Plane sailing for mobile users?
Plane sailing for mobile users?
In-flight mobile phone use could soon be a reality, but airlines will need to lay down rules about how they can be used or face unhappy customers, one expert has warned.James Fremantle, industry affairs manager for the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), explained that the use of the devices on aircraft would not be welcomed by everyone and that this could present some carriers with a dilemma.
He said: "What it will come down to is the individual choice of the airline involved. Obviously they don't want to annoy their passengers and put people off, so they have to make a commercial decision about whether passengers want it or not."
If an airline does decide that the majority of travellers want to be able to use their phones while on board a plane, then it must also introduce measures to make sure that the minority who find the situation unappealing are not put off flying with them, he added.
Only letting people use their mobile at certain times during a flight would be one possibility, Mr Fremantle concluded.
The phone industry regulator Ofcom this week approved the use of mobile phones on aircraft, provided any technology used in the process is approved by the Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency.
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28 March 2008
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