Why do you have to put your phone on airplane mode?

 Part of an article in May 2025 Travel & Leisure magazine

“No, your plane won’t fall out of the sky, and it won’t even mess with the systems on board. However, it does have the potential to mess with the headsets,” explains a pilot and U.S. Army veteran who goes by PerchPoint on TikTok, where his December 2024 viral video explaining airplane mode has already racked up 1.2 million views. He goes on to explain that even if three or four passengers on a Boeing 737 have their phones trying to connect to a cellular network, there’s a potential that the radio waves from their phones can interfere with the radio waves of the cockpit’s headsets. 

Because pilots often have limited visibility, they rely on intel they get from the ground via their headsets, especially for take-off and landing (when most aviation-related accidents occur). If cell phone radio waves are interfering with headsets, pilots can usually still hear instructions from the control tower, but the audio could be less clear. PerchPoint likens it to the buzzing noise a mosquito makes and says it’s “annoying.”