As if the whole juddering, shuddering evil of take off and landing were not bad enough, soon you might not even be able to relax in the air as passengers on European flights could be able to use their mobile phones once sufficient altitude (3,000 m) has been reached.
Although final go-ahead has yet to be given for individual airlines to opt for this, some are so confident that they are already installing and testing phone mast equipment and consultations are being called for on the potential introduction. The European Union has given its backing and recommendation to member states and airspace has been reserved for the service. Virgin Atlantic says it's "monitoring customer demand" for introducing measures in a "socially acceptable way" yet groups representing frequent flyers are already calling for any plans to be scrapped.
Particularly on short haul flights, some of which are barely two hours long, is it really necessary to be completely contactable all the time? WiFi enabled flights I can understand - it would allow business flights to be more productive without disturbing leisure passengers - but far from being working folk who use this service when they probably want the excuse to be able to kick back and relax, it'll probably be mindless blather that keeps it going. It's bound to be an expensive service but somehow that never bothers people who desperately need to tell their partner everything they've had to eat since the last time they were together.
Passengers' rights groups have also pointed out that should the service extend to long haul flights, people on the ground who have not registered the time difference could call passengers, the annoying tootling of which will disturb already fragile sleep patterns... not to mention your desperate bid to lessen the effects of jetlag.
Phones on planes are not completely new, of course; we've all seen the credit card powered ones, particularly on US domestic flights. But when the prospect extends to receiving as well as making phone calls it fills me with dread. I hate flying, but the one good thing about it is being able to devote time to reading, sleeping, watching movies and perhaps working without the feeling that anything can distract you at a moment's notice. I guess that's about to be lost.
Alex is Deputy Editor of Shiny Shiny. She would switch off her phone anyway.
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Phones should remain banned on flights, the best thing about flying is not having any idiots shouting into there mobile phones! I thought the only reason they ask you to turn them off is because there are so many new technology's that come and go in phones that it would take too long and cost too much money to test them all!