FCC maintains ban on cell phone calls during flights

Bloomberg

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) killed a proposal to allow in-flight voice calls via mobile phones, ending its examination of an idea that evoked fears of air rage from passengers trapped beside jabbering seat mates.
The idea drew “strong opposition” from pilots and flight attendants, the agency said in a four-paragraph order.
The FCC in 2013 proposed allowing mobile telephone conversations above 10,000 feet, adopting practices followed in Europe and elsewhere, where in-flight voice calling is more common.
But the proposal led to strong and immediate pushback, with travellers, flight attendants, members of Congress and others saying they were troubled by the idea of passengers talking on phones in flight. One group raised “the potential for air rage if passengers are using their cell phone.”