"DaveC" wrote in message
al.net...
Cell phone usage is restricted on all domestic commercial flights by the
FAA,
so the flight attendant keeps telling me.

The regulation against using electronic devices that have not been
determined by the operator to be harmless pre-dates the invention of
cellular phones. The text of the regulation is:

§ 121.306 Portable electronic devices.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may
operate, nor may any operator or pilot in command of an aircraft allow the
operation of, any portable electronic device on any U.S.-registered civil
aircraft operating under this part.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to-

(1) Portable voice recorders;

(2) Hearing aids;

(3) Heart pacemakers;

(4) Electric shavers; or

(5) Any other portable electronic device that the part 119 certificate
holder has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or
communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used.

(c) The determination required by paragraph (b)(5) of this section shall be
made by that part 119 certificate holder operating the particular device to
be used.


The FCC prohibits using cellular phones on aircraft, but that applies only
to cellular phones, few of which exist any more. Most modern 'cellular'
phones are in fact PCS phones, which are not subject to that regulation.
This ban was created when the regulations for cellular phones were first
written and was not included in the regulations for PCS phones.

Anyway, cellular phones are specifically banned by the FCC and few flight
attendants are probably willing or able to verify whether a particular phone
is covered by the regulation or not, while all portable electronic devices
are banned by the FAA unless the air carrier has determined that they will
not be harmful. Few air carriers are probably willing to test every type and
model of electronic device for radio interference, but most of them have no
problem with pocket calculators, laptop computers, and the like, even though
a laptop computer or PDA with Bluetooth or WiFi would seem to be a potential
problem.