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Delta eases cell phone rules
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May 26, 1999: 7:25 p.m. ET
No. 3 airline to allow use of phones, laptops as passengers await takeoff
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Delta Air Lines Inc. said Wednesday it will allow passengers to use their cell phones and laptop computers while they are stuck on the tarmac waiting for take-off.
The Atlanta-based airline, the nation's third-largest carrier in terms of revenue, said it will let passengers, at the captain's discretion, use cell phones and laptop PCs "during extended ground time." The change is effective June 1.
The announcement comes amid a backdrop of delays that have caused many passengers to wait, in come cases for hours, for take-off. Vice President Al Gore has led a charge for more accountability from airlines.
In January, a snowstorm in Detroit forced passengers on one Northwest airlines flight to sit on the airport tarmac for some eight hours.
The changes come after Delta conducted "extensive" testing to ensure that use of a cell phone or laptops won't interfere with airplane communications and navigation systems.
While not the first such airline to announce such a policy change, Delta said the move is its answer to mounting calls from customers to allow cell-phone usage as they wait.
"Cell phones are more and more part of everyday lives," Delta spokeswoman Kay Horner said. "Passengers told us they want to use their phones up to the last minute."
The new rules, which Delta adopted voluntarily, will also allow passengers to use cell phones while their airplane sits at the gate with the boarding door open. Laptops cannot be used while a plane sits at the gate.
Federal rules put the onus on airlines themselves to prove that cell phones and laptops won't disrupt communications while planes sit at the gate.
But federal law prohibits the use of cell phones while planes are airborne. Laptops cannot be used while the airlines are airborne and flying beneath an altitude of 10,000 feet.
Shares of Delta (DAL) fell 1-3/8 to 56-3/8 Wednesday.
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Delta Air Lines
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