American FAA Approves Use Of Smartphones/Tablets During Takeoff And Landing

Up until now if you were using a tablet, smartphone, notebook/laptop or any other electrical device during the takeoff or landing procedure on a flight then you’d of been asked to turn those electrical devices off – irrespective of what you’re doing on them. For many years this has long been the standard procedure for the airline industry. That’s all about to change though after the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ruled otherwise, reports Engadget. a 28 member committee decided that flyers should be able to use “most” devices during takeoff and landing on the condition that most connectivity is not engaged – e.g. you should not be streaming data and you should not be engaged in voice calls. The FAA recommends that flyers should be able to continue to work away on documents, listen to music or watch videos (providing these are all done from local storage – no streaming).

Amazon was part of the 28 member committee in the FAA which developed this new ruling and they stated that:

“We’ve been fighting for our customers on this issue for years – testing an airplane packed full of Kindles, working with the FAA, and serving as the device manufacturer on this committee…This is a big win for customers and, frankly, it’s about time” Said Amazon’s Drew Herdener.

If the FAA decides to continue with the recommendations it is anticipated changes could come into effect by early 2014, though the airline industry is expected to be slower to adopt the new standards. Indeed the ruling does not necessarily mean anything will change either as the FAA can ignore the recommendations generated by the 28 member committee.

Image courtesy of Engadget