FCC Kills Plan to Allow Mobile Phone Conversations on Flights

Megalith

Megalith

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You won’t be able to annoy everyone in your cabin with an hours-long mobile phone conversation after all, as the FCC has just killed their 2013 proposal for allowing cell phone calls on planes. The plan drew obvious criticism from both passengers and airline workers; I don’t know why it was even considered.

…FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday killed his agency's 2013 proceeding that sought to relax rules governing the use of mobile phones on airplanes. Under the FCC proposal, airlines would have decided if they allowed mobile phone conversations during flights. "I stand with airline pilots, flight attendants, and America's flying public against the FCC's ill-conceived 2013 plan to allow people to make cell phone calls on planes," Pai said a statement. "I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest. Taking it off the table permanently will be a victory for Americans across the country who, like me, value a moment of quiet at 30,000 feet."
 
A moment of quiet at 30,000 feet only occurs when the engines quit. Otherwise your looking at 95-105 decibels in cruise and 115+ on takeoff. Quiet my ass...
 
I think i'd still prefer if they permitted us to use our data plans and text so I don't have to deal with the horrible in flight entertainment. Frankly, most phones aren't designed to be audible over the engine noise so either people would have noise cancelling headsets, or they'd end up screaming at their phone.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Bullshit. Not even close to that loud in the cabin. If it was 105 in the cabin...a 14 hour flight from ORD to shanghai would have destroyed my hearing
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My measurements state to the contrary. I take noise cancelling headsets with me for just this reason. Bottom line is there is ZERO reason to not allow the phone calls.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Bullshit. Not even close to that loud in the cabin. If it was 105 in the cabin...a 14 hour flight from ORD to shanghai would have destroyed my hearing
Click to expand...
I think it gets pretty close, lots of articles reference 105db during takeoff on a jet, but I've flown in turboprops that sound much louder. I think one of the factors is the frequency of the noise, a lot of the vibration is very low frequency so you don't feel it, while jets spin in the high frequency range and turboprops are right in our sensitive band around 1khz, i definitely feel that my hearing is impacted after those flights. Hearing damage is very frequency specific. These are definitely above what OSHA considers ok for long term exposure so I don't know.
 
Flying a lot for business; I am THRILLED that this is off the table. Flying is bad enough with Noise Cancelling Headphones to drown out the children and some adults who blast their ipad's. I do like Miikun's idea of using our own data plans to surf and such.
 
If you think that Asian doctor was messed up by the police getting dragged out of the plane, you better see how the person next to me talking on the phone loud enough to get over cabin noise is going to end up after yapping on their phone for an hour....
 
I'm confused as to why the FCC is going back on their ruling to make us feel better. The FCC should only be stepping in if the cell connections would cause problems with the airplanes computer systems or something of the sort.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the jackass sitting next to me screaming into his phone for the length of my flight, but the government shouldn't restrict our ability to use cellphones due to your feelings being hurt. This would be like the TSA making a new rule saying I can't wear a yellow shirt on a plane because people don't like to look at it...
 
Because a lot of airplanes had built in phones to the seats where you could already have a conversation with whomever you wanted to since the 70s and it was never an issue.

airplane-phone.jpg

Please save us.
 
It's too loud in a plane for you to be trying to yap on your phone and bothering everyone else.
 
virtualheretic said:
I'm confused as to why the FCC is going back on their ruling to make us feel better. The FCC should only be stepping in if the cell connections would cause problems with the airplanes computer systems or something of the sort.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the jackass sitting next to me screaming into his phone for the length of my flight, but the government shouldn't restrict our ability to use cellphones due to your feelings being hurt. This would be like the TSA making a new rule saying I can't wear a yellow shirt on a plane because people don't like to look at it...
Click to expand...

Frankly, people are too stupid to understand decency rules on airplanes anyway. Thus, I don't mind the government stepping in on this one.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Bullshit. Not even close to that loud in the cabin. If it was 105 in the cabin...a 14 hour flight from ORD to shanghai would have destroyed my hearing
Click to expand...

Agree'd. No way it's that loud in the cabin.

Now, in the Cessna 152-2 I used to fly.... Another Story :)
 
Hypergreatthing said:
Because a lot of airplanes had built in phones to the seats where you could already have a conversation with whomever you wanted to since the 70s and it was never an issue.

airplane-phone.jpg

Please save us.
Click to expand...

Yes, but the Airlines can't rape us with massive phone fee's if we have our own phone's. That's what this is REALLY about.
 
TechLarry said:
Yes, but the Airlines can't rape us with massive phone fee's if we have our own phone's. That's what this is REALLY about.
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You know how many calls I've needed to make on my 15 or so flights last year? None. Life can wait for a couple hours.
 
I am glad. I don't want to sit on a plane where everyone is on the phone because it's suddenly cheaper to do so.
 
a moment of silence on a plane means everything is shut down, which would then be followed by screaming so no, not even then is a plane silent.

Headphones....those have worked great for me.
 
Data would be dope. Calls not so much.

Also I can't remember the last time I even saw a phone on a plane. I used one once when I was very young because of plane problems. Shit had to have cost $3/m.
 
So onboard a commercial plane is the only place I can get away from women on cell phones.
 
kju1 said:
My measurements state to the contrary. I take noise cancelling headsets with me for just this reason. Bottom line is there is ZERO reason to not allow the phone calls.
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You can't think of a single reason?
 
Good. People are obnoxious and inconsiderate enough to each other already.
 
stelonous said:
You know how many calls I've needed to make on my 15 or so flights last year? None. Life can wait for a couple hours.
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There have been several times I've needed to make calls on planes in years past -- specifically, when we have been delayed circling the airport for two hours and I'm letting someone know when to pick me up. I've used the seat back phones numerous times, and, yes, the charges are utterly obscene.

That said, most planes have an option for inflight WiFi anymore and I have easy text access through an SMS portal, so that covers most needs via my laptop.

As far as that goes, g729 is probably low enough bandwidth to work too, although the latency is probably horrendous and upping the jitter buffer might be necessary.

I already have an in home asterisk server plus OpenVPN, so I may have to connect my phone and see how well it works on my next flight.
 
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kju1 said:
A moment of quiet at 30,000 feet only occurs when the engines quit. Otherwise your looking at 95-105 decibels in cruise and 115+ on takeoff. Quiet my ass...
Click to expand...

Look the engines don't have loud conversations about shit that shouldn't be public discourse combined with inane, incessant prattling to people who are probably ignoring you anyway.
 
If the company that runs the planes wants to prevent you from talking on the phone during a flight, then that's their issue to deal with. Why the hell would the FCC be involved if it doesn't pose a communications safety threat? Maybe the FCC should ban using a cell phone while in a bakery or at a bus stop while they're at it.
 
Megalith said:
You won’t be able to annoy everyone in your cabin with an hours-long mobile phone conversation after all, as the FCC has just killed their 2013 proposal for allowing cell phone calls on planes. The plan drew obvious criticism from both passengers and airline workers; I don’t know why it was even considered.

…FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday killed his agency's 2013 proceeding that sought to relax rules governing the use of mobile phones on airplanes. Under the FCC proposal, airlines would have decided if they allowed mobile phone conversations during flights. "I stand with airline pilots, flight attendants, and America's flying public against the FCC's ill-conceived 2013 plan to allow people to make cell phone calls on planes," Pai said a statement. "I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest. Taking it off the table permanently will be a victory for Americans across the country who, like me, value a moment of quiet at 30,000 feet."
Click to expand...


I thought it was the FAA.

I didn't know the FCC was trying to stick their noses into this one.
 
Again, "I'm really begining to HATE Ajir Pai"

The man is a moron or in the pocket of big industry.

But luckily you can use your airline seat phone and cheesy video games for $4.99/minute.
 
kju1 said:
My measurements state to the contrary. I take noise cancelling headsets with me for just this reason. Bottom line is there is ZERO reason to not allow the phone calls.
Click to expand...

I disagree completely. If I can sit and talk with other passengers in polite conversation then I sure as hell can here someone talking on their phone. I don't want to hear the babel of several people sitting around me bored all yapping on their phones in one-way conversations.
 
fadedlogic said:
Flying a lot for business; I am THRILLED that this is off the table. Flying is bad enough with Noise Cancelling Headphones to drown out the children and some adults who blast their ipad's. I do like Miikun's idea of using our own data plans to surf and such.
Click to expand...

Just load the planes up with a NAS and let us stream from their available shows or play a game on our phones and tablets, read our books or ebooks. The only time this kind of entertainment plays out is on really long flights, like the ones I had to endure to fly to Korea and back, 12 to 16 hours and entertainment just looses out to your need to get out of the damned plane all together.
 
wise decision. allowing voice calls in the air would have produced much blood shed.
 
TechLarry said:
Yes, but the Airlines can't rape us with massive phone fee's if we have our own phone's. That's what this is REALLY about.
Click to expand...
No it's not. Those phones are long gone and if you use your phone on the plane, I'm certain you won't be getting to use your anytime minutes in the friendly skies. Cell towers don't reach planes once they're up in the air. Since we have competing tech, I'd assume that they'd use VOIP for phone calls and you'd probably be paying at least 50 cents a minute. That said, you could probably make a call now if you paid for data service. I know my sprint phone works over WiFi, but I've never paid for internet on a plane (I have music and videos...don't want/need data).
 
lcpiper said:
Just load the planes up with a NAS and let us stream from their available shows or play a game on our phones and tablets, read our books or ebooks. The only time this kind of entertainment plays out is on really long flights, like the ones I had to endure to fly to Korea and back, 12 to 16 hours and entertainment just looses out to your need to get out of the damned plane all together.
Click to expand...
They already do that on planes that don't have seat-back entertainment systems (though I don't know if that includes games).
 
Bah, it wouldn't have made a difference worth a tinker's dam in the real world if they did allow calls. I fly enough to know that around half the people on a flight, except for the short hops, use headphones anyway. The longer the flight, the more likely people are wearing headphones. Inverse to age as well, younger = more likely. Most adults who do wear them are either watching a show or listening to music, sometimes while working.
 
kju1 said:
My measurements state to the contrary. I take noise cancelling headsets with me for just this reason. Bottom line is there is ZERO reason to not allow the phone calls.
Click to expand...

But the noise level would only get worse, plus you have security concerns on top of that.

virtualheretic said:
I'm confused as to why the FCC is going back on their ruling to make us feel better. The FCC should only be stepping in if the cell connections would cause problems with the airplanes computer systems or something of the sort.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the jackass sitting next to me screaming into his phone for the length of my flight, but the government shouldn't restrict our ability to use cellphones due to your feelings being hurt. This would be like the TSA making a new rule saying I can't wear a yellow shirt on a plane because people don't like to look at it...
Click to expand...

It is increasing the likelihood of issues coming about from it. If everyone is yelling into their phones to be heard over other people they are less likely to hear something they need to hear and also upsetting people around them and causing for more frustrated passengers.


Seventyfive said:
Just set your phone to the in flight wifi and use something like google voice to make a VOIP call... problem solved.
Click to expand...

that is not allowed either. You are not able to make any type of call.
 
Miikun said:
I think it gets pretty close, lots of articles reference 105db during takeoff on a jet, but I've flown in turboprops that sound much louder. I think one of the factors is the frequency of the noise, a lot of the vibration is very low frequency so you don't feel it, while jets spin in the high frequency range and turboprops are right in our sensitive band around 1khz, i definitely feel that my hearing is impacted after those flights. Hearing damage is very frequency specific. These are definitely above what OSHA considers ok for long term exposure so I don't know.
Click to expand...

Sigh....I worked in aerospace. It doesn't. Cabin noise can NEVER be allowed to cause ear damage. It is against code, regulation, and every single fucking design principal. Keep spinning up shit by grabbing left and right with your holiday inn experience.

Hint: maximum nominal noise is 85 dB during take off and ~70-75 dB during most other modes of flight. Crashing might be the exception. There are occasional peaks up to 90 dB but those are measured in seconds. If an aircraft didn't meet those specs it would not be certified for revenue flight.
 
The noise during a typical plane journey can vary significantly. Take-off and landing are the loudest moments, when noise levels inside the cabin can reach 105 decibels (dB). At cruising altitudes, noise drops to around 85 dB, says Pamela Mason of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Long exposure to 85 dB can cause temporary hearing problems. “Many people notice tinnitus – ringing in the ear – following a long flight, an early symptom of noise damage,” says Mason. And if noise goes higher than 90 dB for eight or more hours per day, it may lead to permanent hearing loss, warns the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). On older aircraft, or towards the back of a plane, noise levels can often get close to this threshold.
Click to expand...

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140226-tricks-for-a-peaceful-flight
 
Trepidati0n said:
Sigh....I worked in aerospace. It doesn't. Cabin noise can NEVER be allowed to cause ear damage. It is against code, regulation, and every single fucking design principal. Keep spinning up shit by grabbing left and right with your holiday inn experience.

Hint: maximum nominal noise is 85 dB during take off and ~70-75 dB during most other modes of flight. Crashing might be the exception. There are occasional peaks up to 90 dB but those are measured in seconds. If an aircraft didn't meet those specs it would not be certified for revenue flight.
Click to expand...
There is absolutely no way that it's 70-75db. Cars typically have 85db and planes are definitely louder than that. Next flight I take, I'm bringing my DB meter (not that I'll remember to post it in this thread ;) )
 
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