Hell I think a cell phone ban is great because I hate listening to some ... clown talk as loud an they can on their phone the whole trip. Cell phones are the Cancer of our Society
Sorry about the run on

IIRC, there were several points about radio devices which haven't been mentioned yet. First, the fear was that one cell phone might not do anything, but 300 might combine to cause problems.

Second, planes these days are fly-by-wire, which means that electrical wiring runs throughout the plane. The buzzing you hear on your stereo when your cell phone is nearby could be a really big deal at 35,000 feet. Older planes were controlled hydraulically and weren't as susceptible to interference.

Last, I think a blanket 'no electronics on at takeoff' is vastly preferable to each flight attendant checking every single device on a plane and giving a thumbs up or down. 'Sir, your Toshiba 6654 laptop is okay, but your friend's 6655 needs to be turned off'. Think of the mayhem!

Interesting point. The buzzing is the product of current/voltage induced in a carrier wire. What if this wire connected to a circuit that controlled an actuator relay for a hydraulic valve?

Granted, you'd think the tolerance or trigger voltage/current would be larger than what can be induced by a phone field, but maybe 30 phones all moving data at the same time (when the aircraft comes in range with a cell tower)?

As an on-call person who likes to be able to fly on the weekends, no. Sometimes, it just can't wait.

I really don't have a problem w/ other people on phones, but perhaps a compromise, the back X rows of a plane could be "quite zones" like in the Admirals Club. The chatter on most flights, even between PAX must bother you too, so a quiet zone could be perfect.

(Though it would never happen on flights back and forth to Vegas!)

The ones on the AA flights are perfectly functional. There isn't one on every seat-back, but they have them avail for general public use in the galleys.

-SF

I'd be cool with that if the front of the bus held the quiet zone. The noise level seems higher in the back from engine noise. No need in corrupting both ends of the plane with cacophony.

But under the current rules, you basically buy, what, an extra 5 minutes of use? You can't use your phone during flight, so that doesn't help with being on-call, and the time during taxi in is minimal in most cases. You can already use it prior to the door shutting. And if you're on-call and get a call during the flight, what would you do?


People tend to talk much more loudly into their cell phones than they do to each other, so no, the chatter doesn't bother me, and it's rare during flight that I can hear the full details of conversations of those around me, whereas those people on cell phones seem to nearly yell into them.


Ah. Well, at any rate, UA, US, DL, and CO still have Airfone phones installed, but they are no longer functional (Verizon discontinued the service in 2006). Airfone as a unit is discontinuing their service as of 12/2008 unless they can reach an agreement with LiveTV, the JetBlue service which won the spectrum used by Airfone. (Verizon has apparently decided not to try to re-deploy using a different slice of the airwaves or to reach a sharing agreement with the new licenseholders.)

So the majority of airline pax on domestic flights have no in-air phones right now, it would seem, and if that were the primary reason the FCC refuses to allow cell phones in-flight, the capitalism barrier would seem to be gone.

AFAIK, The FAA has never banned them.

I've now spent the last 2 hours of my life, and I can't find a single FAA regulation (on FAA.com or otherwise) restricting their use, though I can find references to the FAA supporting the FCC's decision.

What I can find is thousands of articles saying that the FAA doesn't have the ban, the FCC does. But I don't trust the news about as much as you don't trust the news.

As it is impossible to prove a negative, if someone who happens to know the FAA regulation could post a link to it, I'd love to have the knowledge and stop spreading lies.

Like I said, it really doesn't matter. Skype is coming. Also, the new AA internet is WIFI based, so clearly there are some wireless things that don't interfere.

-SF

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/b5c85ae8e38df676862571da00529da4/$FILE/AC%2091.21-1B.pdf

This appears to cover the subject.

If I get a call on the flight, I can talk people through solutions and/or coordinate the recovery effort.

I've never received a call on flight (though I know this is possible), but I have had occasions where I've gone to the Galley and used the phone to call back into a conference that was under way as the plane took off.

For me, it's entirely economical, not convenience, because I will use the in-flight phone. I've had in-flight calls go well over $100. Those calls could have been made from my cell for pennies.

Personally, I can't wait for internet on the planes so I can talk AND do my job. But, then you are going to have that a-hole who decides to search the porn.

[QUOTE=exerda;9388389]People tend to talk much more loudly into their cell phones than they do to each other, so no, the chatter doesn't bother me, and it's rare during flight that I can hear the full details of conversations of those around me, whereas those people on cell phones seem to nearly yell into them.

I agree, and it's a shame. But I can hear full details of conversations rows away on some flights. Some people just talk too damn loud wherever. With my QC2s on, I can't hear anything. (Note, there is another post somewhere on FT where I talked about my seinnhieser 450's and recommended them. They suck, don't get them, I went back to QC2s)



One of the reasons I fly AA! Also, probably the reason that this topic has been making the rounds of the FCC / FAA / Congress since late 2006.

-SF

M - You nailed it, and I'm glad you found it. It seems to prove the negative.

Section 7A says the FCC has a rule about being Airborne and that the FAA supports it (but doesn't say they have their own regulation).

7B says that the FAA doesn't prohibit on the ground (except when taxiing for departure, it's up to the carrier.

Thanks for finding that.

-SF

Pay no attention to those antenna farms near every American airport, each of which transmits 100's of watts of RF.

WHS.

A couple of years ago several World Rallye Championship drivers got speeding tickets during the Rallye in Great Britain. Anyways their defense was that they were driving cars beyond the average car capabilities, and that since they were professional race drivers who happen to have some of the best car control skills in the world, that they were more than capable of driving safely at speed. The judge didn't buy it and they were fined accordingly.

Poor fools. They went in unaware of the fact that speeding fines are more about "revenue" than "safety".

Because you'll only get whacked when it's powered on but not when it's powered off?