Survey Split Over Allowing Cell-Phone Use On Flights

According to an article published on the Associated Press’s Google.com site, nearly half of U.S. residents have stated that they would oppose the use of cell phones on flights – even if there wasn’t an issue of the cell phone use interfering with onboard communication systems. Approximately four tenths of those surveyed in the Department of Transportation survey have said that cell phone use should either definitely or probably be allowed on flights.

The responses amongst participants also showed a generation gap in cell phone users. For respondents who are 65 years old or older, approximately 60% opposed in-flight use of cell phones, while about a third supported it. Nearly half of respondents within the 18 to 34 age range supported in-flight cell phone use, even as about a third opposed it.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics survey on in-flight cell phone use was part of their annual household survey and questioned 979 residents in November 2007 and 1,063 in November 2006. According to the article, the survey has an error rate of, plus or minus, about 3%.

The article also says that both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission currently prohibit passengers from using their cell phones while on a flight. During the first week of August, 2008, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a bill to make the ban on in-flight cell phone use a permanent one.

The committee’s actions were in response to the European Union letting airline passengers talk on cell phones during their flight. However, there are some U.S. airlines that are testing whether or not to allow in-flight Internet access.

According to the article, lawmakers are concerned that, if the ban should be lifted, fights could erupt between passengers who speak loudly while on the phone and other passengers who find the callers disruptive. There are a few lawmakers who have stated that they dread the fact that domestic airlines would try to get the ban lifted in order to impose extra fees on passengers who would prefer to sit in no-phone sections.

(August 7, 2008)