mocoblog

Despite FCC, FAA Remains Firm on No In-Flight Wireless

A few weeks ago I posted about the possibility of using your mobile phone at 30,000 feet. In fact, there many airlines already offering the service - ANA, JAL, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, and Singapore Airlines. While the FCC considers the lifting the ban on in-flight cell usage in the US, the FAA still has their say. As usual, the bureaucracy here in the States is preventing American’s from technologies the rest of the world already enjoys.

FAA rules restricting the use of portable electronic devices on aircraft can be waived but a carrier would have to show that each model of phone posed no threat to aircraft navigation or communications systems, the agency’s top air safety official said.

“The FAA is not changing its rules,” FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, Nicholas Sabatini told the House aviation subcommittee.

“If an air carrier is willing to take the time and incur the expense of testing and verifying that the cell phone usage presents no in-flight interference problems, our rules allow an air carrier to permit such devices,” Sabatini testified.

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