FCC Votes to Consider Lifting Ban on Phones on Planes

Posted on Jan 6th 2014

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 last month to consider lifting its ban on in-flight cell phone use. On the same day, the federal Department of Transportation and three members of Congress took steps to block those calls.

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said in a statement to CNN that he is looking into the possibility of banning in-flight calls, citing its aviation consumer protection authority. The DOT will determine whether allowing calls is "fair to consumers."

Many people consider the idea of cell phone conversations annoying in the close confines of a plane, and some are casting it as a consumer rights issue.

According to a new poll by Airfarewatchdog.com, which tracks fares and fees, a majority of travelers said they'd be willing to pay extra to sit in a "Quiet Zone" if cell phone calls are permited in flight.

Of the 3,400 travelers asked if they'd pay a fee for a seat in a quiet zone, 53% said yes because they wouldn't "want to hear non-stop chatter" during a flight. The rest said they wouldn't pay a fee and "just grin and bear it."

"Over the past few weeks, we have heard of concerns raised by airlines, travelers, flight attendants, members of Congress and others who are all troubled over the idea of passengers talking on cell phones in flight -- and I am concerned about this possibility, as well," Foxx said.

The FCC has banned in-flight calls for technical reasons. But new technology has made that ban obsolete, the commission says, and there's no reason to continue it.

"I'm the last person in the world who wants to listen to someone talking to me while I fly across the country," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler -- who proposed the change -- told a congressional panel Thursday. "But we are the technical agency, and we will make the rules for the way the new technology works."

The current requirement that cell phones may not be used in-flight would actually be expanded to include all bands, said Wheeler, unless airlines install new on-board equipment that prevents interference with terrestrial networks.

"The proposal would not require airlines to either install such equipment, or to offer mobile wireless services aboard their aircraft" he said. "Airlines would be free, within the confines of the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Transportation (DOT), to make their own decisions. We simply propose that because new technology makes the old rule obsolete the FCC should get government out from between airlines and their passengers."