Cell phones on planes: Part three

French on plane

(Credit: Philippe Noret/AirTeamimages)

Fasten your seat belts and put in those earplugs as cell phones may be coming to airplanes sooner than you think. Air France will join Qantas in implementing a trial program that will allow passengers to use their mobiles while in the air. Like Qantas Air France will run the trial on just one aircraft (in this case an Airbus A318) but the French program will for six months, which is twice as long as the Qantas study. For the first half of the trial passengers will be allowed only to send text messages and e-mail but for the last three months flyers will be able to make voice calls as well.

That makes Air France the first airline in the world to allow in-flight calling from cell phones. At the end of each flight passengers will fill out a questionnaire for feedback on the service. I wonder if one of the questions will be: "Did you want to shove that person sitting next to you out the window?"

Since the A318 is a short-haul aircraft the trial will not be available on Transatlantic or other long distance flights. And in any case, the FCC's ban for the United States is still in place. But if the program is successful Air France said it could bring cell phone use to its entire fleet. Yikes.

Crave is not a fan of inflight cell phone use (nor is your average flight attendant) but we did find a silver lining to this story. Since cell phone towers don't reach thousands of feet into the air the cellular signals will be converted into satellite communications that will vault into space and then connect to a ground network. Consequently, calls could cost up to $2.50, which could deter a lot of chatterboxes. Yet the description of the technology did make us a bit nervous. The cable that runs the length of the plane and does the signal conversion is called a "leaky cable." I just don't want anything "leaky" on my flight unless it's the galley coffee pot.

[smokeonit]

internet too?

is there gonna be internet offered onthose filghts too???

like the conexxion service???

i don't care for cell service, but internet @ a reasonable price is killer...
conexxion on the lufthansa flights was so nice.... being able to chat on AIM or
download a movie or TV series that i had to finish via bittorrent was way
cool... also live tracking via fboweb was very nice;-)

[smokeonit]

internet too?

is there gonna be internet offered onthose filghts too???

like the conexxion service???

i don't care for cell service, but internet @ a reasonable price is killer...
conexxion on the lufthansa flights was so nice.... being able to chat on AIM or
download a movie or TV series that i had to finish via bittorrent was way
cool... also live tracking via fboweb was very nice;-)

[myth90045]

No Chatting

I dont know what will happen if I have to go overseas and listen to people chat on their phones. People on planes get mad when a baby cries, how would they reacted if someone was talking loudly on the phone? but the internet on airplanes would be nice. I wouldnt mind paying for internet service if it was a good deal. I can d/l music and update my ipod with more recent songs if I had to. that would be cool!!

[myth90045]

No Chatting

I dont know what will happen if I have to go overseas and listen to people chat on their phones. People on planes get mad when a baby cries, how would they reacted if someone was talking loudly on the phone? but the internet on airplanes would be nice. I wouldnt mind paying for internet service if it was a good deal. I can d/l music and update my ipod with more recent songs if I had to. that would be cool!!

[GraysonBuzz]

I don't get the cell phone backlash

People often complain about others' use of cell phones. This time it just happens to be on airplanes. I do not really get the animosity. I have to listen to others talking or, as noted, babies crying. How is listening to someone talk on their cell phone really any different? Sure, some people talk a little louder, but, then again, so do some people in regular face-to-face conversation. If people want silence, they probably should not enclose themselves in a long metal tube for several hours with hundreds of other people.

[GraysonBuzz]

I don't get the cell phone backlash

People often complain about others' use of cell phones. This time it just happens to be on airplanes. I do not really get the animosity. I have to listen to others talking or, as noted, babies crying. How is listening to someone talk on their cell phone really any different? Sure, some people talk a little louder, but, then again, so do some people in regular face-to-face conversation. If people want silence, they probably should not enclose themselves in a long metal tube for several hours with hundreds of other people.

[photog_7]

SAR Radiation?

I'm a guy who wears a headset to avoid radiation from my cell phone when I talk on it for more than a minute or two. Now the way they cram people into planes like sardines, I can picture myself squeezed in between six people using cell phones in the seats around me, two of which are within a foot or two of my head. Perhaps a hundred or more people within 40 feet of me are transmitting cell phone signals. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

[photog_7]

SAR Radiation?

I'm a guy who wears a headset to avoid radiation from my cell phone when I talk on it for more than a minute or two. Now the way they cram people into planes like sardines, I can picture myself squeezed in between six people using cell phones in the seats around me, two of which are within a foot or two of my head. Perhaps a hundred or more people within 40 feet of me are transmitting cell phone signals. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!