well, you can power off completely and leave it that way from the time the cabin door closes to the time you are on a taxiway at your destination. Or you can put it in Airplane mode initially, but still need to turn it off completely when the cabin door closes until they announce that approved electronic devices can be used. Then you can use your iPhone as an iPod in flight. And then again turn the phone back on when the plane is on a taxiway and they announce cell phones can be used.