FCC to consider in-flight use of cell phones (CNN/Money)
Federal regulators are set to begin discussions later this month on allowing the use of cell phones on commercial airline flights. The Federal Communications Commission said that at its Dec. 15 meeting it will discuss possible revisions to rules prohibiting cell phone use on commercial flights. That’s the first step of the process needed to lift the ban.
Cell phone use has been banned due to concerns about how it could affect an aircraft’s navigation. And cell phones sometimes have trouble working when the plane is at cruising altitude because phone towers aren’t built to project their signals that high. The FCC rules have less to do with the effects on a plane’s navigation than concerns that cell phones on planes could wreak havoc with cell phone systems on the ground. While the FCC will start considering the issue next week, don’t expect a decision anytime soon. The agency will have a lengthy review period, and according to one FCC spokesperson, this review period will last well into next year. Ultimately however, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will make its own decision.
The FAA says there’s no proof that cell phone use on commercial flights is safe and is currently conducting its own studies. The issue is whether the signals from the phones will interfere with the pilot’s ability to navigate the plane. The RTCA, an organization that advises the FAA on technical matters, has been researching this issue. Their final report is scheduled for 2006. That report will then factor in the FAA decision, therefore a decision before 2006 would be unlikely.
One would think there would need to be some proof that cell use on planes is dangerous–not proof of the negative, that they’re safe–for a ban to be enacted in the first place. That it’s been banned as long as it has and they haven’t even finished their study is rather damning.
Of course, there’s this to consider:
But the idea of having cell phones allowed on flights worried some flyers, who said they dreaded being next to someone having a loud and prolonged conversation. “Can you imagine being in the middle seat between two business people making phone calls for 3 hours?” said Les Glass in an e-mail to CNN/Money. “What are the airlines and the FCC thinking?”
Good point. Hell, it’s aggravating enough at the airport, with people giving minute-by-minute accounts of their progress in boarding the plane.
