Title 49, TransportationRelease 119-110

§41725 Prohibition on Certain Cell Phone Voice Communications

Title 49 › SUBTITLE VII — AVIATION PROGRAMS › PART A — AIR COMMERCE AND SAFETY › subpart ii — economic regulation › CHAPTER 417 — OPERATIONS OF CARRIERS › SUBCHAPTER I — REQUIREMENTS › § 41725

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must make rules that stop people on scheduled passenger flights in the U.S. from making voice calls on portable wireless devices while the plane is in flight. The ban does not apply to flight crew on duty, flight attendants on duty, or federal law enforcement officers who are working. Flight means the time from takeoff until landing. A mobile communications device is a portable wireless device used to send or receive voice, but it does not include a phone built into the aircraft.

Full Legal Text

Title 49, §41725

Transportation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Prohibition.—

The Secretary of Transportation shall issue regulations—

(1)to prohibit an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications using a mobile communications device during a flight of that aircraft in scheduled passenger interstate or intrastate air transportation; and

(2)that exempt from the prohibition described in paragraph (1) any—

(A)member of the flight crew on duty on an aircraft;

(B)flight attendant on duty on an aircraft; and

(C)Federal law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity.

(b)Definitions.—

In this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)Flight.—

The term “flight” means, with respect to an aircraft, the period beginning when the aircraft takes off and ending when the aircraft lands.

(2)Mobile communications device.—

(A)In general.—

The term “mobile communications device” means any portable wireless telecommunications equipment utilized for the transmission or reception of voice data.

(B)Limitation.—

The term “mobile communications device” does not include a phone installed on an aircraft.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

49 U.S.C. § 41725

Title 49, Transportation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110