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up vote 11 down vote favorite

I have a United Airlines flight this week and I would love to listen to an Audio book for the duration. Unfortunately my only working pair of headphones are bluetooth. I've looked on United's web page for prohibited items but see nothing about bluetooth devices. Does anyone know if bluetooth is banned on United flights?

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5 Answers

up vote 14 down vote

Technically, they are not permitted in-flight. Bluetooth is a form of wireless communication, and all wireless communication is banned during airborne operations by the FCC and the FAA.

As mentioned by @AnkurBanerjee in this post, FAA Advisory Circular 91.21-1B covers this regulation.

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5  
+1 because it's the only CORRECT one here. Just because you can get away with something doesn't mean it's actually allowed, regardless of how silly the rule that bans them is. – fluffy Jan 23 '12 at 20:06
Well, not "all" - otherwise WiFi would not be allowed on planes. It may have been all in 2006 when the linked regs were written, however the rules have changed since. – Doc Jan 24 '12 at 3:29
up vote 3 down vote

My advice in either case get yourself a pair of wired headphones if you are travelling by plane because while not on the list of forbidden devices the flight crew can ask you to turn them off anyway they have this discretion.

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up vote 3 down vote

Just to be safe, you could get a pair that support both Bluetooth and a wired connection like the Tenqa REMXD Bluetooth Headphones: enter image description here
They come with a wire with dual 3.5mm plugs to connect your music player to your headphones or they can be wireless. It's your call. And they're only $39.

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up vote 3 down vote

My children got bluetooth headphone for Christmas. I just called Southwest airlines and was told that they will be allowed to use them on the flight as long as they are connected only to an iPod or MP3. They are not allowed if they are hooked up to a phone. So I will have to use my wired ones, but they can use the bluetooth ones if they choose.

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up vote 0 down vote

No problem with bluetooth transmitting devices (including headphones), except the obvious switching off during landing and takeoff.

I've been able to use mine, without objection, on several flights (United and others...).

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3  
Just because you haven't been asked to stop using them doesn't mean they're actually allowed. Flight attendants shouldn't have to be able to tell the difference between wireless headphones and headphones with a built-in MP3 player, for example. – fluffy Jan 23 '12 at 20:05

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