[Cheeryguy]

This seems like a real step forward.
The only issue I see is the “I fly all the time” types who will argue the toss about the restrictions on headphones/screens etc, rather than just accept that the cabin crew are just following laid down procedures put in place for safety reasons by the CAA and the Airline.

[FormerlyDoS]

This new arrangement highlights a weakness in BAs premium seat design. To offer Y pax a service improvement not available to C and F pax is unusual. I’d be really annoyed if I could not finish watching a movie and people who had paid a lot less could.

If you look at most modern seats, e.g. EY, QR, the (larger) screens are built into the shell of the seat in front or the bulkhead and can therefore be used throughout the flight.

The CW seats still provide a good night’s sleep, but in areas such as this and also aisle access, they are no longer word beating and it if BA installs the same seats on the 787/A380, it will be another missed opportunity IMHO.

It is no longer good enough to be better than USAsaurus (and these airlines are gradually getting better hard products)

[ANDREWYOUNG1]

This is a welcome move, especially for an airline based out of LHR where one can spend a good half an hour holding to land.

I also agree with DoorsToManual – it does feel odd (but welcome) being ‘trusted’ on EK not to drop your glass of Dom during take-off in First – UK based airlines seem to have a zero-tolerance to so much as a sweet wrapper being on, near, under your seat during take-off or landing!

[edwardbm]

Seems incredible that someone sitting in WT/WTP will be able to watch their film through final decent and landing – whereas someone sitting in FIRST/CLUB WORLD won’t be able to.

Maybe they could allow you to keep the F/CW + WT/WTP exit row screens “out”

or is this against CAA regs?

[canucklad]

I am going to go against the flow here……..

Since most IFE headphones need plugged in, and if like me it becomes a bit of a chore to plug and unplug them, before any airline adopts this policy i would like to see a simple test …..

A full evacuation of an aircraft within the permitted times, with most of the passengers wearing headphones……consider the chaos and confusion when an aircraft needs to be rapidly evacuated.

Then consider the critical moments when these incidents occur unexpectedly, Just before V1 and just after touchdown!!

To me, it makes sense to do the test first, and see if having your ears connected to an armrest becomes a hinderance.

What does a confused and frightened soul do first, remove headphones or un-buckle seatbelt??

[BusinessTraveller]

Confirmation of the changes, and a quote from BA regarding restrictions for Club World, First, exit row and bulk head passengers can now be read here:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/ba-to-allow-passengers-to-watch-ife-throughout–

[cityprofessional]

Thanks to rferguson and scott72 for the clarification. I’ve always wondered why I could use IFE freely on some airlines, but BA and others tell me to remove earphones on take off and landing. I actually wear them to dull the engine noise rather than listen to music, and I now try to remember not to check in my bright yellow ear plugs and wear these instead – funny that nobody asks me to remove these!

As for mobile phones, given that some airlines are using roaming technology to enable inflight calls/data/text, it can’t be that the signal interferes with instruments any more. I’ve inadvertently left my mobile on before, including once when it was in gatechecked hand luggage, so I couldn’t do anything to retrieve my bag. So far, touch wood, nothing untoward has happened, so interference can’t be the reason…

[Papillion53]

Well like switching off your mobile at petrol stations (risk of explosion) many people continue to use their phones there, and when I’ve asked why this rule, the DH always says “well “They” think it might happen, but it’s never happened and do you want to be there when the rule is proven?”. NO, NO, NO!

I am paranoid about switching my phone off onboard, and check and re-check it’s switched off, talk about OCD! And I get paranoid about everyone else around me, especially those who switch their phone on as soon as the wheels have touched the runway.

[travelworld]

I don’t mean to alarm you Papillion 53 but I, too, have accidently left my phone on a couple of times during flights. On each full 747, I am prepared to bet that there are quite a few others who have too…

[travelworld]

and I should have added that one one of the occasions when my phone was actually left on was on a Finnair flight from Seoul to Helsinki last year. I was made aware of it when I received a text at 35,000 feet saying “Sinotel welcomes you to China”…

[Tom Otley]

I’ve asked avionics experts about this in the past, and what they say is that a mobile phone, when it loses reception sends out a “shout” (their words) which gradually gets stronger and louder in an attempt to find a signal. If you have 200 mobile phones switched on, on board, then the thought is that collectively, these shouts might affect the avionics.

Whether that’s true or not, of course, I have no idea.

[FormerlyDoS]

It it correct.

But even a single phone can skew a nav instrument, I’ve had it happen to me. I didn’t understand why the light aircraft I was flying (on autopilot) decided to turn off track, until I looked at the RMI (which was commanding the track) and found it was misreading.

A quick check of pax phones and a live one switched off caused a reversion to the correct reading.

[canucklad]

As I said earlier in another thread I’m definately not a Mobile phone expert…

I did however score highly in my physics exams….so someone with more mobile technology knowledge than me can either confirm or educate accordingly.

Am i right in saying that the signal is carried by microwave , and as such is more unpredicabtle than normal transmission methods.

[Tom Otley]

There are some more answers in this Wall Street Journal article (“Do our Gadgets Really Threaten Planes?”)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444273704577637703253402734.html

There are some great comments on the bottom of the story, including a reader whose paper shredder would always turn on a few seconds before his mobile phone rang.

This must explain the ban on paper shredders.

[Tim2soza]

Mobile phone signal is not in the microwave range. WiFi is.

For mobile phones in planes, the typical solution is to transmit a mobile signal on board using something equivalent to the Vodafone Sure Signal. This signal is then transmitted back either via Satellite or to specially adapted ground stations. http://www.gogoair.com/gogo/cms/work.do

[Author]

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