this post was submitted on 21 May 2025
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I don't buy it. Kevin wakes up after his parents are already on the plane, after they've been told to put their device in airplane mode, so they still wouldn't know until they touch down in Paris and turn their phones back on, to which everything else can be the same since they were stuck due to the weather.
He could however call the police. Only reason that wasn't possible in the movie was because the phone lines were down (despite showing Kevin ordering a pizza over the phone, ignoring the fact they specifically pointed out the phone line problem at the beginning of the film).
Phones are irrelevant. No matter how rushed they are, and even though they'd probably have TSA PreCheck, they'd still be slowed down enough by post-911 security to count heads. And the very fact Kevin's not getting into trouble would be a red flag for Mom.
Funny how I only realised that airports really were like that until 9/11 about two years ago. I always had dismissed it as typical movie unrealism.
They would have missed their flight if the story played out today.
Yep, no more reaching the airport at the last second and being hurried onto a plane.
"Sorry, you didn't show up two hours early - there's no way we're letting you on".
Remember that they were flying first class, today they would have inflight wifi, and looking at the messages, they have blue bubbles, meaning iMessage, which works over WiFi.
So they could get in touch, the mom could message a family friend to help out, and it would have been resolved easily.
Androids RCS and most apps also work over wifi.
I think I saw something about this where he could have called a local number but not through to the police station if it was further away.
Didn't they show a repair crew fixing the lines between the outage at the beginning and when he orders pizza?
Maybe, but it still doesn't really make sense since he could have called the police after the line was fixed.
I don't think I've ever actually turned on airplane mode, even before widespread in-plane WiFi
Can I enquire as to why not?
Because it's pointless, every aircraft flying has everything important that is susceptible to interference, shielded to prevent exactly that. On top of that, every phone you buy in the US through "official" channels is intensively tested by the FCC before it can go to market to ensure its radios are operating within spec and won't cause interference with other things, like airplane instruments.
Are you from Newark?
Lol nah
I know OP says “we just boarded”, so there would be signal. But, as soon a the plane gains altitude, there’s no more signal.
Some planes offer free wifi or free connection to messaging services now, so they could know before reaching their destination.