FCC Quashes Proposal to Allow In-Flight Phone Calls
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially rejected a seven-year-old proposal to lift the ban on in-flight cellphone calls on U.S. airlines, Reuters reported.
https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/fcc-quashes-proposal-to-allow-in-flight-phone-calls.html
So, no cell phones at 38,000 feet over the Pacific? Yea!!!!
That is good news for me.
Excellent news!
Great news
Whew! Imagine the scenario- people near each other are trying to talk, can’t hear, so the volume and the surrounding passengers patience level escalates. Eventually the talkers decide the bathrooms would be great “phone booths”! Then no one can use the toilets!
Your right. It would turn into another grocery store scenario!
I just read my reply to my husband. He agreed and said that would require the airline to pipe music into the bathrooms to keep the talkers out of the “phone booths”. He suggested Wayne Newton singing Danke Schoen since this is a Travel Forum for Europe. LOL!
Good news I say. I guess they can always take pictures of their onboard meals to send to friends back home. Safe travels everyone
Isn't it great when there is bipartisan support for something? A rare moment when the Labour Party, Conservative Party, Democrats, and Republicans can high-five (or elbow bump for now).
That is some good news. Bravo.
Best news of the day
That may be an understatement. I know its only Wednesday, but it may qualify as the best news of the week
Jean, "Danke Shane" would be a good choice.
How about the "Dumb and Dumber" version of "Mockingbird"?
Good news indeed!
That is good news!!
But we can still use our WhatsApp or Skype on Internet enabled flights?
“ How about the "Dumb and Dumber" version of "Mockingbird"?”
Mike, try sleeping that first night after a flight with that song repeating in your head - LOL!
But we can still use our WhatsApp or Skype on Internet enabled flights?
At least on any flights that use Gogo as their wi-fi provider (Delta, for example), that would be a definite no...
"No Voice Applications. You will not use any type of voice application (including, without limitation, voice over Internet protocol) without receiving prior written permission from Gogo, in its discretion. "
Let me get this straight. This was a 7 year old proposal? Did it take an FCC committee seven years to reach this conclusion? Or, was this proposal just "sitting on the side line" all this time waiting for a review and final decision? Bureaucracy at its best!
Great news...peace and quiet!
Drat!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jean, I'm so wiped out after arriving in Europe I could sleep listening to the Chipmunks' Christmas album. Not hard to to following a day of walking in a haze and falling asleep on public transportation. Did I mention pointless, petty little arguments with my wife?
Dave: Not sure if serious.
That is good news but of course it's important to remember that the FCC only has jurisdiction in the U.S., so airlines in other countries may have different rules. Thankfully it looks like all countries are following a similar philosophy with regard to in-flight phone calls.
I vaguely recall that there used to be "Sky Phones" mounted in some planes back in the "old days" but those were really expensive so calls were short. There was also usually only one so not nearly as bad as listening to multiple calls taking place at the same time.
Good news indeed!!
Great news! Now if we could also ban gum cracking and smacking!
I can't tell from the article, but does this mean just calls using cellular data? Are people going to be able to workaround on wifi using something like whatsapp or even Zoom or Microsoft Teams? And the ban is only on cellphones, what if someone uses Zoom on a laptop?
Sigh... Allan is already thinking of loop holes. Loop-holes make take the FCC another 7 years to legally settle.
Allan, go up 5-10 posts above yours.
the ban is only on cellphones, what if someone uses Zoom on a laptop?
The term is "justifiable homicide"
" Are people going to be able to workaround on wifi using something like whatsapp or even Zoom or Microsoft Teams? And the ban is only on cellphones, what if someone uses Zoom on a laptop?"
I suspect the answer to that will vary according to the type of cellular / WiFi service installed on each aircraft. I believe the air-to-ground systems have limited speeds and bandwidth, and they also may drop out at times when the plane flies over remote areas or oceans where no ground based cell towers exist. The satellite-based systems are faster, but not every airline uses those. Finally, the airlines may have some way of configuring the on-board Wi-Fi terminals to block voice or video calls.
In my mind, this is well new and it cant help but rejoice.
Keep in mind that the airline can enforce stricter rules. So for example I flew Delta last week. They say no voice communication. No zoom, no teams, no you aren’t that special in other words and trust me if you try your fellow passengers Will make sure you don’t get by with it too long.
There was somebody whining on flyertalk a couple of months back that the flight attendant made him get off his teams call so he claims he lost a big deal because of it. First of all he got busted by his fellow passengers and second of all everybody on flyertalk told him he was a jerk. He managed to get the post taken down so I can’t give you a link to it
Sigh... Allan is already thinking of loop holes. Loop-holes make take
the FCC another 7 years to legally settle.
Don't worry, I won't be that guy. I stick to my book or inflight movies.
