Cell phone usage on the ground
 

I am sure this is a very welcomed change for all of you! :)

Effective today (Oct 18), customers onboard all Air Canada and Jazz operated flights will be permitted to use their handheld electronic devices, such as cellular phones, blackberries and smart phones during the taxi-in to the gate after the aircraft has turned off the active runway. The handheld electronic devices must be retrieved prior to landing as all carry on bags must be stowed until the seat belt sign is turned off at the gate. Flight attendants will advise customers when mobile phones can be used after arrival.

I guess most pax had already implemented this change long before it was announced! ;)

On my 30 flights with AC this year I don´t think there was a single flight where pax didn´t start switching on their cell phones right after touch down.

Anyhow, this policy change is of course welcome! ^

Jasper2009....i agree...i have always just turned it on...was OK to do on CX and it is about time you can do it on AC.

Great move. ^
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13F

It's a long process that we have to go through to get this in place. Extensive testings on each aircraft type and then results have to be submitted to Transport Canada for approval and once approved, a lot of items have to be revised as well in regards to operating procedures.

It's great to be able to do this without breaking the official rules! Thanks for the good news, Andrew!

Thanks for clarifying that, since there seems to be an attitude that "I know better and that because I can do it on CX etc., I can do it on AC too". No matter that the airline and sometimes the staff personally end up being held responsible for not enforcing the TC accepted operating procedures.

Once when I flew out of Quito, I could not take photos at the airport (why not - I can here) and Avianca did not seem to have any problem with hand baggage left on seats - so should I assume it's OK everywhere?

Glad to hear of the change. With regards to the announcement, something like this would be appreciated:

"...you may now use your mobile devices, but as a courtesy to those around you, we request that you not make phone calls until you in are inside the terminal"

Interesting, because I've noticed UA move in the opposite direction recently. Used to be they would always tell you you could use mobile phones after touchdown, but on my last couple flights back to Canada with them they've started saying that Canadian law prohibits it.

Could it be that UA hasn't got the Transport Canada certification that Andrew refers to?

Why would you make a PA like that? This never gets old:

"HELLO? HELLO? YES, WE JUST LANDED IN TORONTO. I'M STILL IN THE AIRPLANE. WHAT? YES, I'M STILL IN THE AIRPLANE"

http://imgur.com/trreM.jpg

don't we wish!

job creation at Transport Canada... they could have just used the data from any other country and saved the taxpayer money
:mad:

sure its OK read this thread :) seems its OK in the USA also

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...1a-straps.html

So hence the release the loud yammering VIB (Very Important Business person or is it VIDB?) on touchdown? Heaven forbid if there is any delay on taxiing to the gate. I totally agree with @rehoult that calls should be encouraged to be made inside the terminal and encourage folks to stick with texting while on the plane.

...i know it must be a lot of red tape....

2 for 2 today: "...Mobile phones may not be used - oh, sorry, mobile phones may now be used...";)

Great news Andrew! Thanks for the update.

I've never heard that on any UA/UAX flight to Canada, which is always YYZ for me. Sometimes they make the regular announcement about being allowed to use phones, sometimes, they just haven't said anything (but people turn on their phones, anyway), but never heard specifically not to do it.

Thanks for this change, it's nice to know I can at least check my Blackberry without getting in trouble.

Double thanks for taking care of both AC and Jazz flights! This avoids a lot of the confusion when things happen separately (like the IFE usage while at the gate).

Perhaps this has been addressed a long time ago, but why were the in-flight phones provided by the airlines discontinued? I remember at least in AC's old first-class section that a phone was provided by inserting your credit card into a box on the bulkhead, which would release the phone and keeping your credit card hostage until you returned the phone to the box.

Does any airline provide an in-flight phone service any more? I do recall that the calls were very expensive, was that the reason they were removed, or was it some sort of security issue?

Airfone usage absolutely plummeted towards the end and more than likely the service providers no longer provided the service due to lack of use and profitability.

Strictly speaking, no they couldn't. Every airline's planes have different electronics and customizations, and every country has different cell towers, strengths, and frequencies. Yes, there are a limited number of combinations, but still a bunch of original work would be required to satisfy the law.

And most likely all cellphones are completely harmless in all types of aircraft in every runway in the world. But pen-pushers need to earn their salaries...

Now if we could get these arrogant FF types to stop starting using their cell phone while on approach....

:D

For some additional background information (for those interested), an exemption from the regulatory limitations in Canada was first made available in November 2007. Information related to the procedures for testing was published in an advisory circular in 2008 and is based on the RTCA DO-294B document.

A few months ago I was flying and right after the FA gives the standard "welcome to YVR........ cellphones remain off..." she walks by a passenger who asks her about a connecting flight and she doesn't have the info but she pulls out her iPhone with a new AC app on it, guess the rules never applied to FA's!

Well, if she wasn't holding her iPhone 4 just right, there would have been no signal, so no risk! :D :D :D

I'm guessing the USD $5/minute and USD $10/minute airtime charges, and the fact that they only worked poorly even at the best of times was a significant factor.

LOL!!!!!!

http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/101018.html?src=hp_wn

Effective October 18, 2010, customers on board all Air Canada and Jazz operated flights will be permitted to use their handheld electronic devices, such as cellular phones, Blackberries and smart phones during the taxi-in to the gate after the aircraft has turned off the active runway.

The handheld electronic devices must be retrieved prior to landing as all carry on bags must be stowed until the seat belt sign is turned off at the gate. Flight attendants will advise customers when mobile phones can be used after arrival.

I wondered what was going on when I landed in YYC this morning.

Good stuff ^

Coming back from the FT CHI DO after touching down at YYZ the FA made the usual announcements, but never mentioned the usual turning on of handheld devices once the seatbelt sign is off - so I took the non-announcement as an ok to do so :) but now I know the reason why no remark was made.

"Effective 18 Oct"

Before then you'll bring down the airplane should you use it. After that arbitrary date, it's ok, you're safe.:-:

Mindless, Useless Canadian bureaucracy

It caught us all by surpise. The updated transmittal just went out. Bear in mind it takes at least a couple of days to get a transient work force of thousands onto the same page.

It wasn't a complaint - just an observation on my part. I understand that not everything will run perfectly the first day a new rule takes into effect.

Oddly I had the announcement made when landing in FRA on the morning of the 17th. Caught me totally by surprise too.

My FA announced yesterday on a flight from the US....

Makes no sense when amending a company's SOPs to send out an internal memo a few days in advance so that everybody's ready when the new procedure takes effect. May as well promote variance, confusion and unnecessary hassle I always say...

I can't speak for Canadian service providers but Asiana has outfitted their new (they are deploying it now) Business Class with in-seat phones. Flip over your AVOD remote and it's a phone complete with credit card slot in the side. It would seem that the lack of offerings from NA based carriers is a carrier based business decision and not because service providers are unavailable.