Daily News

Airline passengers irritated at having to turn off their devices could soon see some reprieve, with regulators set to allow wider use of gadgets in flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to relax the ban on using some types of personal-electronic devices at low altitudes, allowing passengers leeway during taxiing and even takeoffs and landings, according to industry officials and draft recommendations prepared by a high-level advisory panel to the agency.

Getty Images The FAA is expected to relax rules for some types of electronic devices at low altitudes. Above, a passenger checks his phone before exiting the plane at Long Beach, Calif., airport in 2012. For fliers, the new rules would likely mean an end to familiar admonitions to turn off and stow all electronic devices. Cellphone calls are expected to remain off limits, however. The draft doesn't make any recommendations regarding phone use because the FAA didn't authorize the panel to delve into that particularly controversial area.

Details are still being debated by the group and inside the FAA and could change. Still, the draft report reflects a consensus that the existing rules, essentially unchanged since the 1960s, have been overtaken by dramatic changes in technology and passenger expectations.

"As the consumer electronics industry has exploded," the report says, the FAA's traditional stance of giving individual airlines leeway to evaluate the safety of specific devices before allowing them to remain on at low altitude "has become untenable." In practice, airlines follow the FAA's guidance and slap a blanket prohibition on all devices until planes climb to 10,000 feet.

The FAA may be forced to act due to the sheer number of passengers flouting today's rules. The experts who wrote the draft referred to recent industry research showing that nearly one-third of passengers reported that, at least once, they accidentally left some device on throughout a flight.

Unless the FAA eases its standards, the advisory group frets that "confidence in the FAA and the [industry's] ability" to integrate personal electronic device usage will erode, and a "nonstandard system" of patchwork rules adopted by individual airlines "could emerge that further confuses the public."

The FAA's anticipated decision would relax the rules for use of approved devices from the time cabin doors close to when the plane reaches 10,000 feet. Some devices, such as e-readers, could even be used during all phases of a flight, if the FAA goes along with the thrust of the draft recommendations.

The document is likely to bolster arguments of lawmakers, safety experts and everyday ticket buyers who contend the vast majority of today's portable electronics pose little or no risk of interfering with aircraft systems.

The FAA likely won't make a formal decision on the matter until after it receives the final version of the advisory panel's study, now delayed two months to the end of September.

An FAA spokeswoman released a statement saying the agency "recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft, that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions."

"At the group's request," the statements adds, "the FAA has granted the two-month extension to complete the additional work necessary for the safety assessment."

Eliminating or easing today's strict constraints would amount to a major cultural shift for travelers from frequent fliers to celebrities many of whom are seemingly tethered to their digital gadgets and frequently fume when flight attendants tell them to power off.

A 2011 incident involving actor Alec Baldwin in which the actor was kicked off an American Airlines plane for playing a Scrabble-like game on his phone before it started taxiing gained global attention.

The impending changes also portend business opportunities for airlines, which are scrambling to satisfy customer demand for faster airborne connections along with expanded Wi-Fi entertainment and business applications.

By some estimates, the world-wide market for such offerings already is close to $3 billion annually, with as many as 20,000 new Boeing and Airbus jets slated to be modified for onboard connectivity over the next decade.

The debate also has international ramifications, since rules for Wi-Fi systems, and especially cellphone usage, vary among airlines and countries.

"It would be much more convenient for us" to have a single global standard, according to Alexandre de Juniac, chairman and chief executive of Air France. "Right now, it's a nightmare," he said, figuring out airspace where cellphone calls from planes are prohibited.

The current draft doesn't discuss changes to cellphone rules, but says members of the panel believe a discussion of cellphone use and whether allowing it would be an imposition on some passengers should be part of their final product and the group intends "to provide a separate addendum" that the agency "may or may not address."

The Federal Communications Commission has a long-standing ban on cellphones using certain frequencies in flight, due to potential interference "with wireless networks on the ground," according to the draft.

Formed by the FAA last August, the 28-member panel includes industry, government and pilot-union representatives. Its findings have been eagerly awaited by airlines, regulators and safety experts around the world prompting some discussion at the Paris International Air Show this week.

"The FAA will set an umbrella safety standard for the world," said Stuart Dunleavy, vice president and general manager of the in-flight media and connectivity business of Thales SA.

The original rules, written in 1966, took shape in an era when experts feared electromagnetic interference could wreak havoc with critical navigation systems and radios aboard aircraft. During the years leading up to this latest review, the FAA called on the industry to conduct four separate safety studies and ended up adopting the broad policy that personal electronics pose minimal risk at higher altitudes.

The FAA has also said that listening to or watching a hand-held device can distract passengers if emergencies occur close to the ground.

The draft report emphasizes that over the years, technical advances and stepped-up testing have contributed to building "much more tolerant" aircraft, while devices have improved dramatically to use less power, transmit weaker signals and "stay within a tighter range of frequencies." The combined result, according to the document, is "much less potential to cause interference."

For airliners that pass stringent tests, the panel envisions allowing essentially unlimited, or what it calls "expanded gate to gate use," of electronic devices. The draft also urges that starting in 2015, the FAA require new models to comply with the strictest industrywide standard.

Mr. Dunleavy of Thales said that "we absolutely haven't seen any concerns about interference from passenger devices."

The conclusions are borne out by industry practice, according to Jay Gandhi, head of EMT Labs, a Mountain View, Calif., firm that tests hand-held devices for electronics manufacturers. They typically generate such weak electromagnetic fields "there is no way they can overpower aircraft systems," according to Mr. Gandhi.

While the draft document is still missing certain key sections and some detailed recommendations, it repeatedly urges the FAA to ensure that current and future airliners incorporate features shielding critical systems from potential interference.

Eventually, the draft envisions three different safety announcements before flight.

For those planes with limited built-in protections, passengers would be told to power off devices until they are advised it is safe to hit the on switch.

On many other planes, flight attendants would give the green light to use certain electronics from gate to gate, except in rare instances when the captain asks they be turned off because they could interfere with certain types of instrument landings.

And according to the draft report, passengers on the third category of planes would hear the following announcement: "This aircraft tolerates emissions from electrical devices for all phases of flight."

Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com

More From The Wall Street Journal Missing the Target http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324188604578545204199664048.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324299104578531132265680630.html