A recent survey conducted on behalf of Yahoo Mobile has found that nearly three-fourths of US cell phone users don’t want to fly in airplanes with passengers talking on phones.
The results dovetail with the recent passing of a bill by the US House Transportation Committee to ban cell phone use on aircraft in US airspace.
The legislation, dubbed the “Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace Act (Hang Up)”, now goes to the full House, where it will be considered when Congress returns this fall.
While the US decision finally shows some common sense among US lawmakers, members of the European Union haven’t reached that level yet, because in their infinitive wisdom, they have decided to allow cell phone use on commercial airlines.
The Yahoo poll results are also in line with the decision by several airlines to roll out wireless in-flight services such as e-mail, text and instant messaging access,but to exclude wireless talking.
Yahoo said that users want in-flight wireless connections, but they “don’t want to be forced to listen to the conversation of the passenger sitting next to them.”
With the incomprehensible attitude of the EC which, we hasten to add, is also responsible for a controversial emissions trading scheme, we are convinced that allowing in-flight phone calls will ultimatelyresult in the first cases of phone rage.