Flight Mode in cellphones and in Flight WiFi access

Question

More and more flights have in flight wifi. On the other hand, the standard pre flight announcement still tells to switch off phones or put them in flight mode.

So, once the in flight wifi is turned on during cruise, is it axiomatic that it is ok to turn flight mode off? I've heard some announcements say to connect to the wifi but still keep the cell signal off. What's the electronics safety protocol regarding this?

As soon as I turn flight mode off, the phone's GSM chip is going to start hunting for a signal, correct?

Please don't hate me, but asking for phone settings and passenger side of things is not on-topic. I'm not even sure asking about phone settings is on-topic for Travel.SE. — , Apr 06 '19 at 14:31
@ymb. Ok I will remove the reference to phone settings if we are a stickler for that. But the core of the question, I hope you agree, is about aviation electronic usage rules and not at all about phones in particular. If you can say, yes, this can be done, I can go and ask on the Android forums. But I really don't think this more to do with phones than aviation. — curious_cat, Apr 06 '19 at 14:34
After the edit, you're still asking what your phone does (last line), and the rest is not on-topic (it is a passenger aspect, i.e., Travel.SE). The Help Center says "The "passenger aspects" of commercial air travel" is not on-topic. The reason is for you and others to get the best answers from the right place, and keeping it on-topic here. — , Apr 06 '19 at 14:40
@ymb1 Ok, please go ahead and delete if if you think it is off topic. — curious_cat, Apr 06 '19 at 14:42
Regarding the edit about safety: “Airplane mode” does not disable GPS… is it safe to use GPS in flight? — , Apr 06 '19 at 14:53

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 06 '19 at 16:55

5

You need to be in flight mode to disable cell connection. That will turn off WiFi but, at least on my phone, you can turn WiFi back on without leaving flight mode.

answered Apr 06 '19 at 16:55

David Richerby

11,875
4
46
86

Flight Mode in cellphones and in Flight WiFi access

1 Answers1