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Posted by
2700 posts

I hope this doesn’t mean everyone will be talking on the phone during flights. I find that pretty annoying; people tend to talk so loud on their phones.

Posted by
870 posts

I am imagining anxious passengers talking the entire flight to their "security blanket" on the ground as others attempt to sleep/read, etc. . . Here's hoping that US carriers do not follow suit, but I think they will. Perhaps they will institute "quiet time" as I predict an uproar from disconcerted passengers.

Posted by
709 posts

I can think of one instance where this may have been of benefit to me.

A change of plane was made once several days before our flight home from Rome. I think a senior couple didn't know about it and had no opportunity to adjust their seating choice. The reconfigured seat pattern separated the wife from her husband. She got the aisle seat on my right, I was in the middle seat, my partner in the aisle seat on my left and her husband in the row behind us. She was an animated retired teacher who engaged me in a conversation just before hitting the runway. That was my big mistake. She talked nonstop to me, at me, and through me the entire trip from Rome to Detroit.

I tried listening to my favorite music with my Bose noise-canceling earphones, closed my eyes for 45 minutes and the chatter aimed at me never stopped. I asked her to please excuse me as I wanted to get some rest. Within 30 minutes she was again talking at me with my closed eyes and tilted head.

I asked my partner to please rescue me and talk to me awhile to at least interrupt it for a few minutes. I asked him to change seats with me as he is definitely better at being unapproachable and even he didn't want to deal with it. It's been a topic of "discussion" between us several times since.

It would have been much better had her chatter been into her phone instead of being aimed at my direction.

As we were deboarding her husband commented to her that she "was talking a lot". No kidding. A break from that tiny 75 year old ball of energy must have been one of his most pleasant flights ever.

Posted by
1936 posts

Luckily, the young people just text now anyway. So I doubt it will change much.

Posted by
870 posts

Silas Marner, yours is definitely the exception! I am a psychologist and people just seem to "sniff" that out in me. Being the Accidental Tourist (book which includes same scenario) has always worked for me. So, you couldn't persuade her husband to change seats with you?

Posted by
2744 posts

Oh NO! I don't want to hear your "deal of the century" for my entire flight.

The US has restricted this not because of technology but because the overwhelming response from the public has been NO! The "yes" comes from guys like the snake oil salesman I once heard during boarding selling someone a "cancer cure the MDs won't tell you about" If he had not had to shut up when the boarding door closed the MD next to me and I were going to attack soon! :)

Posted by
709 posts

Lindy, her husband was not unwilling to change seats but she insisted that he stay put. And...he followed her order. Interesting dynamic that indicates they needed a break from each other? He didn't need the chatter and she needed to see if a different target would be receptive? I think hubby was in a blissfully relaxed state. Perhaps their time together had been more than enough. There were no empty seats and FA didn't find anyone wanting a switch.

Posted by
15043 posts

I often leave my cell phone on without the airplane mode on. I've had phones with T-Mobile, Vodafone, TIM, AT&T and none of them ever had any service at high altitude. Sometimes I turn it on just to see Google maps to follow the path when we land or take off, and in all circumstances I get a signal only when we are just a couple thousand feet from the ground (therefore shortly after take off or just minutes before landing). For example when I land at SFO, I start getting a signal just before flying over the Dumbarton Bridge, so basically just about 25-30 miles from touch down, when you are basically at 600-800ft above ground. Beyond that altitude I never get service. I noticed that with any providers I have (or had) and at any airport, in the US or Europe. So except for those few instants before landing or after take off, I don't think people will do much talking on the plane, unless the future technology will allow to get better service at altitude.

Posted by
2267 posts

Roberto- the article posted by OP addresses the technical aspects.

I suppose there’s cold comfort knowing that airlines won’t pursue this unless they can heavily monetize it.

Posted by
870 posts

Exactly, Carol! Who'd a thunk that phone calls during flights leading to assaults would be the new alcohol?!

Posted by
13809 posts

@Silas Marner....laughing at your story! If you had been flying to Seattle instead of Detroit I'd have said that was the woman on my flight last spring who talked the ENTIRE flight (SEA->Paris) to no one in particular since we were in Delta One. She also stood up as the plane was taxiing away from the gate to the horror of the Flight Attendants and managed to drop a water bottle on her husband's head before the FAs came back to get her settled.

TBH, I believe I would have said "I'm going to ask you to stop talking." Honestly, with people like that who have no boundaries you have to be very direct with them. They are not going to pick up any non-verbal cues. I should have done it with the woman who was seated ahead of me but didn't think of it later when I was processing the event plus I also believe she might have had a dementia component so addressing it with her may not have mattered.

I wouldn't mind being able to have data available on a flight. I don't ever talk on my phone but I text and surf. Plus we could all still post on the forum hahaha!

Posted by
2291 posts

As if there already weren't enough annoyances on board an airplane.

+10000 😧

Posted by
168 posts

Yeah...concur that talking loudly on the phone while in flight would probably drive me bonkers.

This and other passengers that seem to like using the speakers on their phones/electronic devices while watching a movie vs using headphones.

Posted by
8572 posts

One of the worst decisions ever.

Nothing worse than having to listen to some inane one sided conversation.

Blah, blah, blah.

Posted by
14811 posts

start getting a signal just before flying over the Dumbarton Bridge, so basically just about 25-30 miles from touch down, when you are basically at 600-800ft above ground.

Do you really think you are only 600-800 feet above the ground 25 miles out? The Dumbarton Bridge is about 20 miles--as the crow flies--from SFO and at that point planes are on average at about 2500 ft.

Before everyone goes crazy......no one said calls were going to be made. Right now, wifi on planes can be very spotty. What this new technology will do is provide better connectivity to the internet. Right now, you could, technically, use Google Voice or Skype to make phone calls. But airlines prohibit it. Why do you think that will change?

Posted by
709 posts

@Pam, you are absolutely right that I should have handled that situation with a very firm demand. I was simply in disbelief that the sheer animation would be nonstop. She would only have responded to something rather harsh otherwise it would have been perceived as an invitation to continue. Her husband was clearly not concerned about her lack of self control and I really dislike being the "bad guy". I will never tolerate it again.

Posted by
32173 posts

That is definitely not good news! I'm not looking forward to listening to people seated near me yakking away incessantly on multiple calls during a long flight. Hopefully that won't be allowed here anytime in the near future. Perhaps this is a good time to invest in a really good pair of noise cancelling headphones!