FCC chairman comes out against voice calls on flights
Friday, 11 Apr, 2017
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Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai has come out against voice calls in the sky, insisting the flying public are overwhelmingly against it.
A 2013 FCC proposal by previous chairman Tom Wheeler allowed in principle the future use of cell phones for voice calls, but that would be left to the discretion of individual airlines.
Although there is little appetite for it, either from the flying public or the airlines themselves, Pai wants to ditch the plan altogether.
"I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest," Pai said.
"Taking it off the table permanently will be a victory for Americans across the country who, like me, value a moment of quiet at 30,000 feet."
"I stand with airline pilots, flight attendants, and America’s flying public against the FCC’s ill-conceived 2013 plan to allow people to make cellphone calls on planes," Pai said in a statement.
If Pai gets his way it would not affect the current use of devices during flights when in airline mode.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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