Calling all carriers

Travelers itching to talk on their cell phones in the air will soon face anther option. Dubai-based Emirates Airlines announced this week that it will have inflight cell phone service up and running on all of its flights by the middle of next year. The airline says it should have some aircrafts outfitted as soon as January.

Emirates isn't the first to broadcast big plans for cell phones. Irish discount giant Ryanair said in September that it plans to provide cell phone, text and e-mail options fleetwide by 2008. But Emirates is the first carrier I've heard of so far that seems to understand that obnoxious verbal conversations and long, crowded flights probably don't mix.

In its announcement, Emirates said cabin crews will have full control over the system so they can prevent voice calls during night flights and limit the number of calls at any given time to five or six.

The service will also allow passengers to send and receive text messages, with charges in line with international roaming rates. But cabin crews will encourage passengers to leave all devices in silent or vibrate mode at all times, said Patrick Brannelly, Emirates' Vice President for Passenger Communications and Visual Services.

As for concerns over verbally-induced air rage, Brannelly notes that with in-seat screens installed in all classes of travel across Emirates' fleet, many passengers wear headsets to enjoy the inflight entertainment and therefore may not even be aware their neighbor is on the phone. 

Hmm. I don't know about that. But at least the carrier has given some thought to the controversy over allowing real calls on board. U.S. airlines wanting to follow suit are still hamstrung by Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration bans. The prohibitions have focused on cell phones and other devices interfering with aircraft navigation and other systems. Last year, the FCC said it would consider lifting its ban, but nothing's happened yet. The FAA is awaiting completion of an exhaustive technical advisory report on cell phone activity inflight. FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said the report may come in by the end of 2006, but even then any policy change would take a year or two.

Cell phone service on flights is exciting for airlines because they see it as a potential cash cow. Satellite phones currently in use on board run $10 cents a minute, and Emirates says its service will be comparable in cost to international roaming charges. Still, the quandary remains: How do you accommodate the talkers without alienating the silence lovers?

Says Beth Harbin, director of Strategic Communications at Southwest Airlines: "We are not immediately convinced that customer acceptance would justify the expense of adding and maintaining the system necessary to support cell use onboard. This is not something our customers are clamoring for. Technology now appears to be available to allow for cell use onboard without interference to critical aviation electronics. There are still the issues, however, of cost, added weight to the aircraft, and customer acceptance.

Would you use your cell phone or other device on board if you could? How much would you be willing to pay?

Write to: Barbara Correa at bboydstoncorrea@yahoo.com