Okay, so first it was Delta and jetBlue that got the okay to go gate-to-gate with electronic gadgets. Then it was American. I had a question from a friend on this new policy, because he flew Delta mainline, where they announced the new policy, and then flew a Delta Connection flight, where the flight attendant nearly came unglued when he wouldn’t put his iPhone away during taxi out to the runway.
Try as they might, airlines aren’t telling their customers the distinction between “mainline” flights and those that are subcontracted. Indeed, my friend’s Delta Connection flight was on ExpressJet, though it was branded a Delta Connection flight.
Earlier this week I got an email from US Airways saying that they were rolling out gate-to-gate electronic use – but they were actually freaking helpful! They said that the new policy applied only to mainline US Airways flights, and that the policy didn’t yet apply to US Airways Express flights; that would come at a later date. And just now, I got an email from Alaska Airlines saying that starting Saturday passengers on mainline flights would be able to use electronics, with sister carrier Horizon coming up soon, as well as subcontractor SkyWest, pending FAA approval.
From what I can tell, US Airways and Alaska Airlines are the only ones to roll out this new policy correctly.
So congrats you guys! Travel is just about to get a little more interesting.