Airlines and officials may be onboard with mobile phones being used during take off and touch down, but flight attendants certainly are not.
A flight attendants union in the US says it wants passengers to put away their mobile phones during the two key parts of a flight because it distracts them from important announcements.
The ban on mobile devices during take off and touch down was revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration last year. Under the new guidance, passengers can use devices at any time on the aircraft so long as it was in flight mode.
Devices included mobile phones, tablets as well as music and video players.
Since mobile phones were cleared, 31 airlines adjusted their rules to allow passengers to use small electronics during take off and landings.
Image: Peshkova/Shutterstock
However, a lawyer for the union told a three-judge panel in the US court of appeals that the devices are distracting them during safety demonstrations, The Guardian reported.
The group also said mobile phones could become dangerous projectiles if they accidentally slip out of the users hand.
Union lawyer, Amanda Dure said flight attendants had noticed a ‘huge change’ in attentiveness over the last year.
Although the Association of Flight Attendants union made some valid points, the three-judge panel said:
“Airlines have always had discretion on how to handle this.”
Judge Harry T Edwards
During the hearing, Judge Janice Rogers Brown asked about flight attendants’ concern for devices becoming a projectile hazard. However, a lawyer for the government said cellphones are no more dangerous than other items allowed to be used during take off and landings such as books.
The court will issue a written ruling at a later date.