FAA Relenting on Passenger Gadgets?

For years, the techno-savvy members of the flying public have resented Federal Aviation Administration requirements that passengers turn off cellphones and other electronic devices to prepare for takeoff. Word on the street has been that such precautions are viewed by experts as unnecessary, despite warnings that signals from mobile devices could interfere with cockpit communications.

In Monday’s New York Times, business section columnist Nick Bilton reported that the FAA may be opening the window a crack and considering easing the policy.

Bilton quotes Laura J. Brown, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs, responding to his perennial query on the issue with a slightly different answer. She says regulators will take a “fresh look” at the impact of such personal devices as e-readers and tablets on aircraft operational safety. Such devices didn’t exist in 2006, the last time testing was performed.

No plans, however, to include iPhones in the revised testing. “While the FAA is no longer ignoring the devices, it could very well entwine them in the kind of red tape only Washington can invent,” Bilton predicts.