• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, November 11, 2013

Okay, so now I don’t need to bring a physical book with me on business trips. As both a bookaholic and someone not fond of takeoffs and landing during air travel, this was always a last-minute calculation. I knew I needed some distraction during that few minutes when “all electronic devices need to be turned to the off position and stowed.”

Hey, don’t scoff. This was a flighttime ritual of mine that bore many fruits. Because I didn’t want to add to the bulk of the carry on (iPad, laptop, Nintendo 3DS – yeah, OK I am digitally unabashed) I had to veer toward  slender novels – often landing me on an old hard-boiled favorite like Hammett or Cain. I rediscovered a lot of old literary friends this way.

Suddenly that ritual is now unnecessary as the FAA relaxed its restrictions on using digital devices throughout the air journey. Upside: one less thing to plan for trips. Downside: a new three-minute window of marketing opportunity opens. Ubiquitous in-flight WiFi enabler GoGo was quick to help fill the new opportunity. It just announced a texting service that could be used durong flight, via its existing in-flight connection service. A downloadable app connected to the GoGo hubs in each place and can transmit texts to others. Now communications can be near-seamless even at 30,000 feet.

DISH even more precisely targets that take-off and landing window in its new promotions. The satellite company did a quick survey of 744 adult air travelers after the FAA announcement. When asked about their take-off and landing behaviors, 44% of respondents said they use their devices until the last possible second before being told to turn them off, and 11% say they even experience a kind of separation anxiety during these times. Still, 30% say they actually appreciate this one remaining zone of enforced digital disconnection and can’t wait “to turn the thing off for once.”

But the most important benefit of the new FAA rules, according to 26% of respondents, is that it helps parents keep their kids entertained, the survey found. The next most important impact is the ability to catch up on email (24%) and read books (17%).

DISH of course is targeting that new zone of opportunity with its own partnerships. It is working with Southwest Airlines to give fliers free access to select channels of DISH programming and on-demand content in-flight. And of course DISH was among the first MSOs to offer customers direct access to their home DVRs and live TV streams via smartphone and tablets outside of their own homes.

As these first promotions suggest, the relaxing of the FAA rules will help promote in-flight WiFi overall. 56% of respondents to the DISH survey said the new rules will impact their choice of carriers. I expect we will see more sponsor-subsidized access and content services during flights as this becomes a zone waiting to be filled.

I admit that I will miss my pre-flight ritual of reviewing the available analog reading options. There were so many times when the book choice I made on the ground became my only media during the flight. Getting captivated once again by a compelling detective story or an immersive graphic novel often kept me away from digital alternatives throughout a flight and even during much of the business trip. The no-digital zone is not just a relief from devices, but from limitless choice.

Still, resistance is futile, I suppose. Digital media is no longer a channel. It is an environment. Or, more accurately – it is the media environment now.