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FCC, FAA Still Don't Want Cell Phones on Planes

mattnyc99 writes "Last month we learned that the UK has approved in-flight mobile, effective immediately. Popular Mechanics has a follow-up on why the phones-on-planes ban is here to stay in the United States. Statements from the FCC and FAA confirm that any chance to overturn it remains dead on arrival — even though new "pico-cell" networks cut down interference with phones on the ground. American Airlines is looking like it will have onboard Wi-Fi within the next couple months, just the same. PM does note, however, that if the European mobile rollout is a success, US carriers might just have to give into demand."

19 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. Funny that. by Wowsers · · Score: 4, Funny

    What a strange co-incidence, I don't want phones on a plane either. I don't want to hear 400 calls of "Hello, you never guess where I'm calling from."

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
    1. Re:Funny that. by 4D6963 · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Hello, you never guess where I'm calling from."

      "Can.. Can you hear me now? ... Can you hear me now?"

      --
      You just got troll'd!
  2. Re:I don't want to listen to my neighbor on a plan by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 3, Funny

    I spend almost 3 hours a day on commuter trains. My most hated phrase, ever, is "NO!! I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME!! I'M ON THE TRAIN!!"

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  3. Re:Ill pass, thanks. by bcat24 · · Score: 4, Funny

    i cannot imagine how horrible a 3 hour delay on the aircraft will be then! wifi i can see, laptops, internet = good. Cellphones = bad.

    And when I make VoIP calls using a microphone..?

    You better hope I'm not sitting behind you when you try that. (Last time I checked, cluesticks weren't on the list of banned weapons. :D)
  4. I hate loud stupid Cellphone users by zymano · · Score: 3, Funny

    These also show up at the library and bookstores.

    STFU already.

    Someone needs to tell off these annoying Aholes. Especially women who babble endlessly about stupid trifling crap.

    I about blew my lid at the library once. There is a big sign that even says turn off your phones , guess what , they still IGNORE it.

    And those stupid ringtones!!!

    Start fining these assholes!

    1. Re:I hate loud stupid Cellphone users by 4D6963 · · Score: 2, Funny

      And those stupid ringtones!!! Start fining these assholes!

      I agree, it's about time the government does something about these people are obviously unable to decide what's a ringtone and what's a cheesy song you should only listen to when you're home alone and with headphones on.

      I suggest a few categories in order to define fines. Category A would be stupid rap and pop songs, with a $10 fine, Category B would be really cheesy love songs and the likes, $25 fine, and Category C would be Crazy Frog, make it a 3-strike felony.

      Anyone caught in 2008 with Crazy Frog as their cell phone ringtone deserves 25-to-life. Really.

      --
      You just got troll'd!
  5. Technical difficulties by Corpuscavernosa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Verizon has enough problems switching between towers without dropping calls while I'm moving in my car. On a plane? Shit...

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    We figured out a long time ago that it's easier to elect seven judges than to elect 132 legislators.
  6. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by bluemetal · · Score: 3, Funny

    I agree. As if screaming babies weren't enough.

  7. What good is onboard Wi-Fi if... by stewbacca · · Score: 2, Funny
    ...you don't have any flights?

    American Airlines is looking like it will have onboard Wi-Fi within the next couple months, American Airlines is looking like it won't have any flights left, after canceling over 1000 flights this week so far.
  8. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Funny

    Imagine a two hour flight with everyone talking to their hands. Or the ones with blinking blue cockroaches in their ears talking to the seat in front of them. No thanks.

    For serious. I don't care what their excuse is, maintain the ban on cellphones! I've even pretended to agree with the technical reasons for the ban before when someone has asked me. "Oh, cell phones? Oh yeah, the FAA is right, they'll fuck a plane up. All those e-m wave frequencies can interfere with the avionics, and the tachyons generated will totally reverse the polarity of the flux capacitor."

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    The enemies of Democracy are
  9. I got the solution right here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If they start allowing cellphones on planes, then from now on every time I am scheduled to fly somewhere, I will ensure that I eat a couple of bean burritos before boarding the plane. If the person sitting next to me on the flight starts yapping on the phone and disturbing me, then I'll start farting at them.

  10. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by Loki_1929 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "In-flight wifi, on the other hand, sounds far more promising. I can imagine it being used for some really awesome things, like movie rentals that work directly with your laptop.

    Or voice over IP via a bluetooth headset paired to the laptop.

    Wait a minute... D'OH!

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    -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
  11. Missing the real point by Gription · · Score: 3, Funny

    The real issue weapons on planes...

    Think about it. If they allowed people to yammer away (loudly) on their cells on airplanes (where we can't get away from them) the FAA/TSA would have to let us take our guns on the plane to shut them up!

  12. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Okay. Tell us some of the things you DO like so we can fuck with them.

    Well, I like you.

  13. Re:I don't want to listen to my neighbor on a plan by PitaBred · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd say that they're just as safe as any cell phone would be. They don't use much more power. The trick would be getting something that looks like a remote bomb detonator through security.

  14. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by mustafap · · Score: 2, Funny

    >People don't *like* having their homes burglarized.

    The word you are looking for is burgled.

    Burglarized is when someone breaks in and redecorates.

    --
    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
  15. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by Rival · · Score: 5, Funny

    we unfortunately sometimes have to enforce courtesy. There is precedent, even. Talk too loudly for too long in a cinema, and they will remove you. It seems to me like that would work just as well on a plane.
  16. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by uranus65 · · Score: 2, Funny

    My dad seemed to think that speaking louder made one more understandable to non-English speaking people.

  17. Re:I don't want cell phones on planes. by Rakarra · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lucky. On my last plane flight I walked down the aisle towards my seat, noting there was screaming baby towards the front of the plane.. annoying, but fortunately 10 rows away from my seat. When I finally got to my seat though, I noticed it had been taken. There was an old Chinese couple who were tourists sitting in my seat and the seat next to it, and from what I gathered by examining their tickets they had bought seats separately and so were located on opposite ends of the plane. But they seemed rather nervous (probably because they were stealing my seat) and seemed (feigned?) to speak no English and very clearly did not want to be separated). So rather than make a scene, I agreed to switch tickets (the thought of spending the next four hours sitting next to an angry Chinese tourist didn't appeal either). So I walked back to where the woman was supposed to be sitting and settled down... in the seat directly in front of the howling baby. I got owned.