diff --git a/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts b/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
index 77ef40c..ab1b8c8 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/app.svelte.ts
@@ -577,6 +577,29 @@ function promptOfflineChoice(): Promise<boolean> {
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * initNetworkReactivity reacts to mid-session network changes (e.g. the player toggling flight mode):
+ * losing the network interface enters offline mode automatically (session-only); regaining it
+ * verifies the gateway is really reachable (an interface being up does not guarantee it) and returns
+ * to online — but only if the offline was auto. A deliberate offline (the Settings toggle or the
+ * cold-start dialog) is left as the player's choice. These are passive OS events — no polling, no
+ * battery cost. Web-only and skipped in the mock (the e2e drives connectivity directly).
+ */
+export function initNetworkReactivity(): void {
+  if (typeof window === 'undefined' || import.meta.env.MODE === 'mock') return;
+  window.addEventListener('offline', () => {
+    if (!offlineMode.active) setOfflineMode(true, false); // auto (session) — self-heals below
+  });
+  window.addEventListener('online', () => {
+    if (offlineMode.active && offlineMode.auto) {
+      void checkReachable(BOOT_REACHABILITY_TIMEOUT_MS).then((reachable) => {
+        // Re-read the flags — the player may have chosen offline meanwhile — before returning online.
+        if (reachable && offlineMode.active && offlineMode.auto) setOfflineMode(false);
+      });
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * applyLinkResult applies a completed account link or merge: it adopts a
  * switched session (a guest initiator whose durable counterpart won, so the active
@@ -826,6 +849,8 @@ export async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
   // worker so the app is installable — Chromium needs a registered SW, notably on Android. Web-only
   // and skipped in the mock build; see lib/pwa.svelte.
   registerServiceWorker();
+  // React to mid-session network changes (e.g. flight mode) for the rest of the session.
+  initNetworkReactivity();
 
   // Deliberate offline mode carried over from a prior session: with no network the session adoption
   // + profile fetch below would hang the splash, so skip them and launch straight from the cached
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/connection.svelte.ts b/ui/src/lib/connection.svelte.ts
index 84c43b1..03b30e5 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/connection.svelte.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/connection.svelte.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 // other traffic is in flight.
 
 import { backoffMs } from './retry';
+import { offlineMode } from './offline.svelte';
 
 let online = $state(true);
 let watchTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
@@ -39,10 +40,8 @@ export async function checkReachable(timeoutMs: number): Promise<boolean> {
       probe(),
       new Promise<never>((_, reject) => setTimeout(() => reject(new Error('reachability timeout')), timeoutMs)),
     ]);
-    reportOnline();
     return true;
   } catch {
-    reportOffline();
     return false;
   }
 }
@@ -71,7 +70,9 @@ function scheduleProbe(attempt: number): void {
   watchTimer = setTimeout(
     () => {
       watchTimer = null;
-      if (online || !probe) return;
+      // Never probe the network in offline mode (the kill switch); the online/offline events drive
+      // recovery there instead.
+      if (online || !probe || offlineMode.active) return;
       probe().then(reportOnline, () => scheduleProbe(Math.min(attempt + 1, 6)));
     },
     backoffMs(attempt),
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/offline.svelte.ts b/ui/src/lib/offline.svelte.ts
index bcd3434..dd2d5d5 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/offline.svelte.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/offline.svelte.ts
@@ -11,13 +11,21 @@ import type { Profile } from './model';
 
 // Not named `state` (a svelte-check hazard: `$state` would then read as a store subscription).
 let active = $state(loadOfflinePref());
+// True while the current offline state was entered automatically (no network detected), not chosen
+// by the player. An auto offline self-heals to online when the network returns; a deliberate one is
+// left as the player's choice.
+let auto = $state(false);
 
-/** offlineMode exposes the reactive deliberate-offline flag; read it in markup / $derived. */
+/** offlineMode exposes the reactive offline flags; read them in markup / $derived. */
 export const offlineMode = {
-  /** active is true while the app is in deliberate offline mode. */
+  /** active is true while the app is in offline mode (deliberate or auto-detected). */
   get active(): boolean {
     return active;
   },
+  /** auto is true while offline was entered automatically (no network), not by the player. */
+  get auto(): boolean {
+    return auto;
+  },
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/transport.ts b/ui/src/lib/transport.ts
index f868d7d..0273a3b 100644
--- a/ui/src/lib/transport.ts
+++ b/ui/src/lib/transport.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ export function createTransport(baseUrl: string): GatewayClient {
   // (it must reject when there is no session, so the watcher keeps waiting rather than reporting up).
   const reachabilityProbe = async (): Promise<void> => {
     if (!token) throw new Error('no session');
-    assertOnline();
+    // Exempt from the offline kill switch: the probe IS the reachability check that decides whether to
+    // return online, and it fires only deliberately — the connection watcher is guarded off in offline
+    // mode, and checkReachable runs it on an online event — so it must reach the gateway while offline.
     await client.execute({ messageType: 'profile.get', payload: codec.empty(), requestId: '' }, { headers: headers() });
   };
   registerProbe(reachabilityProbe);