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WASHINGTON - The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted Thursday to continue the ban on the use of cell phones by passengers on commercial flights.
Earlier this year European regulators introduced new rules to allow passengers to use cell phones, and the Federal Communications Commission considered changing U.S. policy as recently as 2007. H.R. 5788, the Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace (HANGUP) Act of 2008, would settle the issue on domestic U.S. flights.
"The ban was established to prevent electronic interference with airplane equipment, but even if that safety hazard can be addressed apparently to the satisfaction of the Europeans, there's still the issue of noise," said Rep. Tom Petri, a senior member of the committee.
"The passenger cabin is a shared space. If it were allowed, it's easy to anticipate a significant minority of passengers carrying on long, loud and animated conversations, regardless of the discomfort of their neighbors. And in a plane you are trapped with nowhere to go," he said, adding that flight attendants support the bill as they fear they will have to referee increased incidents of air rage.
Petri noted, however, that the legislation would not ban the use of computers, Blackberries, Internet access or the use of cell phones for text messaging.
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