Stuck Beside a Miserable Midnight Zoom Call On Delayed Delta Flight—But America’s In-Flight Calling Ban Is Absurd
A Delta Air Lines passenger experienced everyone’s worst nightmare on a delayed late night flight.
I doze off and then wake up to my seat mate straight up on a video conference call. Full volume. Talking like he’s sitting in a conference room, everyone on video, clearly talking about highly confidential material too.
To the [flight attendant]’s credit, they came over and told him to stop. He didn’t. He just talked less and started using headphones.
Listen, I get that everyone is grinding right now, and I love that, but if it’s Friday and midnight on a delayed flight, it’s like some people have no idea they’re in public and being rude
There should be quiet hours! I know you think that wifi calling itself should be banned, but you’re wrong.
Wifi calling was made illegal in the U.S. in 2018, because it’s unpopular (not because of any safety-related reason). The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 directed the Department of Transportation to issue regulations prohibiting passengers from engaging in voice communications using a mobile communications device during a flight in scheduled passenger service with exemptions for crew and federal law enforcement officers. This is codified at 49 U.S.C. § 41725.
Separately, the FCC bans use of cellular radios while airborne (47 C.F.R. §22.925) which is why you’re supposed to keep your phone in “airplane mode” but this does not cover wifi calling.
However, numerous airlines around the world allow inflight cell phone use on board. And there really aren’t any problems or conflicts from it. Planes outfit with AeroMobile or SITAONAIR/OnAir. Emirates has literally offered this for 17 years. Qatar has allowed it and has even promoted Zoom and Facetime calls with their roll out of Starlink wifi. Calling is also allowed on carriers including Etihad, SWISS, Turkish Airlines, Asiana, Malaysia Airlines, ITA Airways, EgyptAir, and Biman Bangladesh.
People talk to each other on planes now and those around them hear it! Amtrak lets people use cell phones with passengers confined closely together. Planes used to have Airfones. The parade of horribles many worry about never happened.
And calls can be really important! Sometimes the conversations you hear are even interesting. Carriers could impose rules to manage the annoyances, restrict listening to calls with headsets only, time of day or ”quiet hours”, length of call limits, and quiet zones like Amtrak quiet cars. Airlines could monetize seats that allow, or ban, these calls.
Meanwhile conversations can be truly important for instance the woman who might have been able to stop a suicide if she could have used her phone inflight. In other words, someone actually died because of the inflight calling ban. No one has ever died because someone made a call inflight. Calling would be really helpful during irregular operations where you’re going to miss a connection, too.
Years of live service abroad have not produced evidence of endemic disorder. Policy should follow real issues and activities shouldn’t be illegal because we think we might not like them.
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