Things I have always wanted to know: Cell Phones

[EndangeredSpecies]

4 hours ago, bundwallah said:

No real basis behind the claim.  After certain altitudes, they won't work. Period.  Some potential for interference with radio communications exists.  It's probably touted as a line to keep distractions down during takeoff and landings where the cells are still in range.  Ever been on a bus or subway train with numerous people chatting on their phones loudly?  It's far more annoying stuck in a flying tube.   My guess is that its a BS line to keep passengers alert during the two most precarious stages of a flight.

I would tend to agree. I wouldn't want to be stuck on a plane with several people talking loudly on their phones because they are about to takeoff/land and feel the need to tell someone. 

[gweilgi]

19 hours ago, toofargone said:

Don't most aeroplanes have a USB port in the seat handle so you can keep them charged?

It doesn't really bother me, I just turn it to plane mode, it's not like you can get a signal at 40,000 feet anyway.

I may be outing myself as a grumpy old fart here, but I rather like not having phone reception on planes.  It's nice to have a few places left where the general public is being spared the annoyance of having to share the intimate details of someone else's phone conversation willy-nilly.  Not all of us enjoy it all the time to be treated to the LOUD emotional ructions of a relationship breakup of total strangers, or to have handed sensitive commercial information shoved down our ears by people who appear to be labouring under the delusion that because they are having a private conversation on the mobile, everyone within shouting distance is mystically struck stone deaf.  It's bad enough to have to suffer through this in restaurants, on the streets, in toilets, on public transport .... 

[Ken Gargett]

i remember when 'west wing' first came on - i think it might have even been the first or second episode - and grumpy toby is on a plane being told to get off his phone. he is telling the stewardess to bugger off as he is on the phone to the white house. she does not care.

finally, he switches it off and then looks at her and says, words to the effect, 'do you really think that something i can buy at radio shack for a few bucks can bring down a plane?'

i have that pop into the mind every time we get the phone off bit.

but little point arguing. the stewardesses neither care nor could argue why.

and rob, if you think you were the first to ask that question, i can assure you that they have heard it all a thousand times. i suspect 'that stumped her' was really her look for 'not another complete tosser' and then she went off and spat in your drink.

[Philc2001]

I've read a few different articles about consumer electronics and cell phones interfering with cockpit and plane communications, but in every case I recall reading it was confirmed to be a myth. I think the FAA has kept these rules as a precaution, but has never really brought a case to confirm there is any significant risk. 

 

[NSXCIGAR]

4 hours ago, gweilgi said:

I may be outing myself as a grumpy old fart here, but I rather like not having phone reception on planes.  It's nice to have a few places left where the general public is being spared the annoyance of having to share the intimate details of someone else's phone conversation willy-nilly...

I think that's become the primary argument for sustaining the bans at this point. The danger argument, as I've outlined above, is ultimately a pretty weak one. 

That being said, since cell phones won't generally work at 30,000 feet, the only way calls can be made is VoIP, and that is still prohibited by most if not all airlines, I believe. It is quite odd, as I think most of us recall the phones embedded in the back of the headrests in many commercial flights in the 90s that cost $3+ per minute to use. So phone use then was apparently judged an acceptable amenity but today, we can't stand people using a phone on a plane?

I'm on the fence on this one. I suppose there is a good argument for the peace of call-free flights, but to me there's no difference between the idiot who won't shut up while talking to other passengers and one who's talking on a cell phone or VoIP. Perhaps there could be an airline policy of "brief" calls only--maybe 5 or 10 minute max calls. Not sure how that would be enforced though. It's an interesting question, and one that may be addressed sooner than later as the bans on calls are an airline policy that can be changed at any time, and with plenty of competition, an airline might experiment with a test-run which might prove successful, causing others to jump on the bandwagon. You'd have to think though that if the bans have lasted this long that the airlines' market research is telling them it's not something passengers are clamoring for.