Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Keep skies cellphone-free

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 21:10:39 -0500

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Op/Ed - USA TODAY

Keep skies cellphone-free

Thu Nov 14, 7:33 AM ET

Fred Graham

As a person who makes his living in New York, I am accustomed to an occasional hassle. But as a person who commutes weekly on the airlines from Washington to my job in New York, I can see that many more hassles may be on the way.

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The reason is that the airlines' longtime ban on cellphone chatter while aloft may be lifted. Thus air passengers could be confronted with the nightmare of all cellphone annoyances: being assigned a seat next to a traveler who shouts into a cellphone for the duration of the trip.

Warning flags surfaced recently when USA TODAY reported that two electronics companies -- AirCell and a unit of Verizon -- are racing to develop technology that will eliminate the interference problems that led to the ban on cellphone use during flights. The troubling aspect of the article is that the statements attributed to airline and Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) (FCC (news - web sites)) officials seemed to assume that if the technological problems could be solved, that would settle the matter. The bottom line: The electronics companies would make huge profits, and cellphone users would be accommodated in the air. There was no mention of the impact that this could have on the comfort and civility of traveling by air.

Airline passengers have heretofore been spared cellular unpleasantries because government regulators decreed that cellphone transmissions might interfere with airplane electronics or with cellular frequencies on the ground. This made air travel a blissful refuge from the cellphone indignities that have spoiled many a trip on a train or bus. Anyone who has used mass ground transportation in recent years has witnessed it: passengers squirming in discomfort as a nearby cellphone user prattled on about matters that no stranger would want to hear.

No way to escape chatty seatmates

The reality is that air travel is unique in ways that would make cellphone use far more upsetting than in any other form of travel. Airline passengers in tourist class are usually tightly packed in these days. If an air passenger is offended by the cellphone excesses of his seatmate, he often cannot move to another seat, and a flight to Los Angeles could be interminable. I have witnessed a near-fistfight over obnoxious cellphone use on an Amtrak train. That was unpleasant, but fistfights on airplanes could be dangerous.

There's good evidence that cellphone users on airplanes don't suffer grievously from the current cellular ban. Many jetliners offer their own telephones within arm's reach of every passenger, which, if used frequently, could be just as annoying as a cellphone. But fortunately these calls are very expensive, so passengers rarely use them. This suggests that very few air passengers really need to get messages to people on the ground, and that much cellular chatter, if it were allowed, would serve mostly to relieve the boredom of the flight.

One small step for sanity

The government regulators and the airlines should take a bold step: Declare that, even if cellphone use in the air ceases to be a threat to the aircraft, it should still be banned as a threat to the peace and comfort of the passengers.

But with so much money at stake, it seems reasonable to expect that once the safety problems are solved, the regulators and airlines will permit cellphone calls from airplanes. If so, the airlines should copy the ''quiet car'' concept that Amtrak has crafted by designating one car of passenger trains off-limits to cellphone use.

Airliners could have a ''quiet space'' toward the front of each plane, and every passenger who agrees not to use a cellphone should have the right to be seated there -- with the blissful assurance that the cellphone users would be chattering away in the rear.

Fred Graham is chief anchor and managing editor of Court TV.

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From: "Gerard G. Cook" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 11:14:33 -0500

Yahoo! News - Keep skies cellphone-freeI have to agree w/ Fred, my wife
travels everyday via train to downtown NYC and the stories I hear of the
annoyance it causes is almost embarrassing due to the fact that my
profession contributes to the problem.
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Marcel [mailto:[email-masked]]
  Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 9:11 PM
  To: [email-masked]
  Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Keep skies cellphone-free

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         Op/Ed - USA TODAY

              As a person who makes his living in New York, I am accustomed
to an occasional hassle. But as a person who commutes weekly on the airlines
from Washington to my job in New York, I can see that many more hassles may
be on the way.

                          • Check out today's top travel tips!
                          • Enter for your chance to win a trip for two to
explore Paris!
                          • Today in the Sky: Real-time airport weather,
delays, and travel news
                          • Travel deals, news, and features straight to
your inbox. Click here to sign up!

              The reason is that the airlines' longtime ban on cellphone
chatter while aloft may be lifted. Thus air passengers could be confronted
with the nightmare of all cellphone annoyances: being assigned a seat next
to a traveler who shouts into a cellphone for the duration of the trip.

              Warning flags surfaced recently when USA TODAY reported that
two electronics companies -- AirCell and a unit of Verizon -- are racing to
develop technology that will eliminate the interference problems that led to
the ban on cellphone use during flights. The troubling aspect of the article
is that the statements attributed to airline and Federal Communications
Commission (news - web sites) (FCC (news - web sites)) officials seemed to
assume that if the technological problems could be solved, that would settle
the matter. The bottom line: The electronics companies would make huge
profits, and cellphone users would be accommodated in the air. There was no
mention of the impact that this could have on the comfort and civility of
traveling by air.

              Airline passengers have heretofore been spared cellular
unpleasantries because government regulators decreed that cellphone
transmissions might interfere with airplane electronics or with cellular
frequencies on the ground. This made air travel a blissful refuge from the
cellphone indignities that have spoiled many a trip on a train or bus.
Anyone who has used mass ground transportation in recent years has witnessed
it: passengers squirming in discomfort as a nearby cellphone user prattled
on about matters that no stranger would want to hear.

              The reality is that air travel is unique in ways that would
make cellphone use far more upsetting than in any other form of travel.
Airline passengers in tourist class are usually tightly packed in these
days. If an air passenger is offended by the cellphone excesses of his
seatmate, he often cannot move to another seat, and a flight to Los Angeles
could be interminable. I have witnessed a near-fistfight over obnoxious
cellphone use on an Amtrak train. That was unpleasant, but fistfights on
airplanes could be dangerous.

              There's good evidence that cellphone users on airplanes don't
suffer grievously from the current cellular ban. Many jetliners offer their
own telephones within arm's reach of every passenger, which, if used
frequently, could be just as annoying as a cellphone. But fortunately these
calls are very expensive, so passengers rarely use them. This suggests that
very few air passengers really need to get messages to people on the ground,
and that much cellular chatter, if it were allowed, would serve mostly to
relieve the boredom of the flight.

              The government regulators and the airlines should take a bold
step: Declare that, even if cellphone use in the air ceases to be a threat
to the aircraft, it should still be banned as a threat to the peace and
comfort of the passengers.

              But with so much money at stake, it seems reasonable to expect
that once the safety problems are solved, the regulators and airlines will
permit cellphone calls from airplanes. If so, the airlines should copy the
''quiet car'' concept that Amtrak has crafted by designating one car of
passenger trains off-limits to cellphone use.

              Airliners could have a ''quiet space'' toward the front of
each plane, and every passenger who agrees not to use a cellphone should
have the right to be seated there -- with the blissful assurance that the
cellphone users would be chattering away in the rear.

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ET)

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------------------------------------------------------------------
                    More Op/Ed Stories
                    · Editorial Roundup   (AP)
                    · SAFE BET GRANNY'S NO GREAT THREAT  (New York Post)
                    · Editorial Roundup   (AP)
                    · SADDAM BUYS ANOTHER DAY  (New York Post)
                    · NOBLE DOG SHARES FAMILY'S HEARTACHE  (New York Post)

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