Virgin America now lets you use electronics during takeoff and landing

Turning off your cellphone or gadgets during a flight is almost over. Virgin America is now allowing passengers to use most personal electronics on all phases of flights on its aircraft. It’s the latest US airline to do so, leaving Frontier Airlines as the last major holdout.

Cleared for all categories of flight

Virgin America has also gone a step further with its gate-to-gate support. The airline says its Airbus A320-family aircraft is the first to be cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for personal-electronics usage during all categories of flight. Virgin America’s engineers have tested personal device usage during all categories of flight, including approaches with limited visibility and "technically complicated" landings that are completely automated.

Since the FAA ruled that radio signals from personal electronic devices didn’t pose a threat to aircraft safety during takeoff and landing, the majority of airlines have quickly changed their policies. Delta, JetBlue, American, United, Alaska, US Airways, Southwest Airlines, and now Virgin America have all loosened their restrictions on the use of personal electronics during flight. Virgin America notes that the in-flight crew will still have the final say on what’s permitted on each flight, but that you "won’t have to take off your Google Glass" or "put that e-reader down!"

• SourceVirgin America
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