The FCC saying one thing <> the Airlines have to allow it. They can still ban use - and I hope they do.
And the FAA can still tell the FCC GFI...
There is no DOT regulation on the point, just company policy. I don't see the airlines as any different. So what if the FAA allows it? The airline can have a policy forbidding.
I had an issue with a flight attendant on a flight last week who was struggling with the latest rule change allowing small electronic devices to be on but cell data service turned off. She swore I had cell service turned on on my iPad. I said no, she pointed at an icon and said “what’s that then?”. I said “The battery”. I finally told her I don’t have a cell data plan activated on my iPad. I use a mifi hotspot.
She left, but was confused.
This column is pretty silly. Planes are cramped versions of buses and trains. People use cell phones on buses and trains without incident.
Cell phones on a plane wouldn’t bother me. When I think about the germs on an airplane I get nauseous. I wonder how many kids, or older adults, with leaky diapers sat in the seat on the previous flight. I’m so glad there is nobody I want to see that’s not within driving distance.
Please tell me the difference between a cell phone conversation & a conversation between passengers. Also, tell me the difference between using the phones on the back of the seat & a cell phone in terms of annoyance factor. Neither annoys me unless they are too loud. Who my fellow passenger is talking to is none of my business. I have no right to tell him/her when & to whom they may speak.
As for the argument that since seats are smaller & closer together, that increases the annoyance of cell phone conversations; I suppose when flying is like a tightly packed subway car, we should all just endure the misery in total silence. The problem is cattle car like conditions, not people having a conversation.
Flight attendants are not amused. “Any situation that is loud, divisive, and possibly disruptive is not only unwelcome but also unsafe,” quoth a statement from the Association of Flight Attendants. “In emergencies,” the union also pointed out, cellphone “use would drown out announcements and distract from life-saving instructions from the crew.”
Certainly loud, vulgar, disturbing conversations should be prohibited, but that applies equally to conversations among passengers, not just to those using a cell phone. The phone is not the problem, the speaker is. In an emergency everyone aboard needs to close their mouth & listen to instructions. Two deaf old ladies loudly talking about the grandchildren can be just as distracting as a loud cell phone user. Double the distraction for screaming babies. The idea that a cell phone conversation could "drown out announcements" is nonsense.
All this crap about cell phone usage in public stems from the Left-wing concept of being OFFENDED. Lefties find all kinds of ways to be offended. REDSKINS are offensive. Old Glory is offensive. Religion is offensive. Talking on the phone is offensive. Being offended, they insist others suspend their free speech & association rights. Hogwash!
Whatever happened to the idea that if you don't like what you hear or see, ignore it?
It’s enough of an annoyance in public places such as grocery stores where the buyers hold up the lines by having to yap on their cellphones while dealing with the cashiers, imagine these yappers on transcontinetal flights.