According to that article you can use Bluetooth as long as your device is set to flight mode....Ok then???

mdooher:

According to that article you can use Bluetooth as long as your device is set to flight mode....Ok then???

But it wasn't even being enforced,  I saw no one forced to remove a fitbit before being allowed on a plane

mdooher:

 

According to that article you can use Bluetooth as long as your device is set to flight mode....Ok then???

 

Some devices you can enable flight mode, shutting off all radios, then selectively enable the one(s) you want like wifi or bluetooth. It still leaves flight mode on, meaning other radios are disabled.

wellygary:

 

But it wasn't even being enforced,  I saw no one forced to remove a fitbit before being allowed on a plane

 

And this has always been the problem with the assertion that "electronic devices may interfere with the aeroplane" by carriers.

Passengers are asked to switch devices off, switch to flight mode etc but this is never, ever enforced in a meaningful way.

If there is a genuine threat to the operation of the plane and/or the safety of the passengers from personal electronics and/or various types of wireless tech, then every carrier on the planet is wilfully negligent. On any flight I have ever been on, I could have a cabin bag full of devices all happily broadcasting/receiving away and no-one would ever address it.

If on the other hand, there is no threat to safe operation from such devices which - considering carrier behaviour - is likely the case, then I don't understand why this is still even a "thing"...

i wonder if anyone ever bothered to turn off/put on the flight mode (except for saving a battery).

I certainly did not. However, once while browsing photos on my phone on the flight to Korea, flight attendant took my phone from my hands, and selected flight mode without words, leaving me with a facepalm.

I always put mine into flight mode.

I say always - I did forget once, and got a Text message (vibrate only) flying above Hamilton. Ooops.

I have used BT headphones on an international flight a couple of times (Emirates was the last one) - no issues and didn't realise I wasn't allowed to.

I often left my iPad's blutooth keyboard on by accident, never been involved in a plane crash!

I always use my Apple Watch and Bluetooth headphones on flights, Jetstar and Air NZ domestic. I've also found on smaller turboprop planes it's possible to send and receive texts and use data for most of the flights.

I do respect the rules and put my devices away during takeoff and landing, because I feel that's a time where using them could actually be unsafe. Just yesterday I was on a Jetstar flight to Christchurch though and maybe 10mins after the "Please turn off electronic devices for landing" message was played, an attendant walked past the woman next to me who was using her phone and didn't bat an eyelid!

People have popped up on Bookface and made claims of being pilots, even in small AC. And you know how (like my own) analogue clock radio has a spastic in the morning when my bad signal VF coverage mobile is hunting like crazy to register. DIT DIDA DIT DITA...

Multiply it by 30 odd people during takeoff/landing. They said even with the headsets they use going to a resonably new system this is part of the reason (citation required) and is an annoyance.

JoshWright:

I always use my Apple Watch and Bluetooth headphones on flights, Jetstar and Air NZ domestic. I've also found on smaller turboprop planes it's possible to send and receive texts and use data for most of the flights.

I do respect the rules and put my devices away during takeoff and landing, because I feel that's a time where using them could actually be unsafe. Just yesterday I was on a Jetstar flight to Christchurch though and maybe 10mins after the "Please turn off electronic devices for landing" message was played, an attendant walked past the woman next to me who was using her phone and didn't bat an eyelid!

I flew Air NZ today and this policy was in force - but they need to update the safety video

Sat next to a recently retired MP who was a bit oblivious to it all and was happy tapping away on a Macbook with Wifi looking for something to connect to.  Good to know that Union business trumps airline regulations... 

The new safety video includes the new policy. Rhys Darby and Anna Faris pair up.

Read the "Not using aeroplane mode won't bring down the plane" heading: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=11678637