Airplane mode??
 

Has anyone ever had a problem using a phone in airplane mode on a NW flight?

As a recent example on ATA

I have only ever been told to turn off my mp3 player for the duration of the flight (no clue why) and once a FA made a point to mention noise canceling head phones..?

Aside from that, never had a problem with my phone when following the rules.

I have a Treo and have set it up so I can watch movies on it. On a flight from LAX to Tokyo I was watching a movie and the flight attendant told me I needed to turn my phone off. Once I explained to her the phone part was off she was cool with it. But who am I going to call from over the Pacific ocean anyway??? :)

My iPhone has airplane mode. I was sitting in first flying from MSP-LAX a few weeks ago. When The FA yelled and I mean yelled "all devices are supposed to be off" and then glared at me then shook her head. There was no explaining anything to this one. Pretty embarrassing though, and very unprofessional, so until the airplane mode "thing" is fully understood "Ill save myself the verbal abuse and keep it off.

Sounds rude... but were you using it before they made the announcement that electronic devices can be used?

I hate this whole mess as well. Some FAs are very nazi-like about anything that's remotely close to a rule and really run with that "Its illegal to ignore their instructions" rule from the FAA. "Put your seat back up NOW!" I've heard them bark on a first pass through instead of "Sir, please put your seat back up."

Can't you wait until their figure out that 90% of all laptops have wireless cards in them, just transmitting happily away, probably at wattages much stronger than cellphones? Cellphone are what? 300-500mW's? I'd guess a wireless card is 1+ watt? They'll start snapping at people for using laptops next.

Else, on NW, I've left my phone off until wheels are down. Usually trying to nab 1 or 2 B/C, I turn it on after the reverse thrusters kick in. Since the other 7-15 seats around me do the same thing, we all know, and the FA has never said anything then.

I was using my Treo on a NW Airlink flight last week when the FA asked me to turn it off. I showed her the phone was off, where it actually says "Phone Off" and not "Airplane mode". She was ok with it after that. She did say something about airplane mode not being acceptable, which I don't understand. I thought that mean the phone was off. I vaguely remember her including iPods in her pre-flight talk which threw me also. You see a million mp3 players on planes these days. And I agree with you on the wireless cards in laptops. I actually have a Sprint AirCard in my PCMIA slot, and I don't always remember to pull it out when I have the laptop out. It happily blinks red looking for a signal and we haven't crashed yet! :D

Most airplanes have an EMI shield before the cockpit so it would be insane to think a phone would cause the plane to go down. I can not remember when the last time i have had my laptop off, it's in sleep mode but still powered on every flight.

This whole debate to me is way over rated.

Never had an issue. Always played games on my Blackberry, PDA before that and now on my Nokia.

But isnt that the whole point of airplane mode. Why have an airplane mode at all. If that was the case the airplane mode would in essence be the off button.

I now disable my wireless network (saves a little power as well) and my Bluetooth before getting on the plane (or immediately after startup in the few cases where I was rushed and forgot to do it before hibernating it). I'm surprised they don't go around checking the laptops. I think I've only heard it mentioned a few times, probably by the same FAs that specifically said GPS receivers were okay.

Using a phone in airplane mode is just like using any other electronic device (ipod, mp3 player, etc.)... it simply isn't allowed until they tell you it's OK.

So you can use your cellphone above 10,000 feet to play games and MP3's. Without an airplane mode, you are not supposed to turn on your cellphone (even above 10,000 feet) because it has a transmitter. Once below 10,000 feet, all electronic devices are supposed to be off (even those without transmitters). This includes MP3 players, DVD players, and your cellphone.

I use my phone as an MP3 player all the time, I've never had a flight attendant say a word about it or even give it a second glance really. I do put it in airplane mode though they would have no way to know without asking me.

The discussion on laptop wireless 802.11(a/b/g/n/...) is interesting as AS is preparing to launch inflight wireless internet connection (as discussed in the AS FT). I don't know how it will work exactly, but it seems that the wireless cards remaining turned on will not affect the aircraft during flight. Then again, I am not yet an engineer, and can't attest to this at all... I am not sure what Boeing Connexion used either... so it could be that wireless "in cabin" is proven to be "safe" using the "802.11 standard"...

I was flying SAN-DTW on NW recently. The flight attendent called for all devices to be turned off. Then about 1 minute later, she explicitly asked phones to be "turned off completely, not just airplane mode." Of course, that was during the pre-flight taxi. I'm not certain how the flight attendant would have reacted had someone used a phone in airplane mode during the flight.

Perhaps the flight attendants just don't want to worry about what device is in airplane mode versus in full transmit mode. They likely just require them to be OFF before the flight so there is no doubt.