Apart from the fact that you're not meant to have your phone on during flight as it may interfere with navigation instruments and it's against aviation regulations....
In any case, cell towers are aimed low, they have a low angle of radiation for terrestrial users. Your device is constantly searching and trying to log into networks with marginal signal, thus depleting the battery. Airplane mode disables all radios and you can use the device to play games or music etc without any problem.
Some airlines have apps that work on wifi, so you can access in-flight entertainment on your device.
You get told at every flight to turn your devices OFF. . Please do so in future