A new confidential report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), meant to evaluate whether in-flight cell phones and other electronic devices can really interfere with airplanes, has been obtained by ABC News. The report is based on surveys returned by employees of 125 airlines covering flights from the years 2003 to 2009. Out of that sample, 75 incidents were identified as examples of possible electronic interference. On the basis of those incidents, ABC News—and just about everybody else who has picked up the story—concludes that "there really could be serious safety issues related to cellphones and other PEDs."

Before you get worried though, yes of course this is idiotic. Social scientists have a word for the kind of "incidents" documented in this report. They call them "anecdotes." The rest of us also have a word for that kind of data—which seems to be compiled from flight attendants who think that coincidences are proof and that cell phones are powered by crystals that transmit magical waves through the ether—but this is a family blog. Kind of.]]> Omri 2011-06-10T11:01:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/6/14/1444/55351

We’ll freely admit it. We sometimes jump the gun and flip on our cell phones right before touchdown, but so far we’ve been safe. That’s not the case for a Jetstar pilot who apparently needed to update a Facebook or Twitter account to let friends, family, and grandma know that all was well. The pilot busted out the technology a little too soon, and kind of forgot that there was an airplane to fly.

The plane was about 400-feet off the ground on its way down into Singapore, when the pilot realized that he hadn't even lowered the landing gear, and so he pulled the plane back up towards the wild blue yonder. The nearly 170 passengers aboard the flight are fine, but some probably updated their own accounts with some choice words regarding their second landing attempt. ]]> kjb 2010-06-14T08:35:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/6/1/144333/5024

It seems like the smarter our phones get, the less actual calling we do. And Air New Zealand seems to have figured this out, since they will be adding the ability to text, email and otherwise use your smartphone normally onboard their new Boeing 777-300s later this year. Except you can't make any voice calls.

This is in addition to Air New Zealand's coming long-haul in-flight WiFi on the new 777s, and the SkyCouch seats, so you could pretty much hold business as usual from your seats. Don't get too excited however; you'll still be paying international roaming on your phone bill, just as if you were on the ground in another country and texting and emailing away. And data roaming abroad can be a real pain in the arse. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-06-01T16:00:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/4/14/85743/0263

Heading to the holy land for a whole lot of summer fun? If you're flying on El Al, and there's a very good chance you might be if you're going to Israel, then you get a free phone for use in the country!

The promotion comes directly from the airline, who are giving away 1,000 free Motorola V3 (aka the Razr) loaded with sixty free minutes to passengers holding roundtrip tickets to Israel with departures before June 30, 2010. You don't even have to give the phone back; it's yours to keep, along with the phone number in Israel, both to be used on any future trips to the country. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-04-14T09:10:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/1/29/81640/7920

Oman Air first impressed us with their unnecessarily nice bathrooms, but now they are moving forward to ruin the entire flight experience—maybe. They are launching full mobile capabilities for first class, business, and economy customers. That means cell phones for all up in the skies. You’ll be welcome to text, tweet, and call all of your friends from your seat. Things should be up and running by the middle of February, which is just in time to apologize to your sweetie for not being home on Valentine’s Day.

In-flight WiFi is also coming to the airline’s entire fleet of Airbus A330s, but cell phones ringing throughout the cabin has us worried. We’ve heard some awful ring tones and text message alerts, and are really hoping that passengers leave things on silent. The airline does promise that the crews will control the services, and that the mobile magic can be limited during quiet times like overnight flights. ]]> kjb 2010-01-29T08:44:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/2/636/11386

This past summer, our cell phone provider wouldn't unlock our phone so we could get a SIM card—damn you, T-Mobile—which made us incommunicado during our month-long trip to Italy. Sure, we tried using phone cards, but they aren't so easy to come by in some small Italian villages, and Internet access wasn't always readily available for us to jump on Skype. And while we vowed to troll craigslist to buy an unlocked phone, we found another alternative with TravelCell rentals.

The company provides rental phones to travelers in more than 200 countries, and a selling point is that all incoming calls are free. A bonus is that TravelCell ships the phone to you before you leave for your trip. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about as you prepare for your vacay, but it's a convenience you'll pay for; shipping is additional $10 or $20 for overnight delivery.]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-12-02T09:06:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/19/7127/76182

We’ve all been there. The flight attendant kindly asks everyone to turn off their electronic devices, but one person is just to cool for school and continues to text and tweet away. One woman did exactly this, but she obviously took it a little too far and wound up going to the big house for a couple hours.

It all started on a Southwest Airlines flight in Nashville last summer. The passenger was returning from Florida and wanted to let her kids know that she was safe and on her way home. Apparently a flight attendant asked her to turn off the phone, but then returned several times to reinforce his message, including two visits as the plane headed toward the runway. Maybe if it was the rapping flight attendant, she would have paid attention. ]]> kjb 2009-05-19T09:01:57-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/