Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Does it drive you nuts when you hear someone’s phone ring or ding long after passengers have been told to put their phones in airplane mode? (Especially if you know the plane either doesn’t have WiFi or hasn’t been turned on yet.)
It seems TikTokker “isabellasiniss” probably couldn’t care less.
The young woman posted to the social media platform a video of her in a plane with the caption, “Does anyone actually there [sic] phone on airplane mode? I have never unless it was to charge my phone faster but neva [sic] casually on a plane.”
@isabellasiniss Could never be me #airplane ♬ original sound – isa ¹⁴
Despite present-day feeling like Western Civilization is in decay, it appears people are pretty serious about putting their phones in airplane mode.
“airplane mode is on, every single time,” said “Selma Vally.”
“uh yes i do,” noted “aspen.” ” i would like to survive.”
“i put airplane mode on because i respect the pilot, and because i don’t want to crash,” posted someone whose handle is a flower emoji.
“Uh yes!!! Bring a book or pay for the WiFi but my phone stays on airplane mode until they make the announcement that we can use our devices again,” said user9722539101707.
A few others bragged about dodging the rules.
I admit to occasionally not turning airplane mode on until partway into a flight’s taxi to our departure runway. But I’m pretty much a boy scout when about making sure it’s on from takeoff to touchdown.
“If You Can Get a Signal, Go Ahead…”
In a previous career, I flew on a private jet with several others en route to a film shoot. Before we took off, I asked our flight attendant if cell phones actually screw up any of a plane’s systems. For reference, this was in 2010.
“Honey,” she said, “if we’re at 40,000 feet and you can get a signal, go ahead and try making a phone call. But it probably won’t last long.”
Once we reached 40,000 feet, I whipped out my phone, turned off airplane mode and got a signal! I dialed my then-fiancee, now-wife. I heard half of a ring. Then I lost the signal. Then I found a signal! Tried again. Heard half of a ring. You get the point.
“You really don’t have the reception at altitude,” echoed our resident aviation and airline industry expert, Charlie Mortling.
“The concern with phone cellular staying on is messing with the aircraft electronics,” he told me. “But I believe that it’s an outdated reason. All modern aircraft have adequate shielding from that kind of interference.
“It’s still federal law that no cellular calls can be placed in the air,” Mr. Mortling added, “If I remember correctly, Emirates used to operate their aircraft with cellular repeaters and you could make a phone call in the air from your personal phone.”
Get into airplane mode any time with our “Airplane Mode” shirts!
Frankly, the last thing we need is people making calls during flights. Considering, though, that WiFi is more readily available on commercial flights, the problem will be (or is?) passengers using FaceTime, Zoom, and voice calling functions while airborne. I’ve seen it several times. (Our daughter tried it once. We shut that down very quickly.)
What’s Your Mode?
Do you stick to the rules and put your phone in airplane mode? Or are you a rebel and keep your phone on just because rules aren’t made for you? Airline employees who read the blog: I’d especially love your input here. Please tell us in the below Comments section!
H/T: People via Apple News
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Funniest thing is people thinknif somwone doesnt have their phone on airplane mode the plane is going to crash. People really are sheep and stupid.
I never put my phone in airplane mode. But my phone is always on silent and I never take or make calls on a plane after they close the door. I don’t buy for a second that the phone signal can in any way interfere with the operation of the plane. If that was the case, we would’ve definitely had several incidents by now and they would NEVER leave it up to the honor system to put the phones into airplane mode.
The fact that she used “there” instead of “their” and “neva” instead of “never” tells me all I need to know about this young moron.
I neva woulda thought bout spelling that stuff dat way but there grammer is totally strange
I noticed she also misspelled “sinus”.
There’s no danger to not having your phone in airplane mode. It’s my understanding the concern is interference with the towers on the ground, as your phone rapid switches between towers. It drains your battery too. Finally, it’s a silly reason to have an issue with an overzealous member of the flight crew or fellow passenger.
Regardless of what people prefer to do it’s stupid not to put it in airplane mode. All it does is run down your phone while it searches for cellular towers. Even if you get a signal at altitude you’ll run out of that cell area so fast it will always be dropping data or calls. It’s the best way to run your phone battery down. TikTok is a like an automatic IQ test.
@DaninMCI – “TikTok is a like an automatic IQ test.” – ding ding ding… we have the winner blog comment of the year 🙂 !
Wonder if people don’t care about running down the battery these days because they’ll either have a) a power bank, or b) a USB port or power port at the seat to plug it into
Absolutely! It’s so frustrating when a phone keeps ringing or dinging after passengers have been asked to switch to airplane mode, especially on a flight without WiFi. It’s a small but important aspect of respecting the in-flight environment. I can totally see why “isabellasiniss” might seem unconcerned, but it’s a good reminder for all of us to follow the rules and keep the cabin peaceful. Thanks for bringing this up—it’s a reminder to be considerate and follow in-flight etiquette!