eajusa

LOL to the max.

seenitall

On the private jets that I have had the good fortune to travel on, a satellite phone is available to make voice calls. If you feel the UA TOS admonition against such calls is too constraining, charter up ... .

The rest of us Plebians will enjoy the peace and quiet on our commercial flights.

ERP Flyer

Illegal? No.

Dick move? Yes.

JBord

Besides the fact that it would drive me crazy to hear someone yakking away on a phone on my flight, this thread is missing an obvious benefit to the voice call ban...I'm sure everyone here at some time has used their flight as a way to get away from work for a couple hours or to avoid that really annoying phone call.

It's going to be a little more stressful when I can't occasionally say "I'm just boarding a plane, I'll have to call you back tomorrow".

One solution would be to allow voice calls, but find a way to charge astronomical rates for the data usage. Just like the console phones used to be $10/minute or whatever so they were rarely used. Good compromise for someone whose call actually is important vs. someone who thinks all their calls are important.

Tchiowa

Actually I think it should be a civil offense rather than criminal. Punishable by on the spot destruction of his phone and a mild beating from all passengers within 3 rows of the offender.

In most cases that I've seen, VOIP is specifically banned on airplane wifi (by policy, not law). I understand some airlines block VOIP transmissions.

Silver Fox

You are on a roll today !

emcampbe

I admit, I'm no expert on FAA regs regarding cell phones, or FCC regs. However if it is actually as posted - something like "no voice communication using cell phones", then I don't think it matters. Intention, when it was written, probably didn't envision VOIP, I get it. However, until it is challenged and a court rules otherwise, or the reg is changed to clarify it (i.e. that the ban on voice communication specifically refers to calls over a cell phone network, or specifically excludes VOIP calls) then the reg is the reg - a ban of voice communication is just that.

In this case, its irrelevant, because United rules are essentially are the law until you leave the plane. Sure, maybe you can't be arrested for ignoring it. But when an FA tells you to stop breaking UA rules, and you don't, you can be arrested upon landing for ignoring flight crew instructions.

exwannabe

The FCC bans air to ground cellular because the rapid tower switching could cause problems groundside. And this is regardless of the nature of the transmission. Other than that, they have no say in the game.

Note that the GOGO cell based services avoids this because they have their own tower network designed to handle this.

The FAA is concerned with interference, and as such also has no concern with the nature of the payload.

The only parties concerned with the transmissions carrying voice are the airlines and their customers.

This customer votes for the option that pax must step outside to make a voice call over any link :-)

China Clipper

IME they don't stop just because the door is closed. They stop sometime after the FA has insisted that they stop. And IME it's NYC, SFO, LAX, IAD, etc people. We have a phrase for them, starts with DYK... I love love love returning to second-tier cities in more polite parts of the country. Yes they still exist!

^

HMO

Probably because the called phone doesn't have Whatsapp or if it does, it didn't update to the last release yet.

Rcarentals

Clearly, anyone who uses their cell phones is a dick, meaning the entire world is made up of dicks - so if you plan to be the odd one out sitting in your seat with your tungsten PDA off, while the rest of 2015 is moving ahead barking at the "youngsters" by all means be a ...

I just think it's a bit ridiculous to generalise anyone who makes a call on a plane into a category like that. On international flights i'm watching movies anyways for a good chunck of the flight with my headphones in. if your speaking relatively quietly not a soul can hear you anyway over the engines...

it's not like everybody would suddenly start chatting on their phones 24/7 - EK is a great example.
People with cell access aren't on their phone 24/7 even outside an airplane anyway.. msging is much more popular nowadays then calls...
With super fast internet and cell connection onboard - i think most people would just be browsing - maybe voice notes a short call max. There will be exceptions to the rule. If you MUST avoid them, don't fly to "NYC, LAX, SFO, IAD" lol...

pruss2ny

approx 0 people said using a cell phone (in and of itself) was a d move...but a number of people acknowledged that in a metal tube crammed in w/ 185+ of your closest friends in an already tense/forced communal atmosphere, yes...yes in that scenario its easy to see how cell phone usage mite get out of hand....out of hand w/ everyone? no. but its already tense in the tube, y add needlessly? at least until your image of inflight office-cubes comes to pass.

on side note...i've had a number of occasions where the person next to me was talking on the phone prior to take off about business (or in a restaurant) and were shocked (and silenced) for me to chime in w/ familiarity w/ their arcane topic (bond trading) and/or specific customers or trades...many businesses have (altho the rules aren't necessarily followed) rules AGAINST doing business in public spaces (or in a metal tube where confidentiality can't be assured)....this may be an odd anecdote, but point being that w/ the explosion of technology, its not "just" united that might be racing to keep up w/ the times...but businesses who are realizing that mobilization of the office into public spaces isn't necessarily a positive.

ERP Flyer

Bit of an overraction here..

I didn't say I don't condone any or all cell phone use... at all. I'm a millenial who uses their phone a lot. But if I'm sitting next to someone who is chirping sentences into their Whatsapp App on and off for a 10-15 minute back and forth conversation - you best believe they are going to get a death stare from me. Trust me, I'm down 'with the youngsters'. What I'm not down with is people who want to make extended calls on airplanes..

ZZYZXROAD

What? In the 90's wasn't there a cell phone in front of you on every airline? What interference? The only reason airlines took them out was weight and no one used them and every started carrying phones around 2000. Weren't most of these phones Verizon too on shared towers?

bocastephen

Definitely not illegal...but against UA rules. Personally I don't care if people are making VOIP calls as long as I don't need to hear them.

I've used Skype to open a video call so my other half and I can look at each other while we text chat on Skype...no audio except through my headphones. I don't want others to hear us, and I don't want to hear other people - but aside from VOIP calls, the same rule should apply to obnoxious drunken IT consultants and sales executives who insist on screaming at each other across the aisle (or over the armrest) to make sure everyone within 10 miles can hear them.