Not too long ago, I told you that the FAA has decided to retest the use of personal electronics on planes below 10,000 feet. Well guess what? The FCC is pushing them to move even faster.
The latest news is that the FCC chairman wrote a letter to the FAA urging them to review the policy that established the ban. The letter urges greater use of items like tablet, e-readers and other types of electronic gadgets, but not anything involving voice communications, i.e. cell phones. The ban on cell phones in flight actually comes from the FCC itself.
But the use of personal electronic devices in the air has grown exponentially in the past few years. We depend on themfor work, entertainment and really, to avoid flipping through the Sky Mall magazine one more time.
The argument, according to critics of the ban is that there’s no difference between reading a physical book versus downloaded content on an e-reader.
The latest is the FAA has established a group to study the existing policies, including electronic and aviation experts, and they’ll provide their feedback after a few months.
So keep watching this space to see how it plays out…and pretty soon, I’ll be able to say to the federal agency, I told you so.
Find more information in the Gadgets and Gear archives.
Keep reading for more travel tips.
