FCC chief: Airlines will make final call on cellphone use
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler tried Friday to tamp down the backlash against his agency’s proposal to look at relaxing the restrictions on cellphone use on planes — while saying the airlines will make the final call.
“We understand that many passengers would prefer that voice calls not be made on airplanes,” Wheeler said in a statement. “I feel that way myself. Ultimately, if the FCC adopts the proposal in the coming months, it will be airlines’ decisions, in consultation with their customers, as to whether to permit voice calls while airborne.”
Wheeler added that the FCC proposal “recognizes that there is no technical reason to prohibit mobile devices from interfacing with the onboard wireless data systems being installed on many aircraft. … There is nothing in the proposal that prohibits airlines from developing whatever in-flight phone usage policy they may wish.”
But that may not be enough to calm the pushback that began immediately after the FCC announced its proposal Thursday.
On Friday, Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) sent Wheeler a letter urging him to withdraw “this ill-advised proposal.” Among other issues, Begich said he was concerned about the potential for cellphone calls to cause “air rage” among passengers.
“The thought of having a constant cellphone yammering on every flight makes my head hurt,” added Begich, who serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees both the FAA and the FCC.
Opponents also launched a petition on the White House website asking the administration to block the proposal. The petitioner — identified as S.M. from Richmond, Va. — complains that the FCC has gone “TOO FAR,” and echoes a populist theme about the continuing degradation of the experience of air travel.
“During flights, passengers are forced into a restricted space, often for long periods of time. Forcing them to listen to the inane, loud, private, personal conversations of a stranger is perhaps the worst idea the FCC has come up with to date,” the person wrote, asking that the administration “nip this in the bud.”
The petition — which needs 100,000 signatures by Dec. 21 to get a response from the White House — had more than 1,200 signatures as of Friday evening.
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) told POLITICO on Thursday that he would consider offering a new version of a 2008 bill he sponsored that would have banned cellphone use for voice calls in flight, while allowing text messaging and email.
On Friday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) urged the FCC to consult with “the Federal Aviation Administration, flight attendants, pilots, the airline industry and consumer groups” before changing the rules.
“Playing ‘Words with Friends’ is different than passengers having lengthy, loud ‘conversations with friends’ while in the tight, inescapable confines of an airline passenger cabin,” Markey said in a statement.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, said the news about the FCC proposal left him “concerned to say the least,” even though “expanding mobile and broadband opportunities for consumers has long been a goal” of the panel.
“This will surely be a spirited topic of discussion when we welcome all five commissioners at our oversight hearing next month,” Walden said.
Airlines have expressed mixed views on the proposal.
Delta Air Lines said Thursday that it would continue banning cellphone calls even if the FCC allows it, citing strong opposition by customers who have been surveyed on the issue. Almost as quickly, JetBlue said it would be open to exploring allowing the calls while saying it wants to make flights “comfortable and welcoming for all.”
Other airlines, such as Southwest, were taking a wait-and-see approach Friday.
“The ability to use electronic items which access cellular data networks remains off the table and our customers have told us that in-flight voice communication would be disruptive,” Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins wrote in an email. “We continue to monitor feedback on this topic from our customers and would consider it should the FCC make any rule changes.”
Alaska Airlines, American and United issued statements similar to Southwest’s. And the U.S. Travel Association issued a hold-your-horses statement.
“We should also carefully consider whether allowing open cellphone conversations during flights truly enhances the passenger experience,” U.S. Travel CEO Roger Dow said. “Personally, I have my doubts that the traveling public will wholeheartedly embrace this, but we should be abundantly clear on whether or not that’s true before this policy is allowed to proceed.”
Wheeler has scheduled a vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking on the issue for the agency’s Dec. 12 open meeting. The notice is a first step in the process, and much remains unanswered about how the change will be developed if it goes forward.
A former FCC official, now in private practice, said the commission probably should have rolled the proposal out in a different way, considering that Wheeler’s first comments were an oblique reference to “mobile broadband,” with no explanation that enabling voice communications would also be included in the review.
“The chairman of the FCC is brand new so I suspect that everyone thought — I know the staff definitely thought — that this would be very well-received and sort of a feel-good, ‘let’s get things off to a really good start’ kind of a draft,” the former FCC source said. “But it was not rolled out in a comprehensive way, and it really should’ve been.”
Still, the FCC source said there will be plenty of time for gathering comments. “Lightning speed for bringing a rulemaking to conclusion is a year. So this is a ways away.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/in-flight-cell-phone-petition-white-house-100268.html#ixzz2lhKR11go
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