kenn0223

Reported on USA Today and others.

Use of cell phones for calls still appear to be banned at all phases of flight. Internet banned below 10k feet.

See formal FAA notice here.

I am hopeful that UA will quickly change it's policies and retrain it's crews. It seems to me that 25-50% of an FA's time is spent enforcing the electronics rule during departure & landing prep. I think some FA's enjoy the task, but I assume most do not. Hopefully this leads to an enjoyable flight by all.

However, I am interested to see how UA's crackerjack team implements the change. Anyone interested in starting a pool to see how long it takes before rouge FAs stop enforcing the ban on kindles? My guess is sometime in 2016.

The FAA even created a handy infographic…

Billiken

That should take about six months to a year.

NickP 1K

Don't expect anything overnight - even if the FAA does a former finding and rule change it can take carriers a while to follow suit.

kenn0223

The FAA did issue their formal finding and rule change today. See notice here.

It seems that the FAA will be pushing for the end of the year, per their news release...

I also expect, given the news coverage this is likely to get, that UA will be fighting a losing battle if it does not change quickly.

dcpdxtrans

+1. Instead of turning off the iPad, a pax will simply show the FA the new rule and that UA's policies are stale!

NickP 1K

Carrier still has FULL control on what THEY allow. The rulemaking states they can allow devices to be on NOT that they have to allow it.

Showing the rule to an FA is a dumb argument. Their company policy differs. You will see this issue on all carriers.

My earlier point stands; expect nothing to change immediately.

PTahCha

Except you missed one of the key points:

exerda

I wonder if either the pilots or FA unions will raise an objection?

LaserSailor

I think the rouge FAs are still awaiting the outcome of FA integration. The blonde FAs will comply immediately, Shirley (Temple)

Please do argue with the FA, that will help open up seats for standbys on your flight.

kenn0223

My guess is that the backlash in social media and elsewhere will be pretty strong if UA doesn't change as quickly as it's competitors. I wouldn't be surprised if DL and others try to use the policy change as a marketing opportunity to emphasize their embracement of technology.

My expectations for UA, however, are much lower given the fact they can't even get their crews to implement simple policies like how to take meal orders.

OrlandoFlyer

According to a posting on the DL Forum, DL have submitted a plan to allow this change to occur starting on November 1, 2013 - TOMORROW. They are using it as a marketing tool as we suspected.

Any bets on how long it will take UA to do it?

kenn0223

Yes, I am certain the airlines knew this was coming long before today's announcement and had an opportunity to submit plans well before the notice was issued.

I've got 4 drink coupons that there will still be at least one FA still doing a 5 minute listing of everything that must be "turned off, completely off, not it airplane mode, off" on Jan 1, 2016.

dcpdxtrans

I didn't say I would do it bc I wouldn't. I said that any pax would or could do it. It was meant to be funny as to what some pax do. Notwithstanding, even if I had wanted to do it, calling another's argument dumb is not productive.

DCA writer

I desperately hope that United will recognize the appeal of Channel 9 and make that part of the free inflight-info deal on WiFi-equipped flights. Letting passengers listen in to ATC (if the pilots are okay with it) seems a logical counterpart to providing no-charge access to United's site and the WiFi portal showing the plane's speed, altitude, ETA and location.

eagle007

Maybe it will take UA a while to implement, but this is amazing news! I feel like we should all be celebrating a little bit more here. This is a BIG! deal if you travel a lot.