It’s about time: FAA to finally change in-flight electronics rules

It’s taken a long, long time but the Federal Aviation Administration finally looks poised to relax rules on using electronic devices during flights. The New York Times reports that the FAA this week will issue a set of recommendations to ease “most of” the rules that restrict what fliers can do with their smartphones, tablets and PCs while on airplanes. Among the restrictions the Times expects to stay in place are bans on making phone calls during flights, on using Wi-Fi during takeoff and on sending emails and text messages during takeoff. Just because the FAA is finally coming around to letting people use their electronic devices more on planes, however, doesn’t mean that the change will come soon: The Times says that the rules on in-flight electronics use won’t go into effect until next year.