Ever been on a flight and told you can’t make cell phone calls? Now there’s a push to make that federal law.
The US Department of Transportation are taking steps to officially ban in-flight calls from your cell phone. Months earlier, the FCC proposed easing rules against in-flight calls that has been in place since cell phone use started soaring in the 1990s. Those rules were to stop interference with ground cellular networks. But technology has become far more advanced since then. Then why are the majority of airlines, airline staff, and even passengers against in-flight voice phone use? One reason is distraction. That’s why some have banned them altogether. Others are exploring options, like in-flight phone booths. DOT will pursue such bans on consumer-protection grounds only. That means they’ll pursue the ban only if it means keeping passengers safe and protecting them from being exploited by airlines.
I wouldn’t mind such a ban. Other aspects of transportation are following this route. Amtrak trains have a quiet car that bans cell phone conversations. Take a Greyhound bus and the driver will tell you, “Please keep cell phone conversations to a whisper and to a minimum.” Now I do know emergencies happen; this is the real world. So if something does happen, texting or a short conversation would be suffice. I love the idea of having either a quiet section on a plane or an in-flight phone booth. But nobody wants to be on a flight with 10 or 20 people talking on a cell phone all the time. That would drive anybody crazy. But do you think it’s the government’s place to tell people whether or not to use cell phones?