The days of a cheeky phone call or errant game of Temple Run sending an entire plane and hundreds of innocent people to their fiery doom - in theory - appear to be on the way out.
British Airways (BA) are to allow passengers to use mobile devices as soon as an aircraft is off the runway after landing rather than waiting for it to stop at the terminal building.
The move is part of a general trend to bring rules drawn up in the 1960s into line with modern communications technology.
BA are the first European airline to relax the rules although other international carriers have allowed the rule for some time
Ian Pringle, British Airways’ flight training manager, said: "Customers will no longer have the frustration of having to wait until their plane has arrived at the terminal building before being able to use their mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices.
"Now they’ll have that extra time to phone ahead for that important business meeting, check their emails, or make sure someone is there to meet them at the airport," Pringle added, according to the Telegraph.
It is a long-held belief that mobile devices could interfere with a plane's instruments - although aviation authorities in the US now believe any threat is minimal or non-existent, once an aircraft above 10,000ft. The Civil Aviation Authority in the UK has said it will examine the FAA report to see if it needs to update its own rules.
Passengers are till banned from using phones and tablets on take-off until the aircraft has reached 10,000ft. But this is as much to do with passengers being distracted during safety demonstrations and critical moments than electronic interference.
The new rules will come into force on 1st July.