House FAA Bill Would Ban In-Flight Calls
Language deep in a huge FAA reauthorization bill would ban all voice communications by commercial passengers using mobile devices on scheduled U.S. flights. The bill, HR-915, cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in March. It’s in the Ways and Means Committee, which must sign off on aspects of the legislation before it heads for a House floor vote.
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Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a senior member of the infrastructure committee, has been a leading supporter of the ban, and he pushed to put it in the FAA reauthorization bill, a committee aide said. DeFazio and other members are especially concerned about VoIP calls made using Wi-Fi systems being installed by a number of U.S. airlines, a committee spokeswoman said. “The public doesn’t want to be subjected to people talking on their cell phones on an already over-packed airplane,” DeFazio said last year when he and other senior members of the committee introduced legislation to impose a ban.
The reauthorization bill says the ban wouldn’t apply to flight crews, flight attendants or federal law enforcement officers acting in an official capacity. The legislation would tell Transportation secretary to require all domestic and foreign air carriers to adopt the prohibition. But it would allow foreign governments that objected to negotiate with the U.S.
Interest groups are asking Congress to hold off on a ban while it looks into the matter. The Coalition for an Airline Passenger’s Bill of Rights and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council sent letters to leaders of the infrastructure committee asking for a study on the use of wireless communications devices on commercial airline flights.
“Given the increased difficulties we face in getting to our destinations these days Americans are spending more and more time at airports and on board commercial aircraft,” said the letter from Kate Hanni, the coalition’s executive director. “For this reason, we believe it is essential that the federal government perform a full inquiry before deciding whether to ban the use of wireless communications on commercial flights. Inflight communication systems are currently deploying across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and the real world experiences generated from this new service should be taken into account. The air carriers overseas who now provide these services have also developed policies and procedures to ensure appropriate phone etiquette.”
“For 17 months now, international air carriers have … offered inflight communications services to passengers on more than 220 flights per day going to 162 destinations in 34 countries,” said a letter by Karen Kerrigan, president of the SBEC. “Before banning the use of wireless telecommunications on flights, Congress should evaluate the data from this experience and the effectiveness of the applicable protocols currently in use overseas.”
The Inflight Passenger Communications Coalition on Thursday endorsed calls for a study. “We agree Congress should include all the relevant information and input from key stakeholder groups, including passengers and business people before imposing a ban, especially since a Congressional hearing never occurred on this issue,” a spokesman for that group said.
Some U.S. airlines, including American Airlines and Virgin America, have set their own policies prohibiting VoIP calls made using onboard Wi-Fi systems.
The issue of CMRS calls on commercial flights was explored by the FCC, which two years ago ended a proceeding that could have opened the door to inflight calls. The FCC voted in April 2007 to pull the plug (CD April 4/07 p6) on a 2004 rulemaking aimed at allowing cellphone use on commercial flights. “The comments filed in response to the NPRM provide insufficient technical information on whether the use of cellular phones onboard aircraft may cause harmful interference to terrestrial networks,” the commission said.