Quiet areas on an airliner? Seriously?If airlines do allow it, I hope there are quiet areas available.
Michael
Quiet areas on an airliner? Seriously?If airlines do allow it, I hope there are quiet areas available.
I am regularly able to get usable signal to almost 10,000ft (9500 +/- 100).
But as you probably know it is fleeting, a min or 2, and quite spotty.
Plus it is a SMALL aircraft (venerable Cessna 172), much less metal in way then the thick skin of say 737.
And recall the 9/11/2001 cell phone intercepts from high alt as well.
And again, the system can currently only manage less than 10 concurrent calls, so it's not going to be a plane filled with 100 phone conversations happening at once.
But the more relevant thing is, USDOT doesn't ban cellphone use on interstate bus or train transport, so arguing that it should be banned on planes is tough.
Quiet areas on an airliner? Seriously?
The FAA regulates aviation safety. This is not a safety matter.
The cell service providers had the opportunity to provide in-flight phone services years ago. GTE and AT&T did.
It wasn't abused. The prices were so high, hardly anyone used it. And the prices didn't fall.
Ultimately, both companies abandoned it, and the equipment was removed from the airplanes.
Gogo Inflight has the ground-based infrastructure to provide talk and text services, alongside their Internet service. They already offer it to business aviation.
But, they aren't yet profitable, and have actually raised their prices for inflight WiFi. I don't think they will offer a great bargain on phone calls -- especially for people that are used to unlimited talk/text for no extra charge.
Without the ground based infrastructure, a provider will have to rely on satellite, such as Iridium or Inmarsat. If you think that might be a bargain, check out the per-minute cost for voice calls on those networks.
I'm ok with your making cell phones on flights that I am on, as long as they are not loud enough for me to hear. You are welcome to make calls using inaudible subvocalization all you like. If you are not ok with this, please Get. Out. Of. My. Life.
Thanks.
They allow calling, then the airlines will charge passengers an extra premium for seating located in a quiet zone.
wtf, am I the only one that thinks if they are going to ban talking on the phone they should ban talking to the person in the seat next to you? Both equally annoying, and if you want to sleep or something and are annoyed, you should have earplugs.![]()
I have 2 kids.If you can't see the difference between a crying baby and your example, well, I really don't know what to say.
I can say with certainty that you don't have kids though.
At 6,737 miles from NY to Tokyo (just figuring a long flight), that's over 148 trips, or 74 round trips, or better than one round trip per week. NY to Sydney would be over 100 flights, or just about one round trip per week.
wtf, am I the only one that thinks if they are going to ban talking on the phone they should ban talking to the person in the seat next to you? Both equally annoying, and if you want to sleep or something and are annoyed, you should have earplugs.![]()
Sure, trains have it. And we all used to pick smoking / non-smoking seating on airliners.
(By "quiet area", I'm obviously referring to the areas in other situations that are called that. It means "no cell phones".)
Little do you know that you are being completely judgmental
The cell service providers had the opportunity to provide in-flight phone services years ago. GTE and AT&T did.
It wasn't abused. The prices were so high, hardly anyone used it. And the prices didn't fall.
As you have been with blaming bad parenting for the reason that kids cry on flights.
Your sense of entitlement is as asinine as the posts you made in this thread, causing the backlash you are getting.
BL.
Backlash?!
My comment has nearly the most number of thumb ups my friend!
Okay my comment wasn't fair
Doesn't mean I like crying babies or overweight passengers
Me, too. I am not normally one big on regulation, but enough is enough. We should not have to ever shut our devices down, but voice calls should be avoided.
Is it really a place for the government to get involved, which is my quandary, but I fear them not getting involved may be a nightmare.
This is interesting, as it highlights why no issue is left or right, and how the truth/answer often lies in the middle.
It's funny how no one every complains about people talking on their phones on buses or trains...
The FAA regulates aviation safety. This is not a safety matter.
Cell phone use was previously regulated on the basis of both aviation safety and FCC interference concerns. Now that technology has been developed that negates both arguments, the reason for outlawing them (etiquette?) would truly break new ground. How far do you suggest we go with regulating etiquette? Do we ban phones in restaurants? Trains? Buses? Do we require people to hold the door open for us at a public establishment when we're within a certain distance behind them?
You mean cellphone service? I don't remember that. I've only seen wired phones in planes that use AT&T or something and take a credit card.
<....> Using the phone's built-in GPS receiver, they can calculate your height and charge you based on that. It's a ridiculous idea but it but fit in nicely with their customer-screwing plans.
That's correct: both AT&T and GTE were doing so at one point, but they were abandoned due to lack of use.
If an airline chooses to install the micro/pico/femto-cell base station required to make this work, the prices will be similar to roaming charges on cruise ships: $2.50/minute on AT&T.
And it also doesn't mean that you are entitled to only what you want, because you are not the only paying passenger on that flight. Unless you pay for a different class, you shouldn't receive any preferential treatment.
That is what you just don't get, let alone what parents go through when flying with their children.
BL.