alecbarron

I entered this thread vehemently opposed to in-flight calls, but An Thrope has swung me.

Let people talk on the phone! (But make them stand on the wing)

Firewind

Absolutely against voice calls. There has been poll after poll - why? - and, looking at the results of the sampling universes, the outcomes have been overwhelmingly against, over and over. (Note: There aren't planes for different age groups.)

Where is the push to allow voice calls coming from? I suggest that it's not difficult to guess correctly. Not difficult to guess who's behind the lobbying, paid media, and most of the polls. Also not difficult to see the marketing involved. This is what marketing does. Polls, making the most out of every segment and change over time, puff pieces about "Something new!" and identifying prospective word-of-mouth marketing opportunities and candidates. In this case, the magnitude of the overall market and the companies involved rival smoking and the tobacco companies in another era (and the present era in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia). There's a reason why the public affairs companies serving that industry are the largest. The parallels aren't coincidental.

It would be naive to believe that FlyerTalk is not a word-of-mouth marketing lab and target.

To supporters not involved in the word of mouth marketing, some questions: Does your resignation, or ideology re freedom, or advocacy extend to libraries? Cinema and live theatres? Concert halls?

Go for it. Make the case that you don't intend. Please, take this shovel.

Xyzzy

I don't think an airplane is like the places you listed -- other than that it's a public space. I'm not in favour of this, but I see airlines doing a lot of things their passengers don't really like. It's all done in the name of profit. In-flight calling is going to be no different. We had it before (seat-back phones) and we'll have it again. It's just a matter of time.

Canarsie

Whether or not you agree with passengers engaged in mobile telephone calls during a flight, are you in favor or opposed to lawmakers legislating whether or not mobile telephone calls should be permitted during a flight?

Please refer to this discussion on FlyerTalk and take a quick moment to vote in a poll by Frequent Business Traveler magazine.

Firewind

The important way that airplanes are like the examples is that in them, people are captive, or the balance is at least strongly in that direction, and the issue is raised, as here, about one person's rights infringing on others'. Redux of the smoking on airplanes issue.

But we are on the same page regarding following the moneyed. I ought to have been more explicit as to that conclusion re where the incessant push is coming from.

BThumme

I'm not for nor against Cell Phone usage (although I voted yes, would be nice for texts), however I think the government shouldn't have that call, it should be up to the carriers.

KevinDTW

The airlines may prefer that the government bans in-flight cell phone usage. They know very well that the majority of passengers don't want it, and that it will cause all kinds of problems for FAs trying to referee disputes between pax, but this would relieve them of the responsibility of making/enforcing the decision.

squatch

43. against it. it sucks bad enough that my flights have internet access and i'm expected to be online, i don't want ANYONE calling me, too.

KevinDTW

^ Exactly! I used to love saying "they're closing the door; I gotta get off the phone now" and looking forward to a few hours with no connectivity of any kind.

Firewind

Further in line with what Xyzzy said, and somewhat in line with KevinDTW's point, it will be what the airlines want, whatever they want. And that's likely to be another "a la carte" item. They have arbitrarily pushed through so much lately that customers are overwhelmingly against, and they know it, that it's like a hot knife through butter at this point. They know that we're not going to pick up and move to another airline. As the judge in the action against United recently said in his summary rendering, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away," the Lord being United. You think it's tough to beat city hall?

Firewind

"Hello? Hello. HELLO? HELLO?! THERE YOU ARE. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? GUESS WHERE I AM! OHDAMN, I THOUGHT I LOST YOU! DO YOU KNOW WHERE I AM? I'M - I'M - OHDAMN! THIS ****IN' THING. THEY OFFER THIS AND THEN IT DOESN'T WORK! ANYWAYS, YOU KNOW WHAT NANCY SAID TO SUE? DAMNIT! THERE IT GOES AGAIN. ****ERS. I'M ABOUT READY TO GIVE UP ON THIS ****IN' THING. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M PAYING FOR THIS ****IN' THING? YOU'D THINK IT WOULD WORK RELIABLY. NO, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ME OR YOU. PROBABLY AT MY END. ****IN' TECHNOLOGY! **** IT! I'VE HAD IT! BUT BEFORE I GO, WOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE MACY'S MY ACCOUNT NUMBER? HERE YOU GO. IT'S ..."

Do you ever take the train? Trains have quiet cars. Planes can't.

Firewind

Looking at the poll now, not sure that the second sentence still belongs in the thread title.

Houston.Business

I'm against phone use in flight, and if it takes the lawmakers to do it, I'm all for it.

While they're at it, they should ban Alcohol too.

Firewind

It may become difficult to keep these two threads apart. And the OP might consider whether they ought to trade forums, as the FCC/congressional ban one seems more "newsy" while this one is more the general issue discussion, as the OP may have to continually remind.

sammyindc

I'm in favor of airliners making it a policy to ban calls on flights but not in favor of Congress stepping in.