Airline to fine passengers who fail to switch their phones to flight mode

Aer Lingus passengers on transatlantic flights have been warned they could rack up hefty phone bills if they ignore requests to switch devices to airplane mode. Customers could accidently incur roaming charges if mobiles aren’t switched off or put in flight mode, as they may connect to the in-flight network. The warning came after an Aer Lingus passenger told The Irish Times that he had forgotten to put his phone into the correct mode. He left it in the overhead cabin and only discovered later that he had been charged $300 (£235) by his provider AT&T. The telecommunications company said that antennae installed on the plane operate outside an unlimited inter- national roaming plan, and therefore can “automatically connect with phones that are not in flight mode and run up charges—even when the phones are not in use”. Aer Lingus stressed that it doesn’t make any money from these charges. A spokesperson said: “For safety reasons, before every flight, Aer Lingus cabin crew advise guests to switch their phones to airplane mode.”