I read about devices that restaurants etc could buy to disable all mobile transmissions in the room and render phones useless. I would have thought it was worth developing these for use in aeroplanes so no phones worked when engines were running. Yes, I know they would use transmissions themselves, but people will never be stopped from using their phones in flight as long as they work.
As a side issue, Notso carried out 'experiments' with an Orange phone a few years back. It never worked in the air. Presumably the cells detected a flooding effect and cut you out of the system, but mysteriously on the ground it worked, so how come these people can get their phones to work? I am also reliably informed that Virgin phones similarly don't work in the UK when airborne.