Agree with it or not, you’ll be asked during a flight to turn off your cell phones. You can still use the other features of your iPhone (iPod playback of music or video and other non-networked applications) by turning off the cellular and wireless networking components. You’ll also preserve your battery power this way so it can be useful when Earth-bound, too.
To turn off your iPhone’s cellular signal click the Settings icon from the home screen (to get to the home screen, press the Home button, the round button with the little square below the screen).
Withing settings, the first option is Airplane mode. Simply tap the slider next to Airplane Mode to toggle the value. When you activate Airplane mode, the iPhone will turn off your wireless networking or WiFi connection, too.
To restore your connected state, just repeat this process. If your wireless networking was active before Airplane Mode, it’ll turn back on, too.
