The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday announced that it would begin to ease restrictions on passengers’ use of electronic devices during the take-off and landing of commercial flights.
To capture the long overdue moment the team at JetBlue sent two videographers to document the first few moments of in-flight gadget use.
Jenny Dervin, a JetBlue spokesperson tells Mashable, “The video was created so we could give a behind-the-scenes look. We just wanted to show how we were able to implement the policy immediately.”
The video features real passengers as they make a JetBlue flight from New York City to Buffalo, New York. The customers show off their devices to show they have been freed from archaic FAA in-flight usage restrictions.
JetBlue changed its in-flight device usage policy just moments after it received FAA approval at 4:15 p.m.
The message to ease restrictions was sent directly to each aircraft’s console (see photo above). The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, allowed pilots to begin the new policy immediately.
JetBlue’s immediate restrictions release was matched by competitor Delta which announced the new FAA policy on Friday via its official Twitter account.
It’s official! The FAA just approved @delta plans for PED customer use – effective immediately. #Below10KFeet
— Delta Air Lines News (@DeltaNewsroom) November 1, 2013
In a statement released Thursday, FAA administrator Michael Huerta said, “I commend the dedication and excellent work of all the experts who spent the past year working together to give us a solid report, so we can now move forward with a safety-based decision on when passengers can use PEDs [Portable Electronic Devices] on airplanes.”
Airline customers and various flight groups have been asking for eased restrictions from the Federal Aviation Administration for years. Various studies have shown with certainty that in-flight electronics gear used by customers does not affect any flight equipment currently in use.
Are you happy to learn that the Federal Aviation Administration has eased in-flight restrictions for portable electronics?
