They were forced to switch channels so that they could receive landing instructions from air traffic controllers, a judge heard.
Raymond Larmond, 42, of Purley Centre, Luton, Bedfordshire, was jailed for 28 days after he admitted making illegal broadcasts on his Flava FM station.
Judge Ronald Moss, told Luton crown court that Larmond had committed a serious offence which had posed a risk to air safety.
Larmond operated Flava FM from a flat in Luton for more than a year before being arrested in 1998, Robin Sellers, prosecuting told the court.
He was raided by officials after two complaints from air traffic controllers.
Larmond, who is unemployed, claimed he had been running the station for other people whom he had chosen not to identify to the authorities.
'Mr Larmond has been used by these people and he is now in effect taking the rap,' said Jonathan Green, defending.
'He accepts that it was foolish to go back after the first raid. He considered he was assisting in what was a community project by providing music for listeners in Luton area whose interests were not catered for by other radio stations.'
Barry Maxwell, director of the Radio Communication Agency, the government body which polices radio broadcasts, said that Flava FM would probably have had hundreds of listeners in and around Luton.
'It was broadcasting dance and reggae music, and a few advertisements to quite a large area,' he said.
'There was no suggestion that Mr Larmond was intending to interfere with airline frequencies. He was broadcasting on a frequency which was in the area that airlines use and it interfered with the airline frequency because of the poor quality of equipment he was using.
'But what happened posed a serious risk to aircraft. They were able to change frequencies so they could communicate, but that's not something air traffic controllers want to do. Aircraft need to communicate on the same frequency, for obvious safety reasons.'
Mr Maxwell said it was unusual for pirate stations to interfere with airline frequencies. He said he did not know which airlines had been affected by the broadcasts.
Passing sentence Judge Moss said: 'This is a serious matter. I take the view that a sentence of imprisonment is necessary.'
