Who Owns the Passenger? How Mobile Devices are changing the Aviation
Travel Experience
As technology has been rapidly advancing
and the proliferation of more electronic devices in the hands of the public
becomes the norm, the airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have dealt with the safety issues
associated with these devices and flying.
Several safety concerns have surfaced and subsided as the technology in
the public’s hands and in the cockpit have changed substantially over the
years. Opinions considerably differ between
agencies influential to regulating the use of Personal Electronic Devices
(PEDs) on commercial flights and recent
rulemaking from the FAA has determined that expanded use
of PEDs on flights will not pose risks to safety.
Primarily the concern of using PEDs
during flights is the possible interference with the aircraft’s avionics and
instruments. The National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) compiled a list of
pilot submitted Airline Safety Reporting Systems (ASRS) reports
of incidents arising from passengers using their PEDs. Most notably in the report are incidents of
radio communication interference, directional instrument deviations, and
Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) anomalies. Additionally, several cases of devices
catching fire or emitting electrical smoke fumes in-flight are of concern in
the future. It is important to note that
none of these reported cases were the cause of, or contributed to an accident
flight.
The NASA report above also highlights
another concern for use of mobile phones on flights: unruly passengers. A number of the cases reported involved a
passenger’s unauthorized use of their mobile device, and a subsequent
confrontation with a flight attendant.
It is apparent to almost everyone who travels on commercial airlines
that complete cooperation from passengers to turn off their PEDs during
critical phases of flight is never complied with. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) supports
the expansion of devices that passengers can use, but press
the FAA for a standardized procedure to impose on flights, such as standard for
stowage and PED tolerance. The AFA’s
first concern is cabin safety, and they were given a voice in the rulemaking
hearing due to years of experience in the cabin environment. While their position is supportive, they
require standard stowing procedures of devices such as laptops, having a number
of these devices loose during emergency situations may cause further injuries.
The recent rulemaking, however, is somewhat
misleading and in a general sense does not permit passengers
significant new freedoms. It is feared
that FAA’s ruling will be misinterpreted, as it does not grant passengers to
use two-way voice communications and are still recommending devices be turned
off during the taxi, takeoff, and landing phases of flight. More accurately, the regulation change will
grant airlines that are approved by the FAA the option to lessen restrictions
on PEDs. The airlines wanting to take
advantage of this rule must undergo a technical evaluation that will determine
how their fleet of aircraft will react to transmitting devices.
I suppose having this blessing from the
FAA will make an airline somewhat more appealing to customers, but have
passengers not been using their devices at their whim already? It seems to me the FAA is approving of
passenger actions that have been occurring for years, and all in the name of
safety.
References
Association
of Flight Attendants. (2013, October 31). Coalition of flight attendants unions
calls for standardization of PED policies for consistent flight experience.
Retrieved from http://www.afacwa.org/
Federal
Aviation Administration. (2013, October 31). Press release – FAA to allow airlines to expand use of personal
electronics. Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/
Friedrich,
J. (2013, November 1). Airlines are misleading passengers about new
electronic-device rules. Slate. Retrieved
from http://www.slate.com/
National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2013, July 31). ASRS database report set passenger electronic devices. Retrieved
from http://www.asrs.arc.nasa.gov/
With personal devices being more widely used and accepted on commercial flights, I wonder what the new policies will be on dead-heading or commuting pilots/employees. Since they are technically still employees, and their working duties would prohibit them from using these devices, it might give the impression that if the pilots use laptops and tablets in coach then they might also use them in the cockpit if they get bored during a long cruise. I do not agree with that, but some might, just wondering.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of what you have pointed out here, the fact that people may misinterpret the new rule. I can already see how people now think they can talk on their phone while in the air or while taxiing which is not the case. People usually see an article title saying they can now use their phones and never read into the matter where it says they need to be in airplane mode. People already do that now illegally, this just makes it legal.
ReplyDeleteEven though the recent ruling is only for the use of PEDs on airplane mode, the European Aviation Safety Agency is researching ways to allow cell phone calls and text messages to be allowed during flight. If this is allowed it will be soon enough before the FAA allows the same thing. I feel that at some point we will be able to call other while on the plane.
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