I really hope Delta remains firmly against in-flight cell phone calling. I can understand that it presents a revenue stream opportunity for the airlines and providers, but it's a really bad idea that has so many downsides.

Over the past several years I've noticed fewer and fewer conversations between people seated next to each other, and many people use the quiet time for a nap, a book or movie, or a stretch of uninterrupted concentration on some work.

I recall threads here on FT about overly loud in-flight conversations and the impact on the comfort of the surrounding pax.

Can you imagine how noisy and disruptive it would be to have your 5 or 8 nearest neighbors (in domestic F or Y, respectively) on the phone trying to talk loud enough to overcome the cabin noise??

That's why the FA unions dread this idea.