1. Have you
thought about safety measures on airplanes and why they are being so strictly
implemented?
2. Here is a short review on a Harvard Business
Review article by Alexandra Samuel. The article is about ‘listening to your customers when they
disagree’. The article focuses on whether or not to allow the customers to use
their cell phones during traveling on planes. Taking into consideration the
strict procedures, rules and regulations made by various aviation companies on
the usage of electronic devices on board aircrafts, the mobile or cell phone
usage problem is not a concern to be so much debated.
3. Educated or not, the global principle practiced in
commercial airplanes is to not use any electronic devices on board, unless with
special permissions granted by the authorities. Excluding private
aircrafts, during the safety briefing in any commercial airplane, it is clearly
mentioned by FAA to switch off the cell phones and other electronic devices
during take-offs and landings.
4. This indicates that airlines have more responsibility
than the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the ultimate
responsibility lies on the airline Managers for any event that takes place in
their airplanes whilst on the ground as well as in air.
5. Electronic
devices can be allowed in airplane flights. When considering cell phones the
cell signal should be disabled (airplane mode to be activated). Since the
majority of the people believe that, it can be a security threat. During
takeoffs and landings, the prohibition of the use of all electronic devices is
to be implemented as a safety measure of the aircraft.
6. Hence,
there is a divide within the public and there can be no middle ground on this
issue. Either it should be banned or approved with particular restrictions like
‘no calls allowed’. The article has become an important eye opener for airline
industry and not only in USA but to other countries as well since, the same
issue is being evaluated. Having said this, it might well be worth considering
to review what International preparatory measures are in place to resolve the
issue at hand and adopt the same so as to unanimously implement the same to all
airlines irrespective of which country the airline belongs to.
7. The judgment on the security and
safety factor of the aircraft is important to look back to the history of the
issue that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had asked the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA), an
independent industry standards organization, to study the issue of electronic
devices on airplanes in 1992. The RTCA had not found any interference and
eventually recommended allowing the use of laptops, gaming devices and music
players. Nevertheless, it has been suggested by RTCA on the precaution of
banning the use of any and all devices “during the critical takeoff and
landing phases” (Hsu, J. 2009). This explains that there is a safety
factor during the aforementioned phases.
