This may be the end of quiet plane flights

It may not be long before cellphone calls come to an airplane near you. The government finally decided to allow cell phones to be used over air after Congress passed a law back in 2007 that prevented it, but after 9/11, the Department of Transportation decided to put a moratorium on the use of cell phones over the air. Almost 10 years later, regulation body the Federal Communications Commission lifted the ban on Friday, allowing for cell phones to be used on airplanes.

It’s not hard to find analysts who are thrilled about the potential of placing calls over the airwaves, perhaps more thrilled than the airlines themselves who have been fighting the proposal. Airbus, which makes the A330 airliner that will allow calls on board, is feeling good about the situation. “This is great news for travelers,” said Matthias Berthold, the head of Europe’s aviation industry body IATA, calling the choice “a no-brainer.”

But there are also people, like photographer Lauren Paradis, who believe that it will probably be a one-way street. “I don’t think I’d ever want to make or receive a call while on a plane. I might talk to people like when I fly on WiFi, where there’s a lot more bandwidth,” she told Epoch Times, pointing out that sometimes it is inconvenient to be sitting close to a monitor on an airplane, then be interrupted by a call. “That’s how I would like to keep it, a calm moment,” she added.

If you just can’t handle the thought of having all your conversations over a wire, think twice before bringing your phone with you. Cellphones use very little or no data, so they will use less power than what an airline’s Wi-Fi provider provides. So when it comes to cell phone usage, talk in your seat, don’t talk while flying.

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