More cell phones take flight
February 2010
Oman Air has become the latest airline to allow the use of cell phones in flight. With a growing number of airlines now permitting conversations at 35,000 feet and no ensuing incidents of air rage, have the objections to mobile phones in flight been tempered?
From mid-February, Oman Air will offer mobile phone and internet service in all cabins of its A330 fleet of aircraft. As with other airlines permitting in-flight mobile phone use, availability of the service will be controlled by the airline's crew to ensure that the quietest periods of the flights remain just that – quiet.
The EU gave the OK for in-flight mobile phone use back in April of 2008. Since then, British Airways (flights from London City Airport), Lufthansa, Air France and others have decided to allow SMS text messaging, web surfing and email exchanges but no voice calls, even those made over Internet connections. Emirates Airlines began allowing in-flight voice calls on some of its flights in 2008. Qantas, Malaysia Airlines and Ryanair have tested and implemented some form of the technology on several of their flights, but not all airlines have opted for the use of cell phones in flight even after successful tests.
What's kept the chatter down? It's probably a combination of things. Though each EU carrier is free to implement the technology to allow cell phones in flight, not all decide to go through the expense. Objections from passengers of legacy carriers have limited most on-board communication services to text messaging, web browsing and email exchanges. Phone calls in flight, which would probably incur international roaming charges, could get expensive enough to discourage their widespread use. The U.S. still maintains a ban on cell phone calls in flight.
What seems to be clear is that the creation of shielded mini-networks inside of aircraft have mitigated concerns over mobile phone use in flight because the calls go over a protected network and do not go bouncing off of multiple phone towers on the ground. This helps ease concerns over interference with aircraft navigational equipment. Some aviation analysts have argued that the real concern was that phone service providers would not know how to charge a customer whose calls ricocheted off of the equipment of multiple carriers. It's interesting how suddenly a safe, proprietary system that allows airlines and phone companies to easily charge users for the service can quell a heated debate.
Have you been on a flight that allows passengers to talk on their mobile phones while in flight? Has your opinion changed one way or another now that it is becoming more prevalent?
Have your say via our fan page on Facebook, Twitter or our group on LinkedIn.
