Hi my name is Tyler and I am new to this board. My question is whether or not you can use a set of headphones from the portable CD player rather than buying them on the aircraft. The airline I am flying is ATA Airlines. Thank You for your help!!! Tyler

You should ask this question on the ATA board. The answer for most of the airlines I have flown(US the exception) I can use my NC headphones instead of airline provided. US has no sound channel. They allow plug in, but I think snikker behind my back while I swithc channels.

I prefer to take my portable CD player(soon my ipod) and play CDs, as the music channel is very short(well under 1 hr), and full of talk. For some reason, people making these tapes seem to think that people cannot listen to 15 min of straight music without a 2 min break for inain moderation.

Welcome to FT.

I can't answer for ATA in specific but here are a few generalities I have observed:

Many planes still have the 2-prong plug to prevent the use of personal headsets. A 2:1 adapter can be cheaply purchased at Radio Shack and elsewhere.

For airlines that require the rental of headsets, the policy is generally that you have to pay to headset rental fee to use your own headsets. US's position is that they are selling (not renting) headsets for those that don't have them - you are free to use your own or re-use ones you bought from them previously at no charge. UA provides headsets in the seatback so you can listen with whatever you want. It's been too long since I've flown other airlines with IFE to give accurate advice.

Welcome to FT.

Welcome to Flyertalk. Your new second-favorite website is about to be Seatguru.com. The Guru says that ATA has begun charging $2 for headsets that can be kept and used on subsequent flights. As for using your own, ask on the ATA board or try calling the airline.

Can anyone tell me where the ATA board is and how to get there???

Go to the top of this page and click on FlyerTalk Forums, then click on Airline Programs, then find ATA.

Yes - you can use your headphones on ATA - I used to when I was flying them frequently in 2002.