Study Existing Personal Electronic Devices (PED) Policies and Provide an Automatic Solution to Switch on Airplane Mode in-Flight

The use of cell phones inside an aircraft is prohibited because cell phones pose a safety risk to aircraft systems and operations. Personal Electronic Device (PED) policies exist to avoid radio interference caused by the operation of cell phones in flight. The PED policies require passengers and crew members to stow away or use Airplane Mode when traveling by air. This paper focuses on studying the existing PED policies for the usage of cell phones inside an aircraft. We also study reports presenting technical data on why such a policy is required. We have also included individual experiences reported by passengers while travelling on how people react and behave when asked to turn on Airplane Mode or switch off their electronic devices. After establishing the problem, we discuss solutions that might switch off cell phones in flight or enable Airplane Mode automatically without any human intervention. We deliberate on three potential solutions (a) Mobile phone jammer, (b) Cellular Pico-cell onboard, (c) an Automatic Airplane Mode system. We propose creating an Automatic Airplane Mode System. We discuss various aspects of the proposed system, technical development choices and social features considerations. We discuss system development details and architecture along with the proposed uses of the system proposed. In the end, we conclude our work and list out some future scope activities.