Travelers flame FCC over inflight cellphones
Well, that didn't take long. Less than a week after word surfaced that the FCC is considering dropping its ban on inflight cellphone usage, travelers have deluged the agency with flames about the potential policy shift. As reported by Reuters, the FCC has received over 1,200 emails on the subject, with many flyers griping that they don't want to have to listen in on still more loud conversations. Some included creative solutions, such as the idea of a partitioned area for cellphone users. We're hoping that they'll consider a version of the cone of silence from "Get Smart." Not only will it keep cellphone conversations private, but it will remind loud talkers just how annoying they really are, discouraging further phone usage.
Filed under: Cellphones
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
The FCC has no business deciding whether or not to ban loud talkers -- that's the job of the airlines. The FCC, and the people who write to them, should only be concerned about interference that affects flight controls and on-board systems.
gorkon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Chill out folks.
WHat is wrong with people now a days that can't ignore people who are being assholes? What are we all ADD people? Should we put every adult on Strattera?
David Troyer @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
On the Deutsche Bahn (Germany railway), some cars allow cell phone usage (and probably even have a repeater), others strictly disallow. This is known when making seat reservations. Obviously planes aren't divided into cars... but it seems that maybe a time-window for cell phone usage would be a good solution.
Fabulo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
1,200 whiners complain out of the 650,000,000 people who fly every day and would use their cell phone while in flight.
I was under the impression that there were more people with cell phone than without. It probably translate to "It's ok for me to use my cellphone, but I certainly don't want to listen to another loud conversation"
Fred @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Screw the bastards that complain about loud-talkers. The entire point of a cell phone is to allow anyone to reach you at any time, any where. Just make the load talkers speak more quietly. I'd be way more in favor of creating a "children-free" zone on a plane than a "cell-phone free" zone.
mart @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
"HEY GUESS WHERE I AM RIGHT NOW? I'M OVER LONDON. HAHAHAHA I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM HERE!"
this is not a good thing
Nando @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
If one survived without a cell phone usage on an airplane until now, then life will still go on without it after. Technologically, to use your cell phone on an airplane is a good idea, but there will always be bimbos who will talk about stupidity out loud just to show that they have a cell phone and ruin things for everyone else.
Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Sorry, FCC, but with their track-record recently, the likelihood that these 1,200 e-mails came from just a handful of people like the recent decency complaints is just too high.
Public debate, fine. But they have NO credibility right now when citing e-mailed/called in complaints.
scott @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
all we need is a feedback system -- cellphones that put your own voice back into the your earpiece twice as loud as they do now. then you'll hear some quiettalkers
Frank @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
This whole notion of "rude" cell phone users will fade with time as people eventually realize that there is no such thing as a rude cell phone user, but rather just rude people. I live in Chicago and the Metra train system posted a series of (imo) infuriating ads advocating quieter cell phone use. Taking the train in the morning, I am constantly annoyed by loud, obnoxious people who speak loud enough for people in neighboring cars to hear them. They're not on a cell phone, they're just talking to fellow passengers. Amazingly, no one seems to care. But as soon as a person so much as exceeds a whisper whilst holding a wireless device to their face, they're shot dirty looks and shusshed by riders.
Now, ridiculous ring tones are a whole other story...
ChrisW @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
So we're loooking to government agencies to regulate manners, now? Next thing, people will want to impose fines for insensitive people who don't say "God Bless You" when someone sneezes. Sheesh.
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I have to admit (at the risk of being flamed) that I was one of the people who wrote in deriding the possibility of being next to someone who talked on their cell phone the entire flight. The reason I did so is because air travel has become cumbersome enough: rude stewardesses, crying toddlers, 400lb passengers insisting on cramming into a single seat... Do we really need to take one more ENORMOUS step backwards and make it ok to prattle ceaselessly on a phone while in the air? Don't forget that everyone will be straining to yell and hear over the roar of the jet engines. It would be so delightful if people could police themselves and speak at a reasonable volume, but most people are mind-booglingly selfish and won't notice that the other passengers are getting set to mutiny. And, lest we all forget, if you really have something important to say, you can pick up the seat back phone and make a call. The $2/minute price tag makes sure that only the important calls go through.
Flame away...
dam @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
This should be a matter of airline policy. The FCC should be concerned with safety, not annoyance.
BTW, if the FCC would like to make strides against flying annoyances, I could provide a list...
duncan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
what happens when someone gets annoyed enough with cell phone usage on flights and buys a jammer, but it jams more than the cell phones?
kballs @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
If the FCC and FAA allow cell phones on planes it doesn't mean each airline will install the base stations and allow you to use them, and it sure doesn't mean that it will be free! I have a feeling this will be just like using the seat-back phones paying $$$ per minute, except being able to use your own handset.
People completely forget one of the purposes of this proposal is to allow the use of phones for non-talking purposes like games, ebooks, calendar, the wi-fi access they've already said they will allow, etc. Right now, even if you have a unit that lets you turn off the radio transmitter, some angry flight attendant can yell at you to turn it off and put it away.
Gizmonator @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
#5 had a great point.
Make a section (near the rear of the plane) with a cell phone repeater and babies.
Andy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Hey, to all the dopes that want cell phones banned on planes (this includes you Brian)..... MOST PLANES HAVE AIR PHONES THAT YOU CAN USE IN THE AIR AND ON THE GROUND and you cannot be stopped by anyone from using them at any time!!!
This isn't an issue of talking on cell phones on planes for the comfort of others; it's an issue of phones causing planes to crash due to interference from radio waves. THE FCC presently maintains that cell phone radio waves could interfere with the planes and do bad things. It appears that the FCC is now coming to the conclusion that this is not the case. I think Qualcomm has been lobbying for this for years and have run a number of tests/study's about cell phone/plane safety and have concluded that there are no significant issues.
If everyone is so worried about flight comfort, lets not let fat people or people with babies on planes. They are kind of annoying too.
Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
An easy was to start curbing the annoying loud cell phone talker is to blatenly record their conversation. Hold up a digital voice recorder near the person speaking on the phone. If having a loud conversation in public is legal then so is recording it. No matter how sensitive or useless the cell phone conversation maybe, most people will not like being recorded.
It's not like you're going to do anything with a recording of a strangers one sided conversation but the thought of it will curb annoying "loud talkers"
Daleth @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Posts #1 and #12 are extremely important for people like #11 to realize: Disliking the implementation is NOT a reason to BAN the possibility. It's very clear that nobody wants to hear people on their damn phones the whole way--but WHY on EARTH would you complain, in writing, to the freaking FCC about it!?!?!? Try appealing to the airlines, like n8 in #1 says! It's a very simple, but very important, system of responsibility! Why don't we just BAN SCISSORS because it's possible to run with them!?!?!?
Whiplash @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
What really needs to happen is for cell phone companies to start piping the callers own voice into the earpiece. It's my observation that people talk so damn loud because they can't hear thier own voice like you can on a pots telephone. Any else body notice this?
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Andy, I understand that the planes have those air phones, and I think that people should make use of them. I also understand that the FCC is only trying to figure out whether using a phone will cause the plane to plummet back to earth. I would also love to force people who physically need two seats to buy them or to force people with noisy kids to sit in a certain section, but no airline will ever have the gumption to attempt that. And the same will go for people who want to use their cell phones.
And in my own unscientific study (I am a pilot), I have used my cell phone while the autopilot was engaged, slaved to the GPS and never had any issues. Most of the time, the only interference is with my attention to ATC or whatever naviagtion I should be doing.
I stand by my comments, however. Use the air phone or realize that you are not so important that you cannot be out of touch for a few hours.
Lisa @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
How about a small area on the plane where you can *stand* and use your cell phone? (ie no using the phone at your seat) I think that would limit the in-depth coversations about broccoli that no one else wants to hear....
Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I just posted #15 and after re-reading my own post I just thought of the next "latest and greatest" trend for a website.
www.strangeconversations.com (I just looked..doesn't look like it's been bought yet)
Start posting recordings of peoples' loud cell phone conversations. You know there are some good ones. Technically you are not violating anyones rights (I'm not a lawyer but once played one in a school play) if the conversation is in public domain. Precedent: Paparazzi record images and are free to publish.
I'm too lazy to follow through so if someone wants to run with the idea...please send me the link.
Rick @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
To all the loud-mouth idiots who desparately want to be able to use their cell phones on an airplane: Please STFU. The problem here is that on an airplane, the rest of us are confined to our seats and cannot move to other locations. If the situation were on land and you're yakking away about some idiotic rant, the rest of us could physically move to another location (as we would move away from some foul odor), but we cannot do this on an airplane.
Some people (read: idiots) think they're so important that they can't stop talking. I've got news for you idiots: you're not important, no one around you wants to hear about how unimportant you are, so please kindly STFU. You know who you are. You're the ones who whip out your phone immediately after the airplane lands (and before the stewards say you can use your phone) and immediately call someone to say "hey the airplane just landed!" to someone who you think actually cares. Do you really need this level of micromanagement? Are you really that insecure about your personal self that you need to validate it every freaking second by calling someone? Please, for the love of humanity, just STFU, please STFU.
As for Andy's point (#14 or thereabouts) that there are already phones on airplanes, that is true, but those phones are priced at a prohibitively high cost ($dollars/minute) for a reason. If everyone can use their cell phone, everyone will.
n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Great, that's just what I want to hear before I head out on a flight for the holidays; a pilot did an unscientific experiment using a cellphone with the autopilot engaged whilst ferrying hundreds of people around, and then has the nerve to write to the wrong agency about others using their cell phones on a flight.
One thing that is clear from this: there need to be regulations by the FAA about pilots using cell phones while flying.
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I should have been clearer "n8", I'm a private pilot, I just ferry myself and friends about. And this was all by myself, although I agree with banning airline pilots from talking on the phone while in the air.
Nando @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I hope I will never have the misfortune to be seated next to Andy on a flight.
craig @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I am sure the terrorists will enjoy the new cell phone rules, since now they will be able to talk to other terrorists on other planes.
After all, coordination is the name of the game.
And yes they could use the in-flight phones now. But they would have to figure out the other plane's seat phone number.
craig @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I am sure the terrorists will enjoy the new cell phone rules, since now they will be able to talk to other terrorists on other planes.
After all, coordination is the name of the game.
And yes they could use the in-flight phones now. But they would have to figure out the other plane's seat phone number.
n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Eh. Private pilot eh? Well that's better - at least you were only putting yourself, other airplanes, and the people who you were flying over at risk.
Why should only airline pilots, by which I assume you mean commercial pilots, be forbidden to use cell phones? In many states these days you can't use a cell phone while driving, and flying a plane is certainly a lot more complicated than driving a car.
ChrisW @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
"Americans used to roar like lions for liberty; now we bleat like sheep for security." - Norman Vincent Peale
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
N8, I think everyone should be banned from using a cell phone while flying an airplane, whether they are carrying one person or five hundred. I didn't say I made a habit of it, I said I tried it out to see if it made the dials start spinning and the engine burst into flames like people were worried about. No one was in danger, I would not risk killing myself over this. And planes radios operate at frequencies that are well below those of cellphones, so there was no chance of problems communicating if the plane did disintegrate.
gorkon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
To those who think it's fair to make fat people buy 2 seats....you STFU....I have a better solution....the Airlines need to start making seats that actually fit the average person. THAT's the problem, not the fat people. Airlines who are grabbing for every nickel they can get will keep trying to squeeze more and more people on the plane so long as they do not exceed the weight limit for the plane. I read somewhere that while the average size of a person has gone up, the size of the airline seat has gone down. In any case, the first company to do things liek ban FCC/FAA allowed use of cell phones, fat people, children and the like will be slapped with a discrimination lawsuit so fast you would not believe it.
Andy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
:-)
I hope I never sit next to anybody on an airplane. I'd rather have the seat be empty. And Brian, those AirPhones by Verizon are actually pretty cheap, 69 cents a minute if you are a verizon wireless subscriber.
My point here is that the FCC shouldn't influence the decision to talk on the phone on planes, only whether it is "safe" to use on the plane. There are already rules in place that say it is OK to talk on an AirPhone. I generally think that passangers will self-police the situation. Ever been to a movie theather where someone's cell rings in the middle of the movie; it's not a pretty site.
It's bad enough that the FCC is all over Howard Stern and the netowrks trying to control what we hear, but now they want to control the whole issue of when/where we can talk???? It's not their issue to solve. Let the airlines or the passengers regulate what you can and can't do on planes. Maybe it becomes a competitive differentiator of servies, but let's not stiffle inovation.
I'm sure you'd all feel a lot different about using your cell phone if you were on a 18 hour flight to Asia and wanted to call you wife and children to keep say good night. I just don't understand why all the hub-bub.
Andy
yomama @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
The issue of cell phone radio interference is widely considered bs within the FAA and the FCC.
You are told to turn off cell phones and other electronic devices during the beginning of any flight so you will (hopefully) pay attention to the attendants.
Flight avionics have adequate shielding to prevent interference from cell phones and other electronic devices and have for decades.
Like most manipulative policies,the determining factor is financial - who makes how much and under what cirumstances. Technology is not the issue. Money is the issue.
It's surprising how many people fail/refuse to see this.
Kristian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
1) Hardly ANY planes have seatback phones now. If they do, they have been de-activated. Try to use them. They probably won't work. Out of the 18 flights that I was on this year (domestic & international), only one United flight had a seatback telephone that was serviced.
2) It is well known that cell phones do not interfere with navigation equipment. They just tell you that so the cell companies don't have multiple cell cites on the ground trying to associate with that one phone with a really good signal (that happens to be at 30,000ft). They should be honest, but we all know that most of the obxnoxious cell phone users don't care about rules, and would only listen at threat of death by the plane plunging into the ground...
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
#31 gorkon, by "average person" are you talking about the hugely obese population in the US, the same population that are increasing in size (pun intended)? Are you suggesting that the airlines should be increasing the seat sizes to accommodate the tremendous girth of these people just because they are too stupid to know what's good for their own health? Sure the average size of that population is increasing but, and let me make this clear, it is because the majority are so egregiously obese that they've skewed the statistical average.
Next you'll be suggesting the airlines reconfigure the cabins space to widen the isles and replace the main cabin doors with double opening cargo doors.
Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I agree with Jason. People who are so overweight that they cannot fit into a seat on the plane should be required to buy a second one, not only for their safety but for the comfort of those next to them. Those seats may not be roomy, but they are certainly adequate. We should absolutley make reasonable concessions for those who are truly disabled, however not being able to control your calorie intake is not one of those disabilities. And for those people who have a thyroid problem which might cause weight gain, they will just have to write off the second seat as a "medical expense." Or, they could opt for one of those king size recliners in first class. I would imagine that an airline might reduce the price if you had your doctor write you a note saying you were a billion pounds for medical reasons.
juepucta @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Hope they put the "cell phone user area" on the tip of the wings, next to the kids play area.
G.
Bryan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
The real message in all this is YOU DON'T NEED TO SHOUT INTO THE PHONE. So, please, STOP DOING THAT!!
People converse on airplanes all the time, and are not bothersome to others. Cellphone conversations will be no different, if the phone users have more sense than the average puppy dog.
(Oh, and maybe you loud-phone-talkers could take the hint, and keep it down in libraries, bookstores, movies, and restaurants too? In the past three days I've been bothered loud phone conversations in every one of these!)
Some User @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
This really is an FAA issue, not an FCC issue, but I do sympathize to the extent that the last thing I want to hear is annoying ring tones and obnoxious people distrubing me while I travel. Simply put, no one who travels on commercial flights is important enough to warrant being 100% accessible 24x7.
Carmella Isabella @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
People are making very rude remarks about the size of obese people. Being a person who fits quite easily into the airline seats, I do not require 2 seats. I do not think that discriminating against large people is appropriate. Studies have been done with measurement of shoulder width, leg length and it has been proven that people are taller and wider without being obese. I much prefer to sit next to someone whose hips are a little too wide than sit next to a man who has very wide shoulders or long enough legs that they overlap into the aisles.
Having been one of the people who did the research I find it very sad that the airlines have not increased the size of the seats. Today the seats on airlines are smaller and closer together that they were when commercial airlines started flying even though the shoulder width and height of passengers (ones that are not overweight) has increased.
Carmella Isabella @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Your comments: People are making very rude remarks about the size of obese people. Being a person who fits quite easily into the airline seats, I do not require 2 seats. I do not think that discriminating against large people is appropriate. Studies have been done with measurement of shoulder width, leg length and it has been proven that people are taller and wider without being obese. I much prefer to sit next to someone whose hips are a little too wide than sit next to a man who has very wide shoulders or long enough legs that they overlap into the aisles.
Having been one of the people who did the research I find it very sad that the airlines have not increased the size of the seats. Today the seats on airlines are smaller and closer together that they were when commercial airlines started flying even though the shoulder width and height of passengers (ones that are not overweight) has increased.
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Dawn @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
Well, Finally its what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Guess all the NON smokers never thought a BAN would effect them but guess what once you let lawmakers ban things even if it doesnt effect you they will knock on your door one day. As a smoker I'm glad they banned cell phones I hope they do it in every state and resturant and even driving welcome all to the Ban everything. I really hope you will have to show Id for candy and soda soon being its very unhealthy for children under 18 years of age. Oh and I will support all future bans as most smokers im sure will also, but hey thats what they want everyone fighting amongst each other so they can take all our rights away. So next time you see that no smoking sign smile and say how great it is because it will only give you great happiness for a short time till you guess it KNOCK! Knock! Here they come for you!!!
Iona Williams @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM
I think that its a good idea. Lifting these bans would annoy some people who are just anti-cellphone, but how many people in this world have cellphones, very many. When your on a solo flight and there's no one to talk to, hey call a friend, and what about buisness calls, WHAT ABOUT EMERGENCIES? Come on people, stop being so over sensitive, its just a cell phone! And most of the time when your bored what do YOU do, call someone.