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September 26, 2008

In-Flight Providers Lobby against US Call Ban

By Glenn Fleishman

In-flight call providers form lobbying group to dissuade formal ban on in-flight calling: FlightGlobal reports that OnAir and Aeromobile have formed the Passenger Communications Coalition—Peacekeeper missiles, anyone?—to prevent the Hang-Up Act that would provide a formal, instead of regulatory and procedural ban on placing phone calls in flight. OnAir’s CEO makes the specious remark that this would be “putting the US behind the rest of the world.”

Hardly. Americans aren’t used to paying $2.50 per minute in the air that used to be a typical ground roaming rate until EU regulators pushed hard. US flyers would (surveys show) prefer the broadband that American, Delta, and Virgin are in various stages of commitment to.

In any case, how would having a total ban on in-flight talking that affected all over-US flights make us less competitive? Oh, yeah, we’d miss that one call that doomed our business while our European competitor was chatting away.

Posted by Glennf at September 26, 2008 9:21 AM

Categories: Air Travel

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