Hi guys
Thanks, good to know it wasn't just me (and the senior) being hard-nosed. What really wound us up was:
1) All passengers are asked to switch their phones off at the gate
2) The Senior who first encountered this lady asked her to switch it off as she walked down the aisle. She complied with this request.
3) When I walked past her about 2 minutes later, she had switched the phone back on, and was furiously "texting" away, completely oblivious to the fact that she had already been asked twice to switch it off.
4) Last but not least, we've had two real incidences of radio interference in the flightdeck during descent - both were traced to mobile phones that, although not in use, had been left on and might possibly have been receiving voicemail or messages at that point.
Regarding the "flight mode" function, our rules remain unchanged - all phones have to be switched off at the gate. Cabin Crew cannot verify for sure whether a phone is compatible in some way or not. I suspect a minority of passengers would use the 'flight mode' explanation as an excuse in any case. It just ain't worth the aggro - a major argument ruins the day for me. And it's embarrassing for the other passengers too.
cheers