Silence is golden to airline travelers
 

RICHARD POWELSON
KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL
JULY 15, 2005

A majority of business travelers want to change the rules so they may talk on cell phones during commercial flights, but most of the general public is happy with the current ban.

Those were the findings of separate surveys detailed at the House aviation subcommittee hearing Thursday. Members heard a variety of views on the Federal Communications Commission considering revising the prohibition on cell phone use after flights leave their gates and while planes are airborne.

About 53 percent of business fliers said they want to use cell phones in the air, while 63 percent of the general public was opposed to that idea, according to polls done for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and the Association of Flight Attendants.

U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., was among several House members of the committee who opposed any federal rules changes to give airlines the option of leaving cell phones on during flights. A 1991 federal rule, designed to avoid electronic interference with a flight's radio communications, could be lifted for certain electronic devices if current testing shows they no longer disturb the flight crew's communications.

But even if the safety question were resolved, the noise problem would remain a top concern for many.

"I have very, very strong opposition to the lifting of this cell phone ban," Duncan said at the hearing. "I come down very strongly on the nuisance side of this equation."

Duncan read from one citizen's letter to the FCC where he defined "hell" as sitting between two windy cell phone users during a five-hour continental flight. "Hideous," the citizen wrote.

On the other side, Greeley Koch, a spokesman for corporate travelers, said businesses want to improve return on their travel investment by "boosting the productivity and effectiveness of the business traveler." The cell phone is a tool for both current business and arranging future business, he said.

Business fliers could be required to use headsets, talk softly and set their ringers to vibrate or silent mode, he said.

The debate will not end soon. Even if the FCC approves use of a transmitter on aircraft that safely allows use of cell phones and other wireless devices, nothing could happen without agreement by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is awaiting results of tests by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, which will finish its report in December 2006.

Also, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have said they are concerned that terrorists could use cell phones to plan attacks or detonate explosive devices on aircraft by remote control.

Flight attendants have complained that passengers already get upset about noisy passengers, passengers reclining their seats, flight delays, etc., so arguments about noisy cell phone users would be another stress point, their association's president said.

"Declaring open season for cell phone users on board aircraft threatens to create an unmanageable situation, undermining authority in the cabin and jeopardizing aviation safety," Patricia Friend, the flight attendants' president, said.

One compromise, some said at the hearing, would be to allow text and graphics communications on flights - e-mail and Internet access via various electronic devices including cell phones - but no voice communications.

Amtrak handled the competing interests by designating separate train cars as either "no-cell" or "cell-OK." But open-cabin aircraft do not allow a similar approach, Friend said.