Some of us get nervous if we’re not connected to our mobile devices. Others dream of an escape to a place where there are no phones and no internet.
If you’re in the latter category, you know that 30,000 feet above the ground is no longer one of those places. And it’s going to get worse.
In-sky wi-fi has been a thing for a while now and, despite slow initial take-up, the airlines that don’t currently offer it are now scrambling to do so.
But at least internet use is generally silent (assuming the user has earphones). What if people were allowed to talk on their phones in the sky?
It’s already happening in some places, and the American regulator, the FAA, seems poised to reconsider its ban on voice calls on aircraft.
As travel blogger Peter Greenberg explains here, technical obstacles have been overcome and “now the idea of allowing passengers to use their cell phones on flights is being actively considered”.
Greenberg notes that flight attendants hate the idea, and so do many frequent flyers.
For many people, it’s bad enough having the passenger beside you trying to strike up a conversation, let alone them shouting — and they will be shouting, because we all do — down a mobile phone line.
Footnote: Lufthansa is offering free wi-fi on some flights in Europe for a trial period.
A terrible idea, and sure to result in mile-high altercations. As movie-goers and bus riders know all too well, the modern world is stinko with oblivious, self-important cell phone abusers who inflict their guffaws and coarse inanities on all within earshot. I propose a compromise: texting = OK; voice, not so much.