A panel is reportedly meeting this week to pass new regulations permitting limited use of electronic devices during air travel.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is convening this week to make sweeping changes to a long-debated ban on the use of electronic devices on airplanes during takeoff and landing, the New York Times reports.

An advisory panel is gathering this week, where they are expected to agree to permit the use of electronic devices to access content stored on electronic devices, such as e-books, music, podcasts, and videos, anonymous members of the panel told the Times. The ban on using Wi-Fi, email, messaging, and making phone calls will remain intact.

The FAA is expected to make the announcement at the end of this month, and will likely put the new rules into place next year, according to the Times.

The announcement would be welcome news to frequent flyers, who have endured a long game of cat and mouse with flight attendants who are oddly talented at spotting an active device. The FAA would join the ranks of many air travel systems in Europe and elsewhere, which have introduced technological solutions to allow in-flight use of electronic devices.

For more information on the history and justification behind the ban, feel free to browse this surpisingly long Wikipedia page titled “Mobile phones on aircraft.”

Via: networkworld