Foreign Airlines Ahead of U.S. on Cellphone Use By JOE SHARKEY September 29, 2009
Cellphone use on airplanes, it would seem, is on extended hold in the United States. The national union representing flight attendants wants Congress to ban in-flight phone calls, and survey after survey of airline passengers shows strong opposition to allowing cellphones on planes. So while domestic airlines rush to wire their cabins to provide in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity, there is no indication whether, or when, passengers in the United States might be able to make a cellphone call at 37,000 feet. In much of the rest of the world, meanwhile, passengers on various foreign airlines are already routinely using cellphones and other personal wireless devices to make and receive calls in flight. Industry officials say cellphones can be used on more than 15,000 flights a month. Despite dire warnings that cellphone use on planes would unleash social turbulence and possibly even violence in the cabin, there have been remarkably few complaints so far, industry executives and passengers say. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/technology/29phones.html *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
