Phones in flight: unfriendly skies

Editorial by Jacksonville Daily News, December 10, 2013.

Commercial airlines have been the last refuge from the ubiquity of cellphone chatter and text messages that just can’t wait. Call us Luddites of the worst sort, but we hope it stays that way.

The Federal Communications Communication on Thursday will consider whether to lift a more than two-decade ban on cellphone calls in flight (calls still would be prohibited during landing and takeoff).

That prohibition stemmed from fears that calls while in the air could interfere with cell towers on the ground, or with a plane’s navigation and communications systems. Improvements in technology have alleviated those concerns, and the FCC already has lifted a similar ban on electronic devices like tablets and e-readers while planes are under 10,000 feet.

Playing Angry Birds or reading a novel while airborne is one thing. A Boeing 767 loaded with 300-odd people jabbering on cellphones or clicking out texts with their thumbs is another. We’d imagine it would be like the third stage of Hades to many travelers who just want to get from one place to another in relative peace.

There’s been talk of “quiet rows” where cellphone conversation would be banned, but honestly, where can one really hide in a pressurized aluminum can at 30,000 feet?

Of course, there also are folks who simply cannot abide being disconnected for even one of the 86,400 seconds in a day. They’ve pushed for the ban to be lifted, and the FCC likely will do so. Its chairman, Tom Wheeler, said it was time to review the “outdated and restrictive rules,” even though he personally opposed permitting cellphone calls in flight.

However, if the FCC lifts the ban, airlines still would have the final call on whether to allow cellphone use on their planes. There have been predictions that carriers would jump at a potential new revenue stream.

Not so fast.

Delta plans to continue barring voice calls in flight, regardless of the FCC’s decision. Other carriers have said they will “explore” changes, but as JetBlue officials noted, “making the cabin comfortable and welcoming for all” will remain a priority.

The non-connected public also is speaking up. A petition against allowing cellphone use in flight on the White House’s website has drawn 2,000 signatures, and the largest flight attendant union in the U.S. has come out against it. (We’re sure attendants would rather not experience the nightmare of trying to interrupt umpteen phone calls to pass out coffee, tea or a magazine.)

Wheeler said the FCC should only be concerned about safety issues in making its decision. Luddites or not, a lot of people are making the point that just because something is safe doesn’t mean it’s desirable.

A version of this editorial first appeared in the Gadsden Times, a Halifax Media Group newspaper in Alabama.