What do you think about in-flight cell phone use?

This is such a bad idea. Some people will literally talk non-stop for the duration of the flight. And unlike a train or bus, you really can't get off. I really do think this will lead to "air rage" and it just seems like a bad idea.

Having wifi is good enough--let people text or watch movies or access the internet and leave everyone else in peace.

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I read somewhere that it's a myth that cell-phone use in-flight messes up the navigation system or signals or something, and that it's perfectly safe, but I still avoid using phones - rules are made for a reason, aren't they? And, it's pretty annoying how the flight attendants spend ten whole minutes checking that everyone's got their phones off and seat-belts on, while these morons are too busy yelling into their phones. Sometimes I feel that they deserve to be kicked out, just like that. Your call/goodnight/ILY can wait. The flight can't. Get your **** together, and STFU. That's what I wanna tell those people.

Well Yahoo Answers Team, let me first say that I don't and won't fly. As best as I can figure the policy should be kept in place, maybe not for the same reason, but still be kept in place. If someone needs to talk on the phone or text whomever while traveling then that person can simply use their own personal transportation, while annoying the stuff out of the driver of that vehichle. No I am not saying that they should talk or text while driving and those that do should get their hands broken so that they cannot do either in the future. Now back to flying, Passengers on board a flight whether one hour or nine hours should not have to listen to a nonstop blah, blah, blah by 20,30 or 75 others who cannot go without for those periods. Anyone that needs to do such would also be the ones to talk or text during a funeral service because they are just that ignorant and self serving creeps.

Good Luck, kep your chin up, a smile on your face and may the sun always shine upon your day.

I read somewhere that it's a myth that cell-phone use in-flight messes up the navigation system or signals or something, and that it's perfectly safe, but I still avoid using phones - rules are made for a reason, aren't they? And, it's pretty annoying how the flight attendants spend ten whole minutes checking that everyone's got their phones off and seat-belts on, while these morons are too busy yelling into their phones. Sometimes I feel that they deserve to be kicked out, just like that. Your call/goodnight/ILY can wait. The flight can't. Get your **** together, and STFU. That's what I wanna tell those people.

Oh, please, no. I do not want to be stuck next to someone yammering away for hours about nothing, with more of them behind and in front of me. Air travel is trying enough already. The only thing you need that urgently on an airplane is a doctor or the bathroom. If you have something in hand SO important that it can't be left for the few hours you're on the flight, then why did you get on the plane in the first place? If the plane is going down, by all means call your loved ones to say goodbye. Otherwise, keep the phone off. If people really want to talk on a phone that badly during flights then let the airlines make a section for cell phone use, out of earshot of the rest of the plane, and charge a fee for that section.

"Calls during flights have not been allowed for 22 years over fears that they would interfere with the automatic systems on planes, such as the auto-pilot."

FTFY, Yahoo. What technology fixed is the fact that it's hard to get a signal at 10,000 feet.

Further information: "Q. Why did this rule banning phones on planes even start?

"A. The rule was put in place by the F.C.C. over two decades ago because old cellphones, which were as large as bricks, could interfere with a plane’s avionics and cause trouble for cell towers on the ground. But today’s planes are much safer and insulated for interference. And today’s compact cellphones are far less likely to interfere."

From a practical standpoint the airlines are going to be charging, probably a minimum base charge with a per minute fee above any other costs from the service providers. Thus, there will be some limitation on the number of calls simply due to cost. In many flights there are already the option to use a phone in flight, with the use of a credit card. While these are used somewhat, they are not pervasive during most flights simply because of the cost per minute.

So, I am not terribly concerned about the intrusive nature of calls on the flights - in fact it may well be more of an issue in first or business classes simply because in economy classes the passengers are more cost conscious and less likely to use voice. To some degree there are some of these issues around in - flight WiFi and the use of applications like Skype, because the costing model for in flight WiFi is much less than per call costs currently.

The most likely application will be text and other data applications. However, if WiFi is already available, which is competative for data and can be for text with appropriate applications, then the use of voice may be restricted simply from the competative cost standpoint.

Ultimately I suspect that there will be a novelty component to the technology, and I suspect there will be outlier cases of people who are highly problematic (media celebrities being obnoxious is almost a certainty), but that in the long run it will not have significant impact due to profit motive of the airlines.

Thinkingblade

I put cell phone use on commercial airplane flights right up there with smoking cigarettes. It is polution, period. The radiation from a seat mate's phone is not only cooking him is cooks me too. With pacemakers being at risk, peoples health otherwise, sound pollution, and security risks are all good reasons to keep them off. They got along before they still can just wait till all are ready to get off. Or if a carrier wanted, limited cell phone service could be purchased that work like a gas pump or old timey prepaid long distance phone service. When the time is consumed, the thing hangs up. With one minute free and more time on an escalating scale.

Personally, I don't want to be sitting next to a chatty Kathy all flight long. When I travel alone, I like a quiet, peaceful fight and even tend to fake like I'm asleep to keep the person next to me from talking to me. I get annoyed enough when I am in a store and hear someone talking on a cell phone about whatever senseless babble they seem to find worthy of sharing with whoever is on the other end. I can at least walk away in that situation. I'm not crammed into a tiny lawn chair thousands of feet in the air forced to listen. If it does happen, it should be limited to text messages only.