Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration made the monumental decision to allow the usage of electronics devices for communications and downloads when a plane is in the air, reversing course from years in which flyers were asked to switch things over to Airplane mode and shut off their devices in the midst of landing and takeoff.
However, not everyone is pleased with the idea of boarding a flight full of people that talk constantly on their cellphones. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the United States House has given initial approval to a measure that would prohibit flyers from using the call function of their cellphones during a flight. Although texts, emails, and similar things are currently permitted, and would continue to be with the proposed law, the FCC has yet to approve phone calls, although they’re drawing closer.
The law is largely geared toward what many could perceive as an annoyance, but there may also be a safety factor involved. That’s the thinking one lawmaker cited upon voting for the measure. The nature of what that safety issue would be is not disclosed at the link above.
One thing that the FAA is concerned about is distracted driving in the air. Yesterday saw the organization passing a rule that would prevent pilots from using their own electronic devices for anything not involved in the actual procedures of flying the plane.