Farewell to ‘aeroplane mode’: Flying loses its status as the last internet black hole

Back in 1997, an episode of Seinfeld introduced the world to a unique approach to long-haul travel. David Puddy, played by Patrick Warburton, the boyfriend of Elaine Benes (Julia Louis Dreyfus), decided he would just stare at the back of the seat in front of him for the whole flight.No television, no movies, no headphones, no books, not even a nap. He was going to sit upright, eyes-open, and stare straight ahead for what was meant to be a very long trip. Although this was wild even to contemplate almost three decades ago, it isn’t viewed in quite so simple a light today.Is airplane mode really just a setting on your phone? That’s the philosophical question that has moved to the foreground in recent days. READ MOREOn Monday, EasyJet announced it would install Elon Musk’s Starlink internet across its fleet during the first half of next year, with roll-out completed in 2028.Aer Lingus already offers Starlink on its transatlantic flights with plans eventually to extend it to European flights. The jump from wifi of any standard on a plane being impressive to high speed being the norm has come about rather quickly.[ Aer Lingus has begun its free in-flight wifi. Bang goes a rare oasis of tranquillity ]Airline wifi has, for most of the 20 years it has been available, been somewhat of a joke. Typically it has been considered slow, expensive and definitely not reliable. Yet that’s far too broad an assumption.Even back in 2019, I recall an Air France trip back from China where I was overjoyed that the quality was good enough to watch Dublin beat Mayo in the All Ireland semi-final. Still, that was definitely the exception, not the norm.With Starlink’s satellites orbiting around 550 kilometres above ground, they are shortening the journey that was previously needed for signals to reach planes.With the Aer Lingus transatlantic fleet as an example, the speeds promised exceed 500Mbps. When it comes to connectivity quality, that’s absolutely stellar stuff. With EasyJet, well it’s essentially the same service only focused squarely on short-haul. That is rather new as plane wifi has thus far almost exclusively been targeted at long-haul by carriers in Europe.It is a huge step for wifi to go from being an available extra service towards it being expected on all journeys in the not-too-distant future. It’s heavenly to some of you and no doubt a nightmare to others.That’s because the last acceptable excuse for being unreachable is disappearing. An aeroplane is one of the few places where you have outright immunity from checking emails or messages. That’s from everyone in your life, although, for most of us, the first thing to come to mind is work.“I’m 35,000 feet above ground embracing the engineering miracle of mechanised flight” won’t necessarily be considered a good enough excuse any more.Yet the benefits are substantial. That game I watched back in 2019 was exactly what I needed. I’d just spent a couple of hours in Hong Kong airport interviewing protesters and it was emotionally moving and draining. Being able to decompress by watching Con O’Callaghan and Paul Mannion run riot was the best possible thing for me at the time.There’s also the matter of parents travelling with children. As a child-free person, I was surprised by how popular YouTube premium is with parents. Several have told me it’s the last subscription they would consider giving up. For them it is a reliable way to make sure their kids have access to their favourite videos while travelling. Getting that access on planes only adds to that support for parents.Connectivity doesn’t have to be about productivity. An employer who expects you to stay connected with work when you’re on a plane probably has a lot more wrong with them than just that.Smart bosses know that rest matters. Even remotely intelligent ones know that flights are tiring in and of themselves, so it’s not like you’re getting a net productivity benefit by irking staff while they’re strapped to a seat high above the ground.Retaining the ability to disconnect should not come down to whether there actually is a connection. Not everyone agrees with the move to connect and that includes airlines. For the foreseeable future, Ryanair is not going to embrace Starlink.Michael O’Leary has said plainly that he felt the cost/benefit analysis just did not compute for his airline.Still, where it is an option, it’s important that people remember that an option means they have a choice.Warburton has jokingly apologised for his character kicking off the unfortunately named “rawdogging” trend. This, however, is not a choice of extremes. Those who feel the need to stare at the back of a chair still can, while, in the near future, those who want optimal connectivity will have it.Everything in between is also on the table and a matter of free will. You can just watch a movie on the screen, follow the map or listen to something downloaded on your phone. You’ll simply have more choices as to what you can do.If your concern is not being able to disconnect, then you really shouldn’t blame the airline. Instead, ask who or what in your work or personal life makes you feel the need to be always on. Then address that deeper issue, which is beyond Aer Lingus’ or EasyJet’s pay grade.