Skip to main content

In-flight cell phone calls may get banned by US gov’t

cell phone airplane etiquette
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Even though the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed lifting the ban on in-flight cell phone use, it looks like the Department of Transportation (DOT) is attempting to put a halt on that, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

To be released in December, a “notice of proposed rulemaking” being developed by the DOT will state the department’s objections to making and receiving in-flight cell phone calls. Public feedback on the proposal would be allowed until February of next year before a final ruling is made.

According to the report, regulators are focused on the effects of making phone calls rather than texting or data use. On the other hand, International Air Transport Association general counsel Jeffrey Shane says airlines believe the DOT is overstepping its boundaries and that it should allow airlines to make that decision for themselves.

“Airlines aren’t clamoring to allow mobile-phone use during flight, and some have already said they’d prohibit it on their own flights,” said Shane. Even so, according to Shane, some airlines might try to find some way to circumvent that prohibition, such as in-flight phone booths or quiet zones.

Even though the proposal won’t be made until this December, some airlines have already prohibited in-flight calling. Delta banned cellular and Internet-based (VoIP) in-flight calls, while JetBlue says it will enforce its VoIP ban.

Of course, if you really want to chat away at 40,000 feet, you could always just rent your own airplane.

Editors' Recommendations

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
The iPhone 15 may finally get reverse wireless charging — but I don’t want it
Apple AirPods Pro 2 inside their charging case, sitting on back of an iPhone 14.

It’s been rumored that Apple has been working on implementing reverse wireless charging for a while. In fact, Apple has added some necessary components for making reverse wireless charging possible ever since the iPhone 12 (think of the MagSafe Battery Pack). Reports had actually suggested Apple was going to add it to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro devices, but it failed to meet the deadline.

According to recent developments, reverse wireless charging, also known as bilateral wireless charging, is something that engineers at Apple continue to work on. It’s also been suggested that Apple’s version may be more advanced than what Android competitors offer. Maybe it’s just been delayed, and it may make its debut with the iPhone 15. Or perhaps it can go the way of AirPower and just be scrapped completely.

Read more
Ads won’t ruin your iPhone’s App Store — they may actually improve it
apple app store third party payment allow ugly side reality render

Apple sent out a note this week to app developers confirming that more advertising could be coming to the iPhone App Store in time for the holiday season. With the amount of advertising that already permeates the modern internet, the news has raised concerns that iPhone owners may soon find themselves wading through a sea of ads before they can find the app they’re looking for.

Anything can happen, so I can’t rule out the possibility that Apple could go too far on this one. However, I remain cautiously optimistic that Apple’s expanded advertising initiatives won’t ruin the App Store experience. It might even enhance it.
Apple’s App Store advertising ambitions
When you think of online advertising, Apple isn’t usually the first company that comes to mind. Most folks wouldn’t even include it in the top five. Other tech giants like Google, Meta (previously Facebook), and Amazon are generally the ones on the online advertising leaderboard.

Read more
OnePlus gives us our first look at OxygenOS 13, and the phones getting it
OxygenOS 13 logo shown during the OnePlus 10T launch event.

The open beta version of OnePlus’s next operating system, OxygenOS 13, will be available this month. What makes it exciting is it’s built on Google’s Android 13, and will be one of the first opportunities to try out the next major overhaul of the mobile operating system. However, while we know OxygenOS 13 is coming very soon and the devices getting it, we don’t know much about it or its look yet.

Gary Chen, Head of OS Product at OnePlus, had this to say:

Read more