By REBECCA SPARROW
I’m getting nervous.
This morning it was announced that both Virgin and Qantas will now allow passengers to keep their mobile phones switched ON (but in flight mode) for the entire length of a flight.
From take off to landing.
Here’s how it was reported on ABC News:
“Qantas and Virgin customers will be able to use their mobile phones on domestic and international flights from today.”
Until now passengers had to turn phones and other mobile devices off because it was considered a safety risk.
Qantas and Virgin applied for approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to change that rule and it has been granted. Other airlines are expected to follow suit.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said technological advancements had allowed for the changes.
“Aircraft are now designed and built with electromagnetic interference in mind,” he said. “So [passengers] can leave their devices, laptops, smartphones, tablets on from gate to gate.”
Fine, I thought.
Good, I thought.
I can deal with that. I thought.
AS LONG AS THE NEXT STEP ISN’T ALLOWING PASSENGERS TO MAKE AND RECEIVE CALLS IN THE AIR.
Am I the only person who dreads the idea that in the not too distant future, airlines are going to allow us to actually use our mobile phones?
Because I’m dreading it and hoping it never happens.
Whether I’m on a one-hour flight or a twelve-hour flight, it’s the one time I have no choice but to read. Or watch a dodgy Jennifer Aniston movie. Or, you know, sleep.
So when those Qantas flight attendants tell us to “please switch off your devices” – I’m doing a happy dance. I can justifiably disconnect from a world that demands I am always contactable.
But I’m getting the feeling I’m alone in this.
The majority of people want to be contactable while they’re in the air.
Now maybe it’s because I work online which is a round-the-clock type of a job. Or maybe it’s because I live with three small children – who frankly – are like stalkers. But I am dreading the day the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) announces that we can now send emails and receive phone calls in the air.
I have my fingers crossed that Flight Mode is as good as it gets.
What do you think? Would you love to be able to make and receive phone calls on flights? Or do you enjoy the peace and serenity?
Top Comments
Invest in a decent pair of headphones and get on with reading your book or watching a movie. Just because you can use your phone doesn't mean you have to. If you want to be incommunicado, then keep it that way, and turn your phone off.
Today I had to listen in on a very loud phone conversation on the bus where the gentleman would almost yell about how it was raining and about the dinner he had over the weekend. That will make for awesome entertainment on a 12 hour flight one day, or be used as an example of what aggression truly looks like on a flight when someone headbutts him. Just an FYI if you start a sentence with "the pork chop was good but let me tell you about the pork chop I had in XXX" Its a sign that your dinner isn't worth a mention