Making a call at 30,000 ft: Good or bad?
By carpediem17
@carpediem17 (1315)
Singapore
September 29, 2010 11:14pm CST
This new inflight mobile phone call service will be made available on regional airline - AirAsia - very soon. This allows passengers on board to make calls using their own mobile phones via GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications).
The upside to this is that passengers can make urgent calls on the planes. However, there are some worries that the plane becomes noisier because of people talking loudly on the plane and thus disturbing the peace on the plane.
My take is that there should be a small area for people to make call as an initial control. Or there should be controlled timing for this service to be made available to passengers.
What is your view on this new service on the plane?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@raviteja_ravi84 (2619)
• India
30 Sep 10
Wow the thought of call at such a high altitude. I would sure like to do that someday! If it makes the plane noisier then maybe what you said should be done. But however it would be difficult to do that no? Because the plane is already crammed with luggage and people and now this also? Wouldn't the plane be facing a lot of problems? I guess they would have thought all of this before right? So there shouldn't be much of a problem!
Cheers!
@carpediem17 (1315)
• Singapore
12 Oct 10
whoa raviteja, it will be interesting to see the outcome of this new service. Hopefully there are some controls in place to made this service more acceptable especially for those who are already all crammed up in the economy seats, haha.
@hardworkinggurl (37062)
• United States
30 Sep 10
Unless it is of absolute extreme emergency people should not be allowed to utilize their cell phones on a plane, you are absolutely right, as so many cell-phone users are not conscious on how loud they really are.
I dislike to be hearing private calls in public let alone in an enclosed area where perhaps I can't easily remove myself of the area.
@carpediem17 (1315)
• Singapore
12 Oct 10
you are right hwg. I wonder if this is a necessary evil at all. I feel that security issues need to be addressed also.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
30 Sep 10
hi it should be overseen as security has to be tight on airplanes bound for the coast of other countries. security is a must now since 9/11 so any call cannot be made privately. If the callee is aware of this fine otherwise some conflicts can arise.
@carpediem17 (1315)
• Singapore
12 Oct 10
hi Hatley - i felt that the issue of security was not greatly addressed during the promotion of this service. I definitely hope that there are some restrictions to the use of this new service.
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
30 Sep 10
I think they should not allow people to talk on mobile, they should introduce only short messaging service. It would serve the purpose if someone has to convey an urgent message.
@carpediem17 (1315)
• Singapore
12 Oct 10
hi achilles, with airlines trying to outdo each other in terms of service these days, it is really a matter of time for phone calls to be made available literally over the 'airwaves'.
But strange the aspect of security like 'terrorism' doesn't seem to crop up when these facilities were made available.
I think having a limited period of time for phone calls to be made will be great - e.g. during meal times.
