they did a walk through before takeoff and landing ? They should/would have seen this! :rolleyes:
Within the US at least, those that are this "important" in their own minds, are adept at shielding what they're doing those few times an FA actually walks thru the cabin and looks around.

This is good news. We can now start our self-important phone calls just that few minutes earlier.

Just one question - why does the restriction only apply when disembarking using air bridge/steps combination?

Within the US at least, those that are this "important" in their own minds, are adept at shielding what they're doing those few times an FA actually walks thru the cabin and looks around.

Possibly but bit hard to hide most laptops I would have thought! It's not like an Ipod or Gamboy or PSP etc :)

Two main reasons for the airbridge ban - chattering away on your cell while crossing the tarmac could lead to you walking into a propellor, getting hit by a fuel truck, etc, etc.. the other being cellphones are banned on the tarmac for the same reason they're banned at petrol stations.

I have no particular view on whether the new policy is a good one or not - any danger during taxi from instrument interference must be minimal, as taxiing is pretty much done visually.

Edited to say to ntddevsys - ah, now I think I see what you mean. I suspect the communique was only referring to jet services and prop flights will continue to enforce a ban. The memo does specify earlier 'during taxi to the AIRBRIDGE' so I guess they imply that a steps only operation will also have the ban continue.

... the other being cellphones are banned on the tarmac for the same reason they're banned at petrol stations.
Totally off-topic but cell phones are prohibited while pumping gas/petrol? Missed that when I was visiting, oops.

It's one of the many "do not do this while fuelling" stickers on the pump.

I always wonder what are the rules relating to point and shoot cameras (not video cameras). Technically they are battery operated, so I suppose they do fall into the "no electronic devices" rule but do they really have the potential to cause the same damage as something which is "more" chips/electronic-based (like a gameboy or mp3)? Same question as applies to calculators, I suppose...

The PA only refers to 'digital cameras', so point'n'shoot are technically OK. Again, it's down to the crew member, but I prefer not to have large cameras in people's hands during landing. There are two main reasons, firstly it takes people's focus away from the landing and anything that might go wrong (I still find it hard to believe SQ has all their pax sitting there with earphones on!), and secondly, if anything DOES go wrong it becomes a fatal missile and Murphy's Law says it will kill me and none of the passengers in my exit row will have paid attention to the safety briefing so the door will remain shut!

So call me pedantic, but I do like to get large cameras away. Occasionally I get someone moaning that it's securely tied to their hand with a wrist-strap, in which case I generally ask them who gave them the guarantee that they'd still have a hand attached to their arm in the case of a sudden emergency..

Great, so Mr and Ms ...... whose lives have been so rudely out of communication for an hour or so and need to have a cellphone call like a drug can have their annoying little ringtones pollute the cabin because they can't wait 5 minutes.

One of the very best things about flying is that it is sans cellphone ringtones and loud people talking on them. I know this age is coming to an end, but I'm not alone in bemoaning it. It's one thing for "transport to Siberia" type airlines like Ryanair to allow more and more cellphone use on planes, another for full service airlines to do so.

oh well...

The PA only refers to 'digital cameras', so point'n'shoot are technically OK. Again, it's down to the crew member, but I prefer not to have large cameras in people's hands during landing. There are two main reasons, firstly it takes people's focus away from the landing and anything that might go wrong (I still find it hard to believe SQ has all their pax sitting there with earphones on!), and secondly, if anything DOES go wrong it becomes a fatal missile and Murphy's Law says it will kill me and none of the passengers in my exit row will have paid attention to the safety briefing so the door will remain shut!

So call me pedantic, but I do like to get large cameras away. Occasionally I get someone moaning that it's securely tied to their hand with a wrist-strap, in which case I generally ask them who gave them the guarantee that they'd still have a hand attached to their arm in the case of a sudden emergency..

Thanks. I just like snapping away during taxi (particularly at "foreign" airports) - usually always stowed back in the case and put back in the seat pocket for takeoff. :)

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320))

Cheers for that nz_crew