Proposal On The Agenda For The Commission's December 12 Meeting

The Tentative Agenda for the FCC meeting on December 12, 2013 includes an item that will address the use of mobile communications on commercial aircraft ... essentially discussing whether to allow airline passengers to use their cell phones during flight. Should this be passed, the next stage will be a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), opening the way for repeal of the current ban with authority to use frequencies on a secondary, non-interference basis, over all U.S. and international mobile communications bands, as well as the mutual recognition of systems operating on foreign-flagged aircraft meeting equivalent technical standards.

The proposal was announced to mixed reviews. On the one hand, The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) said in a statement that "Passengers overwhelmingly reject cell phone use in the aircraft cabin. The FCC should not proceed with this proposal.

"AFA opposes any changes that would allow in-flight voice calls. Flight Attendants, as first responders and the last line of defense in our nation's aviation system, understand the importance of maintaining a calm cabin environment.  Any situation that is loud, divisive, and possibly disruptive is not only unwelcome but also unsafe. Many polls and surveys conducted over the years find that a vast majority of the traveling public wants to keep the ban on voice calls in the aircraft cabin. In far too many operational scenarios, passengers making phone calls could extend beyond a mere nuisance, creating negative effects on aviation safety and security that are great and far too risky.

"Besides potential passenger conflicts, Flight Attendants also are concerned that in emergencies, cell phone use would drown out announcements and distract from life-saving instructions from the crew."

However OnAir, a company that offers both in-flight WiFi and cellular service, backs the FCC's proposal. The company says its inflight mobile phone service has flown with more than 55 airlines on thousands of flights across the world since 2007, with the full backing of over 100 national authorities. There has not been a single complaint about disruption caused by people making calls.

“Think about how you use your cell phone every day - email, text messages, updating social media, reading newspapers and magazines, as well as answering calls and phoning people. It is important to recognise that the voice element is just another app,” said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. “It is no surprise that inflight usage mirrors terrestrial usage. And because it is so simple – just turn on your phone and use it – around 80 per cent of passengers choose the GSM network when both GSM and Wi-Fi are available.”

Dawkins says that the specter of in-flight "chaos" from people using their cell phones is "hyperbole." “The issue simply hasn’t arisen anywhere in the world in the past six years," he said. "An aircraft is a noisy environment, so the sound of a conversation doesn’t carry very far. Flight attendants can also control the use of Mobile OnAir by disabling the voice element during quiet times, such as the plane’s night. Passengers can still use data – email and text messages, for example – but cannot make or receive calls.”

OnAir’s airline customers which provide Mobile OnAir include world--leading global airlines such as Aeroflot, British Airways, Emirates, Philippine Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines. Passengers typically use Mobile OnAir for data – largely email – and to update Facebook and Twitter. Voice calls account for slightly over 10% of total inflight usage.

FMI: www.afacwa.org, www.onair.aero/