In-Flight Cell Phone Calls Now Allowed On Emirates
We've all heard the myths and rumors surrounding midair cell phone use; about how accidentally leaving your phone on while on a flight could result in you and every other person aboard plunging to their doom. Whether or not those conceptions are well-founded, they've been used as excuses to ban midair cell phone calls on pretty much every airline in the world -- until now. At last, certain flights on Emirates Airways are allowing passengers to officially get their calls and texts on.
The first fully authorized calls were made on a flight between Dubai and Casablanca, letting passengers annoy their plane-mates with inane conversations about how weird it is to be talking on a cell phone on a flight. To keep the annoyance to a minimum, Emirates flight crews advised passengers to put their phones on silent mode and keep the volume down. Those warnings tend to be wholly ineffective in curbing rude cell phone behavior in movie theaters, but since flying is a somewhat riskier proposition than film viewing, here's hoping people listen a little more closely.
From Engadget
Related Links:
- Top 10 Cell Phone Myths Explained
- In-Flight Cell Phone Calls a Reality
- JetBlue May Add In-Flight Text-Messaging






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Comments
216
Subscribe to commentsdavidbMar 21st 2008 1:57PM
It is already extraordinarily annoying having to listen to those selfish, self-absorbed people who talk until the second the door is closed (and often thereafter until the flight attendant threatens removal) prattle on at a decibel level intended to ensure that anyone within earshot can hear their travails; imagine listening to the same individuals blithely continue their claptrap at the expense of those around them, heedless and uncaring, reveling in callous disregard of others as they pursue their small-minded, supercilious conversations. If these people truly were so important that they actually needed to use their cell phone on an airline flight, they'd have their own jet. Otherwise, I define them for what they are: selfish poseurs who need a life more than a portable. Keep cells off of US commercial flights!!!
KDholakiaMar 21st 2008 2:16PM
Its about time! I always knew there no danger in making cell call in the air. I remember years ago, It was no problem making call on a plane. I guess they realized they can't sell us $1 a minute calls. I would fly any airline that would offer WiFi internet and cell calling.
Deanna MatzMar 21st 2008 2:29PM
davidb, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
eddie haynesMar 21st 2008 2:31PM
Hope that othere carriers will not permit this piece of folly. People usually talk louder when they use a cell phone and to endure some inane converstion for the duration of flight ..no matter how long.. is inexcusable.NO CELL PHONE CALLS IN FLIGHT..thanks
KeithMar 23rd 2008 6:16AM
I would never fly an airline that allows people to talk on thier cell phones, its irritating enough to have them everywhere else...........
WolfsterMar 23rd 2008 6:24AM
Sure, let people use cell phones on planes. But also give fellow passengers the right, if someone is making a non-life-and-death call, to pound them in the face with their own cell phones til their stupid ears bleed. That seems fair.
JBJG24MMar 23rd 2008 6:35AM
THINK THAT THEY SHOULD BAN CELL PHONES IN RESTURANTS! ESPCIALLY WHILE DRIVING ALSO!!
John ArakelianMar 23rd 2008 6:39AM
I am a private pilot and use my cell while in the air. It does not effect any of the planes functions.
AS far as people being annoyed by people using cell phones I think that they have nothing better to do than to complain. Today it is cell Phones, tomorrow it is the price of Gas They are Professional complainers
SoozeMar 23rd 2008 3:20PM
DavidB--THANK YOU! I could not have said it better. And Wolfster-- I love your response as well!
Ken StammenMar 23rd 2008 7:55AM
Luckily for me, I dont have to travel much. In fact I dont even have to be around many people at all, even while working. People suck!
If I were on a flight and some self absorbed idiot was disterbing me with constant jabber, I would be the guy who made national headline for JAMBING THE FRIGGIN THING UP THEIR YING-YANG!
LynMar 23rd 2008 11:03AM
I think it would be rude to use cell phones on the planes. People do seem to talk louder than usual, plus there are people trying to sleep, read and possibly get some paper work done before getting to their next destination which might be another business meeting somewhere. If you're on an especially long trip and you've just drifted off to sleep and you hear someone laughing and talking on the phone next to you, I feel that is very disrespectful. However, text messaging would be fine.
kathyMar 23rd 2008 8:16AM
I would rather people talk on their own cell phone than spending hours trying to talk to me. I don't know these people, I will never see them again and I don't want to get to know them. I think it is just as annoying to have someone trying to make conversation with when I am trying to read or sleep during a flight. I would love to be able to use my computer on line on a flight, or let my family know how I am doing. Besides, the batteries wouldn't last an entire flight anyway.
ron allenMar 23rd 2008 8:18AM
Text ok, I agree with first poster, if you want to see air rage in a plane let the phones work. I would rather have smoker next to me as they are quiet than cell phone user.
w643081Mar 23rd 2008 5:27PM
This all because of obama and the blacks!... who like to annoy the rest of us just for fun!
RonnieMar 23rd 2008 8:24AM
There is nothing more annoying than an overweight slob standing,blocking the path to your seat,than an overweight slob blocking the path to your seat,talking on a cell phone,telling there friends that they are on the plane and bla bla bla bla. Its amazing how they look when they return to their seat,sit and find it soaked and your fast asleep. ;-)
captjoelkMar 23rd 2008 8:32AM
If any airline I fly with starts allowing cell phone call use in the air, I'm going start bringing one of those compressed air horns. They're not going to hear ANYTHING after that.
Jeanette AntokalMar 23rd 2008 11:03AM
Please No Cell Phones on planes - let there be email, wifi whatever, but nothing that allows people to talk the entire flight, because guaranteed the plane will become extremely noisy. Not only will a few people talk the entire time, they will talk loudly over the engine noise and even louder if they are near someone else making a call. The few will make the flight extremely uncomfortable for the majority.
FrankMar 23rd 2008 8:53AM
Sing Sing Sing
I plan on singing very loud in the direction of anyone talking on the phone. If they have the right to talk, I have the right to sing and my voice is aweful and will be much more annoying than they are.
John BonnetMar 23rd 2008 11:41PM
No Pillows or blankets. Buy your own bologna sandwich on board or worse yet, encourage people to bring their own bags of food in from the food court. Pay extra for more leg room or an exit row seat. I can live with all that, I hate it but I'll live with it. But, if my airline allow some guy sitting next to me to yell into his cell phone from Newark to Las Angeles, I will, without any doubt, find a different carrier. I fly out of Newark Liberty Airport almost every week, almost alway on Continental. They still offer food, pillows, blankets and alike. I can only hope that they don't screw up their really good service by allowing cell phones to be used at 37,000 feet.
SherriMar 23rd 2008 8:56AM
Wow...........u guys are really on a roll here..I think most people use their laptops and cell phones just to make time pass........I woud love a wifi connection, and with earphones, it would bother no one..