Go ahead, send that all-important text.
(Credit: Airbus)British Airways announced this week that it would initiate limited cell phone use on an upcoming route between London and New York City. Voice calls will not be permitted, but passengers will be allowed to send and receive text messages and e-mails.
The airline will limit the service to twice-daily flights between London City Airport and New York's JFK that are due to start in September. The all-business class route is flown by a narrow-body Airbus A318 aircraft that must make a stop in Ireland on the westbound leg. The configuration will allow for just 32 seats.
British Airways didn't disclose pricing for the service, but we wouldn't be surprised if it was included in the price of the business-class ticket. Though avoiding the trek to Heathrow may attract busy financial titans shuttling between The City and Wall Street, the price of a ticket is not expected to be cheap.
Other airlines have experimented with in-flight cell phone use, including Ryanair, Qantas, Air France, and Emirates. Only Emirates allows voice calls onboard, but other airlines, British Airways included, say they might permit in-flight talking, depending on passenger feedback.
(Source: Daily Telegraph via PhoneSccop)
Quiet please: A House committee has moved to prohibit in-flight cell phone use.
(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)A House of Representatives committee threw another hurdle into the path of in-flight cell phone use Thursday, when it voted to ban the use permanently. By a voice vote, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace(or Hang Up) Act, which was introduced earlier this year by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).
The legislation, which now moves to the full House for consideration, would prohibit "voice communications using communications devices on scheduled flights," with exceptions for flight crew members and a federal law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity. In-flight texting, Wi-Fi, and e-mail on airplanes would not be affected.
In a statement, DeFazio said that not only is cell phone use aloft an annoyance, but also that airlines should be stopped from using in-flight talking as a potential revenue source. "With airline customer satisfaction at an all time low, this is not the time to consider making airplane travel even more torturous," he said. "Polls show the public overwhelmingly doesn't want to be subjected to people talking on their cell phones on increasingly over-packed airplanes." During the hearing, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) lodged a dissenting voice, saying, "You are trying to legislate courtesy, folks, and that just doesn't work."
... Read more
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.
Now arriving, phones on a plane
(Credit: Philippe Noret/AirTeamimages)Sorry I missed this one, but in the rush to close out before Christmas, I overlooked that Air France finally is ready to start its six-month study of inflight cell phone service via satellite. As I told you last April, Air France is partnering with a company called OnAir to run the trial on one of its airplanes. The trial will gauge passenger reaction to inflight use, which Air France will then use to determine if the program should be extended to more of its fleet.
The chosen aircraft, an Airbus A318, is a short-range plane used only on intra-European flights, so you won't be seeing the service on any intercontinental journeys. And in any case, the FCC's continued ban on cell phones would nix any mile-high talking in U.S. airspace. Air France took possession of the jet in late spring of last year, but the airline needed several months to get the program off the ground (so to speak).
During the first three months of the study, passengers will be allowed only to send text messages and e-mails. But during the second three months (originally the study was scheduled to last a year), passengers will be allowed to make voice calls. According to Wi-Fi Net News, calls can only be made above 10,000 feet and depending on passenger feedback, cabin crew can disable the service--available through a cable that runs the length of the plane--at any time. As you may expect, the satellite calls will be $2.50 per minute. Also, passengers will not know they're flying on the test aircraft until after they board.
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