Dec 18, 2013 4 min read

You have no doubt encountered this before: You are in a store or another public venue standing near someone who has chosen that moment to engage in a lengthy cellphone conversation.

If you are like most people, you quickly move off, out of earshot of the berating of a child, a discussion of the declining health of a loved one or the verbal torrent unleashed by a rocky relationship.

But if you are in a commercial airline, 30,000 feet above Earth, you won’t have that option, unless you plan on making multiple trips to the rest room until your seatmate finishes his or her conversation.

This scenario is probably oversimplified, particularly if you planned on using your flying time to work on that big project, read or grab a nap.

That is what the Federal Communications Commission is facing as it enters deliberations to review its two-decades-old ban on permitting the use of cellphones on commercial airline flights.

To its credit, the Federal Aviation Administration recently lifted its ban on the use of personal electronic devices below 10,000 feet, saying iPads and Kindles don’t interfere with cockpit instruments.

But the use of cellphones in flight brings chatter, maybe lots of it, into consideration.

There is no denying that cellphones have become ubiquitous in modern life. They are handy and efficient, keeping us in touch with work and home.

The wild card here is the concept of etiquette in public places, something that has completely deteriorated across America over the last few decades.

Many people think nothing of having personal conversations in movie theaters and at concerts or conducting cellphone discussions in restaurants with complete disregard for those around them.

But given the absence of careful consideration of fellow passengers, the use of cellphones at 30,000 feet, while it may not interfere with a pilot’s ability to communicate with control towers, could require flight attendants to become referees.

According to a recent Associated Press story on the FCC’s debate, new Chairman Tom Wheeler has called the current rules regarding in-flight cellphone use “outdated and restrictive.”

But a recent AP poll found that nearly half – 48 percent – of Americans oppose allowing cellphones to be used for voice calls while flying. Another 30 percent were neutral on the question, but only 19 percent approved of the idea.

Even the FCC’s Wheeler is personally opposed to in-flight cellphone chatter.

“We understand that many passengers would prefer that voice calls not be made on airplanes. I feel that way myself,” he said in a statement.

Besides the AP poll, other groups are weighing in against the change.

The nation’s largest flight attendant union opposes voice calls, saying cellphone use could lead to fights between passengers.

House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., was even more descriptive when he called the five FCC commissioners to a hearing to answer questions about the change before they began formal debate.

Walden said that “allowing cellphones on planes sounds like the premise of a new reality show: ‘Cage Fighting at 30,000 Feet.'”

According to the AP, Delta Air Lines is the only airline to explicitly state that it won’t permit voice calls. The country’s other major carriers said they’ll study the issues and listen to feedback from passengers and crew before deciding what to do.

Count me among those who hope that, if the FCC approves the change, the airlines will have permission to make the final call and continue the ban on cellphones.

Those of us old enough to remember commercial flights of some three or four decades ago can recall a similar situation that permitted in-flight smoking.

After numerous complaints from non-smoking passengers, the airlines imposed designated smoking sections on every flight. Finally, as evidence mounted about the negative effects of secondary smoke, they banned smoking completely.

We now have the chance to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Let us maintain the ban on the use of cellphones on airlines.

The silence will be peaceful.

Michael Bradwell is business editor for the Observer-Reporter.