These are reports from newsgroup users. Revised August 2010
Please let me know of any
errors or additions.
The Airlines which OFFICIALLY APPROVE the use of
receivers during CRUISE. The GOOD list is getting longer!
This actually means pilot discretion
in all cases.
Airlines which OFFICIALLY DO NOT APPROVE the use of
receivers at ANY time during flight.
- Aer Lingus
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air France
- Air New Zealand
- Air Malaysia
- Air Tanzania
- Alitalia (Italy)
- Braathens (owned by SAS) Norway
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- CAAC (China Airlines, Mainland China)
- China Southern Airlines
- Continental Airlines (as of August 2007, changed AGAIN! 4th time!)
- Delta Airlines (as of May 2009, UNteathered HANDHELD GPS units only allowed.)
- DragonAir (China)
- EasyJet (Europe)
- Egypt Air
- FlyBe Airlines (UK)
- Jet Airways (India)
- JetBlue Airways (USA, Changed back to OK as of April 2007)
- KLM (Flight operations book under rule 120.8.5)
- LAN Airlines Argentina
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Maersk Air (Denmark)
- MidWest Express (USA)
- Nationwide Airlines (South Africa)
- NorthWest Airlines (Flight operations book under rule 120.8.5)
- Precision Air (Tanzania)
- Olympic Airlines (Greece)
- Qantas as of 3/2/2007 per Tania<email@example.com> (yep.. Changed AGAIN!)
- Singapore Air Lines
- SN Brussels Airlines (as of 11/25/03 per
- South African Airways
- SouthWest Airlines (Changed AGAIN as of January 2009.. This is THREE changes in since early 2008.)
- Sun Country (Regional USA)
- Swiss (Was Swissair and CrossAir)
- Tunis Air
- United Air Lines (may ask if your GPS is FCC Class B approved.
All handhelds are. Show them in the manual.)
- Vanguard Airlines
- WestJet Airlines (Canada)
(*) Individual Pilots may allow GPS use. (It never hurts
ask the pilot on any flight. Oftentimes, cabin attendants say NO
automatically. If the cabin attendant says "no" respectfully ask
them to make your request to the pilot.)
See Also: GPS
Use on Passenger Aircraft> Is it SAFE?
- Alaska Airlines
- Air Tran
- America West Airlines
- American Airlines (Changed again as of October 2009)
- Britannia Airlines
- El Al Airlines (Israel)
- Frontier Airlines (as of June 2008)
- Hawaiian Airlines(*)
- Horizon Airlines(*)
- Iberia Airlines(*)
- Lufthansa Airlines
- Mexicana airlines
- Midway Express
- Monarch Airlines
- Ryanair (Irish) (as of January 2008)
- Spirit Airlines
- US Airways (was US Air) (as of December 2007)
- Varig Airlines
- Virgin Airlines (As of March 2007)
you are of a mind to do so, you may wish to send a letter to the
airline president about a refusal to allow GPS use on a particular
airline. Here is a message sent to one such airline by a
passenger that you may wish to use as a template. Please put the
message into your own words.
"This email concerns passenger use of GPS devices on your airline.
As you are likely aware it is your corporate policy to ban them. The
use of GPS devices on aircraft by passengers during non critical
flight phases is left to the discretion of the airline and the flight
crew. Use is NOT forbidden by the FAA or any governmental body as far
as I know. MOST airlines, worldwide, DO allow the use of a GPS by
passengers. GPS Receivers are known to radiate FAR less energy than
most games, laptop computers and similar equipment which ARE allowed.
I have flown your airline a number of times, and would really like to
use my mapping GPS to enjoy my trip.
Technically; I am aware of the fact that radio receivers have local
oscillators and do as a result radiate some radio frequencies.
However the power and frequencies of radio frequency emissions from
a consumer GPS receiver is minute compared to many common electronic
devices used by passengers aboard aircraft. Personal computers for
example have many local oscillators across the radio spectrum, not to
mention included radio transmitters. A significant percentage of
laptops in use on aircraft are operating with 802.11b/g and Bluetooth
transceivers enabled. Your flight crew does mention that they
should be turned off, however some users lack the technical know how
to do this or are even aware that their laptop has these features.
The lack of incidents caused by games, mp3 players, and personal
computers demonstrates the robustness of aircraft systems AND the lack
of interference from the many "allowed" electronic devices. These
aircraft systems are much more likely to be affected by other devices
in operation in aircraft cabins than GPS receivers. I believe that the
allowance of the use of personal computers and other devices aboard
your aircraft while GPS receivers are banned results from a greater
consumer demand for the use of computers than an underlying safety
issue. I would be pleased to receive a dissenting technical opinion
if you have one.
I respectfully request that you reconsider your ban on the use of GPS
on your flights during the cruise phase.