FCC might allow cell phones on airline flights: good or bad?

NoHeat

NoHeat

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News story today:

An F.C.C. official said that airlines in the United States would be given the option of outfitting their planes with equipment that would allow the use of cellphones once a plane climbed above 10,000 feet. The airlines will not be required to provide the service.

What do you think?
 
Fine for text,really don't want to listen to people talk for the whole flight. Going to be a lot of phone rage on flights.
 
jordane93 said:
what cell phone can get service at 10,000 ft?
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That would be the equipment that needs to be installed. You can bet that the airlines will do this. Another way to monetize the flight. I have to admit, I do like having Wifi on a flight. I am not really in favor of cell service, though.
 
I'd like to know what this equipment is. Will it be made available to small aircraft as well?
 
Each airline will probably get a contract with each cell provider (AT&T or Verizon etc) and will make MILLIONS off of this. There's no reason for them not to implement this.
 
Please God, no!
If they do this, they'll need a LOT more Air Marshals.
 
Wonder if some people with options are not flying because they can't bear to be away from their phones? Sounds sick, I guess it is but I don't doubtthose people exist. Sadand funny.
 
...the problem is the close quarters. I cannot even imagine sitting next to some toolbox with his bluetooth on talking for 2.5 hours like he's in a conference room somewhere annoying the hell out of everyone within 3 aisles. There's absolutely no upside to this...at all. I guess they figure most people wear some kind of headset or something - but when some dude is yakking 1 foot away from you - nothing is going to block that out unless you are blaring music in headphones at levels loud enough to make your ears bleed.

But, any way to make another couple bucks per person per flight...and I'm sure whoever makes the units that allow the phones to get services will subsidize the hell out of getting those things on the planes.
 
I'd use it - imagine something breaking and getting paged while enroute to a business function....it sure would be nice to work the incident and resolve it without having to bring in the B team.
 
SkyHog said:
I'd use it - imagine something breaking and getting paged while enroute to a business function....it sure would be nice to work the incident and resolve it without having to bring in the B team.
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That would be about 1% of the usage. Most would be people talking about the crappy trip, the bug they caught, what they did over the weekend, which family members went to jail/rehab...

Texting would be good. Voice comms would suck to be around.

Jim
 
I don't think there will be a problem with plenty of people talking around you. I have no doubt that if implemented, the airlines will make the usage fee expensive per minute, such that only very important short duration calls will be made by the overwhelming majority of people that use this.
 
Using your cell pone in flight - $10
Being seated in a section where cell phone service is not provided - $50
 
jnmeade said:
Using your cell pone in flight - $10
Being seated in a section where cell phone service is not provided - $50
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No kidding!

You can sell the ability to use a cell phone in flight.
Then auction the ability to shut the system off.
 
Anyone remember Airphone service from Verizon? 10 years or so ago, there was a phone in every seat group. Of course the cost to use it was so high that nobody did, but they were there.

I have no doubt that the price to use your own phone through this system will also be high enough that usage will be limited to those who really need it, and not Ma and Pa Kettle checking to see if the cats are ok or blabby teens.

If they were really smart they'd offer texting at one low price, text and 3G/4G at a mid price, and text, data, and voice at a high price.

We've managed with cell phones on trains and busses, I think we will manage with this. But I do wonder if the airlines will offer a section of the plane where it's prohibited, like the quiet cars on Amtrak.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
That would be about 1% of the usage. Most would be people talking about the crappy trip, the bug they caught, what they did over the weekend, which family members went to jail/rehab...

Texting would be good. Voice comms would suck to be around.

Jim
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And even with "legitimate" use, which I guarantee everyone would claim, I still don't want to sit in proximity to someone while he yaks into a cell phone. No one is the only "A" player at a company. When you get on an airplane, you can be considered unavailable.

With that being said, at least some airlines used to offer Verizon (née GTE) Airfone service, which I rarely observed being used, I suspect due to the relatively high cost. Airlines can still offer the service and control its use through the pricing mechanism.


JKG
 
livitup said:
I have no doubt that the price to use your own phone through this system will also be high enough that usage will be limited to those who really need it, and not Ma and Pa Kettle checking to see if the cats are ok or blabby teens.

If they were really smart they'd offer texting at one low price, text and 3G/4G at a mid price, and text, data, and voice at a high price.

We've managed with cell phones on trains and busses, I think we will manage with this. But I do wonder if the airlines will offer a section of the plane where it's prohibited, like the quiet cars on Amtrak.
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I wouldn't count on the service being prohibitively expensive. There's a reason the rules are being relaxed, and it isn't because the FCC cares about public demand. Carriers and airlines want additional revenue streams, and those only work if people use the service.

I'm not sure how easy it is to separately filter text and voice on cellular networks, but cellular data service would seem somewhat redundant given the presence of inflight WiFi. Most of the folks I text seem to have iPhones, and I can text to those people now over WiFi. With a majority of cell phone plans offering free texting, I'm not sure that there would be enough of a revenue stream from that feature alone, but perhaps the somewhat annoying trend toward texting instead of talking would mitigate the number of folks who would actually use a voice feature. In any case, I suspect that the industry groups have data that suggests how people would use the service, and how viable it would be to deploy.

I'd also say there's a huge difference in the experience between being on a bus, subway, or train, and being crammed into coach on an airplane for hours on end. The ability to talk on a cell phone isn't an enhancement to any of those environments, and the airplane is certainly the most intimate with the fewest number of options for relief.


JKG
 
frfly172 said:
Fine for text,really don't want to listen to people talk for the whole flight. Going to be a lot of phone rage on flights.
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Ain't that the truth!
Maybe cordon off a place in the pack of the plane where people can talk on their phones. People already talk too loudly on their cell phones. Put them in a noisy airplane and they will SCREAM into that stupid thing. And I don't want to hear it.
 
A plane ride is bad enough I reall do not want to here people talking on their phone too.
If you think cost will stop people then maybe coach will be better. Who wants to here the people in first class all on there phone with their "important" calls.
 
ron22 said:
A plane ride is bad enough I reall do not want to here people talking on their phone too.
If you think cost will stop people then maybe coach will be better. Who wants to here the people in first class all on there phone with their "important" calls.
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Those people are easy to deal with... Just sit there and listen to every word they say while looking straight in their face.... They won't be able to complain to anyone about it either..:D:D...

Guilt trips is a wonderful thing ya know..;)
 
Imagine being stuck next to a long play salesman on a transcontinental flight. No thanks. Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should.
 
ron22 said:
A plane ride is bad enough I reall do not want to here people talking on their phone too.
If you think cost will stop people then maybe coach will be better. Who wants to here the people in first class all on there phone with their "important" calls.
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If I "here" them, I would rather "there" them. :D
 
I believe the correct answer is 'Hell no.'

Give it a rest already, shut your damn mouth and be a contributor to yourself and everyone else enjoying a peaceful ride.



_
 
ron22 said:
So my spelling is not so good some time. Grammar either:D
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We all make mistakes, especially when typing on a message board. But gentle reminders of our frequent mistakes can help us to improve and allow us to make better impressions on others.

Here vs hear is a mistake I make fairly often even though I no better.
 
bnt83 said:
Cell service and broadband internet above 10k feet already exists. I do not see the need to activate voice phone services on airlines.

http://www.aircell.com/products-services
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Not with your existing personal cell phone. All of those products require specialized subscriber equipment. Sure if you carry an iridium sat phone and sit close enough to the window it might work.

It's only a matter of time before the airlines capitalize on this. The cruise ships have been doing this for years.
 
JGoodish said:
I wouldn't count on the service being prohibitively expensive. There's a reason the rules are being relaxed, and it isn't because the FCC cares about public demand. Carriers and airlines want additional revenue streams, and those only work if people use the service.

I'm not sure how easy it is to separately filter text and voice on cellular networks, but cellular data service would seem somewhat redundant given the presence of inflight WiFi. Most of the folks I text seem to have iPhones, and I can text to those people now over WiFi. With a majority of cell phone plans offering free texting, I'm not sure that there would be enough of a revenue stream from that feature alone, but perhaps the somewhat annoying trend toward texting instead of talking would mitigate the number of folks who would actually use a voice feature. In any case, I suspect that the industry groups have data that suggests how people would use the service, and how viable it would be to deploy.

I'd also say there's a huge difference in the experience between being on a bus, subway, or train, and being crammed into coach on an airplane for hours on end. The ability to talk on a cell phone isn't an enhancement to any of those environments, and the airplane is certainly the most intimate with the fewest number of options for relief.


JKG
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I read a news article today reporting that all of the major airlines (with the exception of Southwest) have decidedly negative views on this proposal, based on feedback from their customers. SWA is the only Pollyanna.

Bob Gardner
 
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