TS, I see an aircraft equipped to handle connections with mobile devices to be better than one that isn't. In the first case the devices won't ramp up their power searching for a connection, in the second that's exactly what they do. (which is what happens when I forget my phone is on).
The airlines can limit the connections, if they choose, to text and internet but I don't think it's necessary as the cost per call is a major limiting factor.
Of course there are idiots who may disrupt a flight, but they will do so anyway. I was on a Squeezy flight the other day where a passenger was having a conversation with his buddy two rows back, shouting in dialect! One of the FAs asked them to be quiet during the safety briefing and they ignored him. They did this the whole flight.
I think it's ludicrous that on the BA LHR-SNN-JFK flight you can text and connect to the internet once at altitude, but they have to shut it down when the enter US airspace, long before they begin decent. Why is it OK in British, Irish, Icelandic and Canadian airspace but not in the US? (Rhetorical question).
People will leave their phones on, and some will try to use them, that is a given. Knowing that, regulators should be ensuring that the aircraft is as safe as possible.
Last edited by ExXB; 12th Dec 2012 at 13:10.