Many (if not all) airline companies in the United States have banned the Galaxy Note 7 from their flights as soon as Samsung announced the second global recall.
FAA informed these companies that they have to notify passengers about the fact that they are forbidden to take their Galaxy Note 7 devices with them during flights.
Well, it looks like FAA has decided to lift the notification on Galaxy Note 7, in order to streamline the pre-take-off and embarking procedures faster and easier.
Another reason that FAA has decided to lift the said notification would be the fact that Samsung has confirmed a high return rate for the smartphones following the US Note 7 Refund and Exchange Program, which is now over 96%.
On top of that, Samsung has already pushed a software update in the United States and a few other countries, which limit the Galaxy Note 7 phone functionality. Basically, it removes the phone’s recharge capability and incapable of registering to any carrier network.
“Together with our wireless carriers, we have taken aggressive action to limit the remaining phones’ ability to work as mobile devices, further enhancing participation in the recall. We thank the Department of Transportation, airlines, airports, our partners and Note7 owners for their patience and support during this time,” says Samsung in an official statement.
On a side note, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owners are still allowed to use their phones in South Korea, Samsung home turf.
Even though the return percentage is much lower than the one in the United States, the handset maker has decided to hold off the deployment of the update that’s crippling Galaxy Note 7’s capabilities for the moment.
However, rumor has it that customers in South Korea who still haven’t returned their Galaxy Note 7 phones will soon be hit with the same software update that was already delivered in the United States in the last couple of weeks.