Why you need to put your phones on airplane mode: reasons

If you've ever traveled by plane, you probably remember the announcement about switching phones and electronic devices to airplane mode before takeoff.

This requirement exists to prevent cellular interference with airplane systems, but why this is necessary and what other benefits there are to putting your devices on airplane mode is explained in this CNN Travel article.

Activating airplane mode

Airplane mode, or airplane mode, was introduced at the beginning of the smartphone era. Before that, phones and other electronic devices had to be completely turned off during the flight.

Today, almost all devices, such as Android phones, iPhones, iPads, or Windows tablets and laptops, have airplane mode. Activating airplane mode will turn off cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Many devices will allow you to turn on Wi-Fi in Airplane Mode to allow you to use the airplane's installed Wi-Fi services (usually only allowed above 10,000 feet for safety).

Prevent interference from signals

Airplane mode prevents devices from emitting any radio signals that could otherwise cause electromagnetic interference to aircraft systems, electronics, or communications.

This is even worse in flight than on the ground, as many mobile devices are designed to boost signal strength if they have difficulty connecting to the tower. Interference can occur in pilot and ATC radio communications or navigation systems.

Protection of ground equipment

There is another reason sometimes cited for the early implementation of mobile phone restrictions, and it has to do with the potential impact on cellular ground equipment.

A mobile device operating at altitude and moving at speed can see multiple cell towers at the same time. This will block the frequencies used by those towers with much more activity than they were designed to handle from ground-based devices. In the United States, the ban on in-flight electronic devices was originally introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), not the FAA, for this reason.

Is the regulation overly cautious?

It is generally agreed that disabling all devices in this way is overkill, but the airline industry operates in this way, adhering to strict requirements to ensure maximum safety. In the early days of cell phone use, this was a bigger issue, and there are even reports of pilots hearing a click every time a phone tried to establish a connection.

As TravelWise wrote, according to the Civil Aviation Authority, scientific studies have shown that cell phones can interfere with the normal operation of aircraft equipment and can also interfere with pilots' headsets. This can directly affect flight safety, so turning off cell phones on an airplane is a real necessity.