The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will relax the blanket ban on some personal electronic devices below 10,000 feet. Essentially meaning that you may not have to worry about turning off all of your gadgets until you reach a safe altitude, anymore.

The policy shift has not yet been officially announced, however, from what we can gather it isn’t expected to address and alter cellphone usage, so it’s unclear as to whether airplane mode is acceptable or not.

It’s unknown at this stage if you’ll have WiFi access during takeoff and landing, but we do know that it will be available once you reach an altitude of 10,000 feet. The rule stating that all electronic devices had to be turned off during aircraft flights was first introduced back in the 1990’s, and has become more lenient ever since, but now it looks like it could potentially be eradicated.

The only thing technology-users will not be able to do during a flight is to make a cellphone call as it is potentially impossible to get a signal at 30,000 feet unless you’re using VoIP service.

We should hear the official announcement, some time in the fall.

• SourceWall Street Journal
• ImageBBC