The thought of cell phone chatter on cramped commercial airplanes is so unappetizing to some politicians that they're pushing for a more lasting ban.
At the moment, of course, federal rules prohibit in-flight use of cell phones for safety reasons, and federal regulators have appeared loathe to reconsider that stance, at least in recent months.
The chief sponsors of the new Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace--or Hang Up--Act, say their measure is necessary to keep things that way, particularly with the European Union's recent move to allow cell phone use on planes and more U.S. airlines experimenting with on-board Internet access.
"The public doesn't want to be subjected to people talking on their cell phones on an already overpacked airplane," said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), one of the bill's chief sponsors. "However, with Internet access just around the corner on U.S. flights, it won't be long before the ban on voice communications on in-flight planes is lifted."
The bill, which is also backed by Reps. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), John Duncan (R-Tenn.), and Thomas Petri (R-Wisc.), would limit its ban to "voice communications using a mobile-communications device," according to a copy seen by CNET News.com.
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That means that as surfing the Internet, e-mailing, and text-messaging capabilities become available on planes, they'll be permitted. (JetBlue, for one, has been testing in-flight e-mail and IM, while American Airlines and Virgin America are among the companies planning on-board broadband for a fee.) Talking on a "phone installed on an aircraft" would also be allowed.
Costello, who serves as chairman of a House aviation subcommittee, plans to hold hearings on the bill as soon as possible, according to a Contra Costa Times report.
To back up their position, the bill's sponsors cited a recent survey by the Association of Flight Attendants and the National Consumers League that found 63 percent of respondents opposed in-flight cell phone use.
The airline industry, for its part, would prefer not to keep its options open. The Air Transport Association, which represents all the major airlines, said in a statement quoted by the Contra Costa Times that decisions about in-flight communications "should be made by the individual airlines, based on passenger needs and preferences."
In the future, air travelers across the country will be able to get their boarding passes sent to their cell phones.
Continental is testing a new system that allows people checking in via their cell phone to get their boarding pass sent directly to their phones. The electronic boarding pass, which has an encrypted two-dimensional bar code, can be used instead of a paper boarding pass to get through airport security and to board planes, according to a story published Tuesday in The New York Times.
Several U.S. airlines, including American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, and Alaska, have already been allowing people to check-in for flights via their cell phones. But they still have to print out the tickets at a kiosk at the airport or a computer printer before they arrive at the airport. Continental is the first airline in the U.S. to test the new electronic passes.
Cell phone check-in and electronic boarding passes sound like a great idea to me. Whenever I travel, I try to check in online and print my boarding pass from home to avoid lines at the airport. But getting to a computer with a printer isn't always convenient. And more often than not, I find myself running late. I can't tell you how many times I've broken into a cold sweat sitting in the back seat of a taxi trying to get through the Midtown tunnel at rush hour to make my flight out of JFK. Checking in via cell phone and not worrying about printing my boarding pass would ease a lot of my last-minute travel anxieties.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks mobile check-in and digital boarding passes are a good idea. According to Henry H. Harteveldt, a vice president with Forrester Research, about 47 percent of frequent travelers are interested in using their phones for flight check-in, he told The New York Times. And about 42 percent said they'd be interested in using their mobile phone as a boarding pass.
The Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency that oversees security for airports, likes the electronic boarding passes too, because the two-dimensional bar codes are harder to forge than the one-dimensional bar codes that are used today on many tickets printed online.
The TSA has been working with Continental since December to test the new electronic boarding pass, the Times said. Continental is only using the new boarding pass technology on nonstop domestic flights out of its hub in Houston. But the airline will likely expand the service to other airports later this spring.
Harteveldt told the Times that a mobile check-in system also has other benefits. For example, airlines can communicate directly with passengers about on-board services, provide information about baggage pickup, allow passengers to upgrade or change seating, check standby status, and help rebook canceled or delayed flights directly from their cell phones.
All this sounds terrific for a busy traveler such as myself. But for all these services to work as advertised, indoor cell phone coverage will have to be beefed up in many airports. It also wouldn't hurt if airports added more power outlets. The worst thing that could happen is for my boarding pass to disappear before I can get on my flight because the battery on my cell phone died.
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.
Boeing's HALE (high altitude long endurance) unmanned aircraft runs on hydrogen fuel.
(Credit: Boeing)Boeing is reporting progress in simulation tests of its HALE (high altitude long endurance) aircraft, an unmanned plane that runs on hydrogen.
While it has not yet gone aloft, the propeller-driven HALE aircraft was able to run for a total of three days in a chamber that simulated flight at 65,000 feet. The eventual goal is to get it to fly for more than a week at a time with a one-ton payload.
The turbocharged hydrogen combustion engine, which was developed by Ford Motor, managed to maintained proper torque control while getting better than expected fuel usage, according to Boeing. Boeing was particularly impressed with the aircraft's endurance, according to a company statement this week.
The gasoline version of the engine is used in the Ford Fusion and Ford Escape hybrid vehicles, according to the automaker.
The HALE aircraft is a drone that could be used as a tool for border patrol, communication, telecommunications, general surveillance, battlefield intelligence gathering, reconnaissance missions, and port security.
UAVs are a hot field for development and actual use these days as an economical alternative to manned aircraft. The Pentagon is especially drawn to them: Just last month, the Air Force began flying the Reaper UAV--a bigger, more heavily armed version of the Predator--on missions in Afghanistan. The aircraft have civilian uses, too: NASA has its own (unarmed) version of the Predator, called Ikhana, that is being used to monitor fires in California.
Successful testing of the Boeing HALE aircraft could help convince people that hydrogen power is a viable option for aircraft, Boeing said.
(Credit:
Cafe Foundation)
SONOMA, Calif.--NASA awarded $250,000 in prize money this weekend to teams competing to build and fly a small-seat plane that could one day be a prototype for so-called air cars.
The Cafe Foundation, a nonprofit group of flight test engineers, held the NASA-sponsored race of personal aircraft vehicles (PAVs) on Saturday here at the Charles Schultz Sonoma County Airport. Four teams flying small two-seater planes competed against each other in six categories: speed, short takeoff, efficiency, handling, noise and overall best (or the vantage grand prize).
After all of the race data was tallied Saturday, NASA named its winners in the evening. The grand prize of $100,000 went to the team flying a slightly modified short-wing Pipistrel Virus, a Slovenia-built sport aircraft that's only recently been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and which sells for about $70,000. That plane, flown by an Australian pilot who works for Pipistrel, also won $25,000 for the best short-take off, and another $25,000 for the efficiency challenge. The Australian pilot Michael Coates called the plane the "Prius of airplanes" not because it's a hybrid but because it can go as fast as 170 mph and get 50 miles to the gallon.
A highly modified kit plane, a Vans RV-4, won $25,000 in the speed challenge and another $50,000 for emitting the least amount of noise on its flight. Finally, the team flying a Cessna 172, the most popular small plane in production since the 40s, won $25,000 for handling.
"The results make sense--the Cessna 172 is the most successful (and highest production volume small aircraft) precisely for the reason that the handling qualities are so good," said Mark Moore, an aerospace engineer at NASA who used to preside over the PAV group before it was closed two years ago.
"The RV-4 had a large number of modifications to achieve the lower noise, and they did an enormous amount to flight testing with noise meters to become masters of low noise flight," Moore added.
The short-wing Pipistrel, known as a Virus, swept most of the prize money because it's amazingly lightweight, he said. "Only 682 pounds empty weight complete--it literally carries more useful load, that is passengers, fuel, and baggage, than the aircraft weighs."
That the space agency awarded the prize money is notable, given that other NASA-sponsored contests like the Lunar Lander Challenge haven't garnered any winners yet. The PAV race is part of its so-called Centennial Challenges, a series of government-sponsored competitions that support space exploration and aviation technologies in private industry. NASA has staked a total of $2 million for the five annual PAV challenges.
"Next year the prizes are larger (and will be harder to win)," said Moore.
Boeing has commissioned DesignworksUSA, a subsidiary of BMW, to design the interiors for its wide-bodied fleet of corporate jets.
DesignworksUSA has released drawings (below) of what a Boeing Business Jet 787, also known as the Dreamliner, could look like for its owner, or group of owners.
Is this a hint that we may be going back to the Pan Am glory days of old?
Only for the lucky few.
The Boeing Business Jet 787 holds even fewer people than its 747-8 VIP.
The intimate design reflects the changing needs of frequent corporate fliers who use their jets as a second home and workplace, as well as a way of traveling the globe, Boeing said in a statement.
The specially designed interiors, which can hold about 19 passengers, are intended to "become a place for inspiration and self-realization," said Boeing.
Such inspiration, apparently, includes one master suite and two guest suites, a fully-equipped kitchen, big screen theater, cocktail bar, fitness center, sauna, wellness facilities and a garage.
The cargo hold of the plane has been partitioned to allow passengers to park their vehicles onboard the 787, so they have transportation ready wherever they land.
The multilevel living- and workspace is intended to make people feel less claustrophobic. Glass floors dispersed throughout would allow people to see between levels and even into the cargo hold.
With Pucci gone, Tom Ford should do the outfits for the servants.
Bedroom on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner
(Credit: BMW/DesignworksUSA)
The theatre on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as envisioned by BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
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