In-flight calling soon to be allowed south of the border
By Tim Stevens 
posted July 24th 2009 7:33AM
posted July 24th 2009 7:33AM
While in-flight WiFi is slowly becoming a reality in more and more jets going to more and more places, in-flight calling seems to be stuck in a holding pattern. Whether that's good or bad news depends on your like or dislike of hearing folks blab on their cellys and/or your propensity for wearing headphones mid-flight. If you answered "love it" or "I don't go nowhere without my Boses" you may want to consider a trip south of the border -- that's Mexico, not the glorified rest stop in South Carolina. Soon, travelers there will no longer have to keep their handsets safely stowed or in airplane mode, with the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, or SCT (the Mexican FCC equivalent), approving cellphones en-masse for flights anywhere in the nation. This cancels an earlier edict made in 2001 banning their use, and while Mexico's federal government still has to approve things, that's not expected to take long. So, who's willing to risk swine flu, gang violence, and other overly-sensationalized risks to get their mid-air talky on?[Thanks, Xavier M.]
First call on the plain... first homeless due phone bill :)
wha???
LOL
The cartel bosses need to keep in touch while in flight.
Making a call from a field?
Ironically, I'd pay a premium to be on a plane that doesn't allow cellphone use.
WTF are you talking about?
Love the sombrero on the flight attendant!
Ya...stereotypes are great...you would think with the "Professor Gates" incident in the media people would think more.
Haha, thanks for pointing that out, I missed it this morning.
So Gates' neighbor witnessed what she believed to be a break-in on Gate's house. An officer responded to the house and questioned Gates. Gates proceeded to explain how the officer "didn't know who he was messing with" and "this (interrogating a potential break-in/hostage victim) is what happens to black men in this country." Gates proceeded to act disorderly intentionally invoking conflict and was placed under arrest. The cop handcuffed Gates in the front and retrieved a cane (heretofore unused while speaking with the officer) to aid the 'disabled' Gates. Wanting to ensure the security of Gates residence, the cop asked if he could lock the door with a house key for Gates, who responded that the door was broken due to a break-in...
So by your comment, I take it you were referring to the stereotypes of racist cops, right?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates3.html
yeah, just surprised the picture wasn't a donkey with wings being ridden by member of the cartel...
The flight attendant also needs a stache. Have you ever seen a true Mexican person without an awesome moustache?
lol at all these comments. and that's how we roll us mexicans
This is the worst idea ever.
Stuck in a tin can miles in the sky between two fat guys shouting "I'M ON A PLANE" over and over, great, thanks.
I'm riding on a plane, making calls and shit. The phone is ringing and I ain't breakin' a sweat.
I hate that damn rest stop in south carolina. its the worst thing ever, except for the half-billion signs they have before you ge thtere
why does the flight attendant have a sumbero? im hispanic and thats fucking racist
but that's some funny ass shit haha... :D
"So, who's willing to risk swine flu, gang violence, and other sensationalized risks to get their mid-air talky on?"
Are you guys serious? for a comment like that on the streets here in good ol' germany you might be beaten and called a nazi.
I really like your articles but thats something you should think of not posting because it's unnessecary to offend people
just my opinion have a nice day
That's right Engadget,
Stupid comment and the "sombrero" pun sucks big time... what a shame.
Greetings from south of the border.
Humorless people can't take a joke.
Nor even comprehend context. Read the last sentence of the story again.
"and other overly-sensationalized risks"
"for a comment like that on the streets here in good ol' germany you might be beaten and called a nazi."
Oh please, comments like that expose the soft white underbelly of euro-fem mentality. Everybody's a nazi....oooh, oooh...the nazis are coming, the nazis are coming.
Your comment about "saying that in Germany" rubbed me the wrong way.
It was a light hearted joke based on stereo types that are not too far from the truth. Have you ever been to Mexico, and I don't mean the Nogales border, or Cancun?
Anyone with common sense can tell that when you make a joke like that, you don't mean every single person in the country, they laugh because it's funny and go on with their day. People that get "offended" over jokes have obviously never had any true hardship in their life, so they invent reasons to be "outraged". Someone saying or typing something doesn't harm you in any way.
It's an insult to people who actually suffer from real discrimination. Their issues are never heard because people are too busy listening to some random lefty middle class person such as yourself complains that because he knows someone who is 1 /16th Minority X, so he's offended by some random news article.
News flash, the rest of the world is sick of people beating the "offensive/race" drum.
But yes, Cellphones on planes? No.
All I need is a couple of teenagers sitting there "Like OMG ROFL LOL" With some wanna be rapper trying to "bleep bleep" all his friends. If they let Nextels on planes, I'll start checking myself as cargo.
As a mexican I feel somewhat offended for the comment at the end of the post. Swine flu is nowadays a sensitive matter worldwide, so comments like that are not only irrelevant to the news but also spread ignorance.
I like in general your articles but if writers cannot contain themselves from useless comments like that one I guess there will be one reader less in the future.
Sorry Victor (and all), the intent was not to insult Mexico, rather to insult the US media. By indicating that those things are "sensationalized" the intent was to show that the US media is playing them up far beyond their actual risk. Here in the US it's hard to see a mention of Mexico on CNN or Headline News or etc. without an immediate sensationalist follow-up on Swine Flue or gang violence. We certainly don't think there are any undue risks in Mexico beyond any other nation in the world... in fact many of our editors have spent time in Mexico and love the place, and members of my family recently as well.
I got the swine flu and now I can't stop saying oink oink in a gringo accent.
Engadget doesn't need to apologize for something they didn't do.
Nothing personal bro, but think about it. By continuing to create racial tension where there is none, you are contributing to the plague of entitlement and race baiting that is destroying the minority youth in this country. Children follow the example their parents set.
Fixing it all starts with you not expecting special treatment because our skin is different. When people stop making racial battles out of none issues, maybe people will be more motivated to help purge the drug dealers, send Dr.s, and make Mexico a better place.
But you know, you could also piss and moan because someone said mexican's wear funny hats... because that's a battle worth fighting too..... while kids are dieing of easily curable diseases..... yep, that 4 year old will be glad to know you put it to some internet blog because they showed a Sombrero.
tampa03cobra, your stupid canned responses are as whiny and lame as you are. it's so OK to post insulting/offensive material because, hey, it's about someone else that you can't relate to. and if they so much as say that it's uncalled for you get on your soapbox and lambaste them. who are you to tell people when or when not to feel offended about a comment. the fact that it's buried inside a "joke" or "sarcasm" doesn't make a difference. let me guess.. you're probably an overweight, well-off WASP. does *that* offend you?
@tampa03cobra: I guess there is some kind of misunderstanding here, I wasn't going for the racial card, what pissed me off was the implication that by flying to Mexico one could get the swine flu...the hat and the other stuff is funny, and I don't mind stereotypes, but as a traveler I hate being asked if I'm healthy just because I'm mexican! (and there is where the swine flu came from...right? (being sarcastic here)), so that comment in particular just encourages the ignorant to do stupid questions.
Peace out...bro.
get the sand out of your vag
WHY NOT IN AMERICA
Our system can barely keep up with normal traffic. If you're on a plane your phone will connect to every cell tower it can see.
Because the risk of someone going batshit crazy and downing an aircraft rises 2500% when they have to sit next to someone yelling into the phone because of a bad signal.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"I'M ON THE PLANE, I NEED YOU TO SPEAK UP.'
'HUH?'
But if you sit next to me on a plane while yapping on the phone about what you and your boys did last weekend... You'd probably just get a groin punch... or 12.
Get over yourselves people!
If there wasn't some truth to stereotypes they wouldn't exist in the first place (being gay I should know).
Lighten up and stop taking yourselves so seriously.
Truth?
Dude, I've been Mexican for 28 years, and never have worn one of those stupid hats.
Those "sombreros" are only worn once in a while by some Mariachis, one of the many types of Mexican musicians, and some other dudes attending soccer (football for the rest of you) games particularly outside of Mexico.
Apart from that no one wears that, it's not like you are going to see people in the street wearing that. Imagine that you wanted to enter a subway train here and all of us were wearing that piece of crap... wouldn't work, use your logic.
Tim, appreciate your comment. Unfortunately you are part of that US media you were trying to insult; be careful next time.
@luiginet7
Come on! maybe YOU don't use the sombreros, but you should someday get out of "La condesa, Polanco, Santa Fe, Las Lomas, Insurgentes, etc" so you can see that outside in the other states (specially in the north part where agriculture is the main income) they use sombreros (probably not as big as mariachis but still) and they are pretty similar to the mexican stereotype.
I know it is a big surprise but Mexico is slightly bigger than the fancy areas for rich people that you visit
The mexican planes must be built better, cuz here they yell out you for just having your phone in air plane mode listening to music. Geez.
out = at, (early)
and here i thought airplanes was going to be the last hold-out for douchbags with bluetooths on their ear....alas i die in vein
Great...Now i get to fly with the loud mouth who feels that everyone must hear his conversation. Maybe they will allow tasers nest.hmmmmmm?
Fuck. That Shit.
I don't want to hear you assholes yammering away on your phone while i'm sitting next to you on a plane.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
mexicans in this article are idiots
come on the sombrero flight attendant is a hilarious image(mexican, in mexico myself)
your mom is hot and you are the idiot.
he wants to ..."come on the sombrero flight attendant"
"South of the border"
As a Canadian, I thought this was a reference to USA (since USA is south of the border), so when it dawned on me that engadget.com is American, I was lost at placing the locale of this news.
Thanks for confusing me!
South of The Border was always a stop on the way to/from Florida on family vacations.
It was so much fun.
Even though I paid twice as much for the fireworks as I would about 10 minutes down 95.
"So, who's willing to risk swine flu, gang violence, and other overly-sensationalized risks"
have you ever been to Mexico ?
It was a joke insulting the US media... and not mexico