Air France gets mixed reaction to in-flight calling

It's all up in the air.

(Credit: Philippe Noret/AirTeamimages)

The results of Air France's in-flight cell phone study are coming in, and The New York Times is reporting that the feedback isn't good. Poor sound quality, long waits for a connection, and shaky signals appear to be the norm. But even worse, only six passengers at a time can get a signal in order to avoid interfering with the aircraft's equipment.

According to the newspaper, one passenger had to wait a few minutes for the signal to pass between the antenna in the plane, a satellite, and the receiver on the ground. And even when he got a connection, the poor volume and voice quality prompted his caller to compare the conversation to "talking to a small robot." On a flight between Paris and Vienna, passengers had to try a few times to call the ground, while calls made from the ground to the air tended to go to voice mail, the paper said. Also, BlackBerry users were not able to send and receive e-mail.

Though I'm sure the kinks will be worked out, so far it sounds not worth the trouble, particularly considering the galling $4.72 (3 euros) per-minute charge. But Air France isn't the only airline toying with cell phone use while aloft. Qantas allows only texting on certain aircraft, and Ryanair said it is mulling in-flight calls as well. Emirates said it has already allowed voice calls on some flights and that it will expand the service to other aircraft in its fleet. Like the Air France system, the in-flight calls use a satellite system to connect with the ground. Existing cell phone towers can't reach 39,000 feet.

Back in the United States, the FCC is sticking with its ban on cell phone use, and last week a bill introduced into the House of Representatives bill proposed outlawing it outright. This is one area in the cell phone world where I'm quite happy for the United States to lag behind Europe.

[sammyb33]

Hopefully they don't fix the problems and this does not catch on. I'm all for having internet access on the plane but I rather not have to listen to someone elses phone call. Myspace Stuff

[sammyb33]

I hope this trend does not continue. It is hard enough being on a plane let alone with people talking on a phone next to you.Myspace Stuff

[Composer_1777]

Texting would be awesome! but in flight calls would make flying 10x's worse and how are you going to hear anyone with a rumbling plane engine.

[Portal12]

I have to agree with other people, if they allowed people to make cell phone calls on my 4 hour flights to Vegas, I'd snap. It's bad enough listening to every rush to make calls the second we land and taxi to the terminal.

I'd have to fly with a carrier that doesn't allow calls. Period.