Who actually turns off their mobile phone?

[DPG]

Well I am lucky that my phone's alarm doesn't work when the phone is switched off! Originally I thought this was a stupid concept, but if it saves me from an embarrassing moment, it will be well worth it...

I am not sure whether any airline has it yet, but I have read about a trial on Air France of a system that enables mobile calls while in the air. It is being trialled on intra-europe flights...

I actually find this concept quite concerning, as I do not want to be sitting on a plane next to someone who is constantly talking on the phone...?

I think the airlines should only allow SMS in the air, and also ensure that all phones are in silent mode. I do not want to be woken up in the middle of a LHR-SYD flight by someone's annoying ringtone...

Does anyone else agree?

D P G

 

[JohnK]

I actually find this concept quite concerning, as I do not want to be sitting on a plane next to someone who is constantly talking on the phone...?

I think the airlines should only allow SMS in the air, and also ensure that all phones are in silent mode. I do not want to be woken up in the middle of a LHR-SYD flight by someone's annoying ringtone...

Does anyone else agree?

Totally agree with you. It is one of the only true mobile phone free sanctuaries we have left. Any flight is uncomfortable to a certain degree and the last thing you need is for the phones to be ringing and constant chatter at all hours. Some people once they get on the phone do not know when to stop. The ones you know mean business are the ones that carry the hands free ear piece. I would even go as far as maintaining a total ban on mobile phones. I would not even allow SMS as some phones are very loud even when typing the SMS and imagine the beeping for each SMS received.

I would not trust many people to have the ring tone set to at silent and I wouldn't expect FA's to be around to police as they disppear after meal is served.

 

[gaia]

I was told by a Qantas captain in flight that the turning off of mobile phones was a telco issue not an aircraft issue.

And the Economist had an article some years ago saying the same thing and that telcos didn't want a flying planeload of 400 people jumping from cell to cell.

 

[simongr]

Another thread for the anti-mobile lobby

I turn mine off as soon as requested - and never phone whilst in the plane (i.e. at the points that they say you can now use your phone) although I do sms.

One point that was half mentioned was the amount of time being wasted by FAs repeatedly telling people to tunr off x device - if they werent doing that, they could be feeding me more champers!

One thing on a similar topic is the people who dont putup the tray tables or seat backs in upright position - mind you I had issues trying to work out in my first skybed ride whether I was in the right position...

 

[SeatBackForward]

Two points I'll add

1) Mobile phone towers are directional, generally they radiate across , not upwards, so signal strength ABOVE towers is definitely weaker than beneath them.

2) Mobile phone systems are generally designed for movements of recievers across the network at speeds of upto about 160km/h (typically a car on a freeway). So I'm unsure how an aircraft going in excess of 500km/h can maintain any semblence of a signal - cue the Sept 11 conspiracy theories.

 

[crazydave98]

Ryanair are installing a system that allows use of mobiles in flight. It's called OnAir and it has a very interesting feature called "tap not talk" which allows you to SMS or use email function on crackberries but not make or receive voice calls. This is the link to the home page http://www.onair.aero/ of the system vendor - check out the FAQs. Note that each aircraft is its own little country - so you need global roam to use the service - no doubt the rates will be enough to make most people turn their phones off or use them only for text/email anyway. I gather the presence of a pico-cell in the aircraft stops people from connecting directly to land-based cells and bypassing the roam rates.

At the Virign Blue annual results Brett Godfrey made it clear what he thought of the idea of someone in the seat next to him yacking away. He said he's make sure they were seated in the toilet. I reckon its nothing a quick elbow to the face wouldn't solve . But having "tap not talk" mode on the whole time seems interesting and would probably be accetable to all. Any comments or anyone want to poll it?

Press release below.

30th AUGUST 2006

RYANAIR ANNOUNCES IN FLIGHT MOBILE ACCESS FOR ALL PASSENGERS

New venture with communications pioneer OnAir will enable Ryanair’s 42M passengers to keep in touch on all flights​

​

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, and OnAir, the leading onboard passenger communications provider, today (30th Aug) announced a deal that will see Ryanair’s entire fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft fitted with OnAir’s onboard mobile communications solution. The announcement will make Ryanair the first European airline to offer Europe-wide mobile telephony services during flights across its entire fleet of aircraft to all passengers via their own mobile phones and smartphones.

The deal means that from mid 2007 (subject to relevant regulatory approval) Ryanair’s passengers will be able to call, text and e-mail using their mobile phones, BlackBerrys™ and Treos™ at rates which will mirror international roaming charges. OnAir intend to fit 50 Ryanair aircraft during the second half of 2007, with the remainder of the fleet receiving installations from early 2008 onwards. Mobile OnAir will be offered on all Ryanair flights across Ryanair’s network of more than 360 routes serving 23 countries across Europe. Ryanair will be the first European airline to offer this mobile telephony to all passengers on all of its 200 plus aircraft fleet.

Developed by inflight communications specialist OnAir, Mobile OnAir uses advanced lightweight onboard technology to allow passengers to make and receive calls, exchange SMS messages and connect to e-mail via satellite broadband links and a ground network to be supplied by OnAir’s telecoms infrastructure partner, Monaco Telecom.

OnAir’s solution allows mobile phone operators to charge passengers using Mobile OnAir at rates in line with current international roaming charges on passengers’ normal monthly bills. Ryanair will receive a commission from OnAir on call revenues generated by passengers on board its aircraft.

Announcing the new service initiative, Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“This is another revolutionary passenger service initiative from Ryanair. In addition to offering our customers the lowest air fares and youngest fleet of aircraft, Ryanair will soon enable passengers to use their mobile phones and electronic communications devices in the air, just as they do on the ground. That means they will be able to pass on the good news to workmates, friends and family that they are travelling on another on-time flight with Europe’s most punctual airline.

“This is a win-win for Ryanair, OnAir and most importantly our customers. The revenues generated by onboard mobile telephony will reduce our costs and help us to keep offering the lowest fares in Europe while at the same time doubling the size of our operation over the next five years as we grow to carry 80M passengers annually by 2012.”

George Cooper, CEO of OnAir, added:

“We are delighted that Ryanair is to become the first carrier to install Mobile OnAir throughout its fleet. Not only is Ryanair one of the world’s most innovative airlines, but the deal is also a strong endorsement of the all round capability of our solution for both Boeing and Airbus aircraft”.

 

[NM]

But having "tap not talk" mode on the whole time seems interesting and would probably be accetable to all. Any comments or anyone want to poll it?

Sounds like a good option for the passengers. However, if the airline can charge, say $0.50-$1.00 per SMS message, or $2.00/minute of talk time, I suspect the additional revenue opportunity for talk services may overcome the fellow passenger interests.

The other thing driving the "tap not talk" feature may be technical capabilities. SMS is a store-and-forward technology, and the on-board picocell system could be used to accept the SMS message and send in not-quite-real-time via satellite to the ground station. SMS is not going to suffer from the long latency incurred from a satellite connection, not from intermittent connection characteristics. The user really does not care if their SMS message takes 10ms or 10 seconds to be sent. In fact, even a delay of a minute or two is not going to be an issue for most SMS users. But long connection latency (say up to a second) is a problem for a voice call, and link drop-outs is also going to call major user complaints.

So in the end, it may be much simpler to only offer SMS from the airborne pico-cell, and hope that people will bounce lots of messages back and forth on a conversation manner so they can collect the in and outbound call revenue per typical global roaming charges.

 

[Warks]

Funny thing about the poll - it says I've voted but I've never seen this thread before today. Conspiracy theory: someone logged in as me and said they never turn their phone off!:evil:

 

[NRMOZ]

It would be nice to see the in air use of all communications - but I'd love to see them restricted to a particular cabin area...

Since I'm usually stepping off a flight and straight into a work situation I currently enjoy my flight time as a non work related time zone...

 

[one9]

From The Economist (Fear of flying | Welcome aboard | Economist.com)

"Please switch off all mobile phones, since they can interfere with the aircraft's navigation systems. At least, that's what you've always been told. The real reason to switch them off is because they interfere with mobile networks on the ground, but somehow that doesn't sound quite so good. On most flights a few mobile phones are left on by mistake, so if they were really dangerous we would not allow them on board at all, if you think about it. We will have to come clean about this next year, when we introduce in-flight calling across the Veritas fleet. At that point the prospect of taking a cut of the sky-high calling charges will miraculously cause our safety concerns about mobile phones to evaporate."

 

[serfty]

From The Economist (Fear of flying | Welcome aboard | Economist.com) ...

Needs a subscription of some form; not sure if a fidicury interchange needs to occur ...

 

[sully]

As frequent flyers we are likely to have a position of some authority at our workplace, be a decision maker and have the power of veto if we disagree with a course of action. AWe would not generally thumb our nose at authority, but we do at least ask 'why' if we think something doesn't make sense or is contrary to our beliefs or values.

This feeling should disappear the minute we step of the airbridge. We are the ones being conveyed in a big bloody metal tube at very high speeds and so those people who wear the uniforms have the right to act in the manner that they have been empowered to by their employer. By boarding their flight we should accept the terms and conditions they are paid to enforce, like it or not. I am not talking about rudeness or indifference, God knows we all deal with those challenges every day, but simple dos and don'ts. If they say turn off your phone, do it. Or leave the flight before it takes off if you want to be a prat.

I would hope the tossers who didn't reply in an absolute way to complying with the rules are only joking, are flamers or infrequent flyers. We don't want them. Go by boat.

 

[one9]

As frequent flyers we are likely to have a position of some authority at our workplace, be a decision maker and have the power of veto if we disagree with a course of action. AWe would not generally thumb our nose at authority, but we do at least ask 'why' if we think something doesn't make sense or is contrary to our beliefs or values.

This feeling should disappear the minute we step of the airbridge. We are the ones being conveyed in a big bloody metal tube at very high speeds and so those people who wear the uniforms have the right to act in the manner that they have been empowered to by their employer. By boarding their flight we should accept the terms and conditions they are paid to enforce, like it or not. I am not talking about rudeness or indifference, God knows we all deal with those challenges every day, but simple dos and don'ts. If they say turn off your phone, do it. Or leave the flight before it takes off if you want to be a prat.

I would hope the tossers who didn't reply in an absolute way to complying with the rules are only joking, are flamers or infrequent flyers. We don't want them. Go by boat.

Whilst I don't necessarily disagree with you, the way you make the post reminds me so much of a singaporean way of thought.

 

[sully]

One9, funny you should mention a Singaporean flavour, as I just returned from there on Monday amidst a bit of a flurry about security surrounding the IMF gathering there. Protestors are given a 14m by 8m area in which to operate, roads are closed and a number of overpasses are blocked off.

Presumably no-one will die there given these 'draconian' actions. I prefer a slightly onerous big stick approach if my chances of survival are enhanced.

 

[SeatBackForward]

The most unfortunate thing about common sense is that it isnt common enough these days, nor is it sensible either..

 

[BJReplay]

Commercial Flights - I do.

Light Aircraft, Helicopters, etc. No - unless I'm asked.

The key reason is to avoid issues with the cells on the ground - they can get overloaded trying to hand off multiple weak signals quickly. The telco's ask the airlines to do it.

Second reasons is that they can - vary rarely - cause interference. Same reason you're asked to turn them off going into a hostpital - the interference could kill someone in both cases - though in a plane, potentially hundreds.

However, if you fly light planes or helicopters at all, you'll find that it is common practice - in fact documented practice - to use them during flight. There are even air strips where the landing procedures ask you to call a number on the way in to let the strip owner know. So, if the pilot is using their phone while flying the plane, then you can safely assume it's OK. However, these type of aircraft are less likely to have critical equipment that can be interfered with - they're not fly by wire, for example. Maybe your GPS or NME goes out - neither good, but at least the plane is still in your control.

 

[oz_mark]

Second reasons is that they can - vary rarely - cause interference. Same reason you're asked to turn them off going into a hostpital - the interference could kill someone in both cases - though in a plane, potentially hundreds.

I remember landing in Melbourne once, when as we pulled off the runway, the captain came on and had a rant about someones mobile phone being on. Seems it caused some intereference during the final stages of the approach.

 

[coco50]

Don't know of any policy but have seen signs of a mobile with a red diagonal line through it, similar to a no smoking sign, when approaching immigration counters in Sydney and Melbourne.

I have noticed in Bangkok as well. Don't remember if I saw it in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Just as well it wasn't written, because I'm sure that many people can't read and I suppose that there are just as many who cannot understand symbolic communication - and then there are those that just don't care.