13 
British Airways is just about to become the first airline in the UK to allow you to watch movies, TV shows, and listen to music from the moment you sit down in your seat to the moment you disembark the aircraft. Finally, why did it take so bloody long?
Don’t be fooled though, this isn’t the holy grail of being able to use your gadgets during take-off and landing; no, that’d be way too sensible. But at least your in-flight movie won’t get cut short now. From the moment you sit down, you can plug yourself into the IFE system and watch or listen to whatever you want. One odd condition is that you have to use the BA-provided headset during take-off taxiing and landing, which means for at least an hour of your flight you’ll be without your noise cancelling set.
Announcements will apparently be played through the headphones, so you can’t escape the usual interruptions, but at least you can block out the screaming baby two rows back with a good dose of gunfire and screeching tires from the in-flight showing of Ronin. [Daily Mail]
Image credit: In-Flight from Shutterstock
So why did it take so long?
The Powers that be didn’t get the email request from BA because they couldn’t turn their crapberries on during landing.
I think it was partially due to regulations (as all these silly things are!)
Yeah, regulations. Apparently BA had to fly a load of the CAA to different places to demo the thing in practice.
I’ve never had a problem with any of these rules, it’s not your plan and until it is, just stick to the rules and stop sexting your wife during the flight, what you do when you land is none of my business.
I always have a problem with rules that appear to have no justification… Rules for the sake of rules are a very bad thing.
I’ve never understood why people have such a problem with not watching/listening for a few minutes at the start/end of the flight. If you’re life is so empty that you can’t survive that short time without film or music, you have bigger problems.
p.s. I haven’t seen Ronin in ages but I love that film.
from the time you sit down in the plane until you take off can be between 30 minutes to 1 hour…..
depending on where you land, time you have to turn it off till time u get off of plane is also on average 30 mins….
So you can’t survive 45 minutes to an hour without some sort of electronic input?
Would make the process a whole lot nicer for passengers yes you could read a book but what if you use a kindle now? Nope not allowed. Not something that affects me personally like as I haven’t been abroad in about 3 years and that was on some crappy short run to France relic.
considering most the flights i take last between 8-12 hours just in the air alone… anything that can help pass the time is a god send… Especially as i am quite tall and have a piece of metal in my knee so i cant sleep on planes due to discomfort.
Metal knee, can’t survive for 45 minutes without electronic input, name is an anagram of “Man die ja”… !!!
Ahem, well I for one…
Shit, should’ve also put in there that he can fly for 8-12 hours! Bloody wednesdays…
I can actually survive the whole flight without watching any video content. Why not also make an arbitrary rule that prohibits all video watching all together. After all, its not strictly necessary.
While we’re at it, lets also propose a rule that airline food quality should be limited to a level where not more than 1 in 23 people actually find it “enjoyable”. As long as it is “acceptable”, I’m sure people can survive without having to enjoy every single meal they ever eat.
Good points Raj. What a crazy attitude from @Udimion. Who are these people who just accept rules and restrictions without question? Always ask why, it’s the thing that matters.
Premium Economy and upwards come with noise cancelling (Bose I think) headsets on BA
Ha, you sir, obviously have more money than I. Beers are on you.
No, I just make poor travel choices
BA Economy headphones are shockingly shite though. Actually I think its pretty much the same with any airline… at east you don’t have to pay for them I guess.
This seems like a good thing for crews as well as passengers. Any time there are delays on the ground I’m sure it’s easier to take care of passengers if they’ve got something to do while they’re waiting.
Thats my thought. Plus I’m sure all the people that are scared of flying would appreciate any mental distraction they can get from the opening scene of Final Destination. Unless thats whats showing. Now that would be unfortunate.
Oh good I still get to argue that my kindle is infact off whilst reading a page. And only on for a split second when I change the page so they really won’t notice!
It does amaze me that some alines will alow me to use it and some won’t. Then I have to sit there watching all the old school paper books come out and people start their holiday reading before me