Paul Rudd explains why he thinks airplane mode is 'nonsense'

Paul Rudd's not a huge fan of airplane mode.

Speaking on the May 27 episode of the "Therapuss with Jake Shane" podcast, the "Ant-Man" actor revealed that he thought requiring passengers to put their mobile devices on airplane mode was "nonsense."

"When they say put your seat up and your tray table up and put your computer away and turn your phone on airplane mode, I think all of that is nonsense," Rudd said.

"...But I think that there's something to do... that it can [interfere] with a frequency, if too many people are off airplane mode, to the pilot and they're talking to the control tower, that occasionally it might be an annoyance in their headset. I think I read an article on it one time," Rudd added.

Federal Aviation Administration regulations require all passengers to enable airplane mode on their mobile devices while in the air, as certain portable electronic devices may interfere with navigation or communication systems.

What is airplane mode?

From Apple to Windows, airplane mode is a setting that allows smartphone users to turn off their cellular data and Wi-Fi on their device during a flight.

The setting, per Apple, turns off all radios except for Bluetooth. Turning on Airplane Mode can also help to save battery, lower roaming charges while traveling and force a signal refresh.

Why do I need to put my phone in airplane mode?

According to aviation experts and the FAA, it's a matter of safety for yourself and your fellow passengers.

Shawn Pruchnicki, a professor at the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University, previously told USA TODAY that the big issue is potential interference with an airplane's navigation systems.

"Where it really counts is upon landing, especially when we’re doing an instrument landing," he said. "Those signals are very, very precise, and the autopilot flying those signals is also very, very precise. This is not the time when you want any variability at all, especially when you have terrain considerations."

In order to let passengers use their cell service onboard, operators would have to prove that the devices wouldn't interfere with the plane's communication or navigation systems. 

"There’s no extensive testing that is done on all the different types of airplanes combined with all the different types of cellphones," Pruchnicki said. "There’s a tremendous amount of different combinations here."

Plus, he said, at cruising altitude, most phones aren't powerful enough to connect to cell towers on the ground, but they drain your battery trying to link up anyway. 

While there's no proof that cellphones have ever been implicated in an airline crash, aviation experts previously told USA TODAY that it's a "better safe than sorry" situation.

Contributing: Zach Wichter, USA TODAY