Why on earth do we need to use a mobile phone on a plane??

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Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
...it's bad enough on the train being forced to listen to all the Herberts excessively loud (designed to impress) call, but on a plane...please no...give us all a break.
 
Got to say I agree with you there! "Hello...? Hello....? YES HELLO....??? Can you HEAR me???? I'm on the plane....! You're breaking up......I might be leaving UK airspace soon........."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!
 

Pete

Guest
Some people choose to deride mobile phone usage, particularly when it's being done by someone else within their hearing, but not of course when they want to make a phone call themselves... For others, a mobile phone can be almost literally a lifeline.

To me, hearing another person use a fixed landline phone, at their desk in the open plan office where I work, is a constant irritation. Why is all the fuss made about mobiles? Do we complain when other passengers engage in face to face conversation on a train?

Having said that, I personally would probably keep my phone switched off while in flight. Except in a matter of urgency, that is.
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
It's no different than using a mobile phone in another public place where you're trapped in a confined space. For hours at a time. With no leg room. And maybe Jet Lagged. In the middle of the night.

Maybe an onboard phonebox would be an idea, whereby if you get a call you can only take it in an eggboxed area of the plane. And can only make calls from there too.

ha ha, phone boxes, now that's progress.
 

Jaded

New Member
You've been able to make phone calls from planes in the USA for many years.

It's why the 4th plane was crashed.

So that's a good reason.
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
Fair comment with the "lifeline" thing, but you just know that the majority of calls on planes (esp Ryan air etc) will be either
a) discussing someone's Jeremy-Kyle-like life ("..and then she hit 'im wif a glass, and nah ve whole holiday's bloody ruined, and 'e wants a fackin' divoos" etc) or...
:biggrin: "Yeah, meet me in the arrivals hall...yeah, tha's right, the arrivals hall, no mum, ar-ri-vals, you know, wher everyone comes aaaahhhht" etc...
Sheesh... :ohmy:
 

sheddy

Legendary Member
Location
Suffolk
To call your nearest and dearest before you die ?
 

pzycoman

New Member
Location
Huffing a kitten
Well I needed a phone on the plane when going to frankfurt for the day to call the boss, telling him my plane got delayed by an hour on the taxiway and ill meet him at the clients offices.
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
pzycoman said:
Well I needed a phone on the plane when going to frankfurt for the day to call the boss, telling him my plane got delayed by an hour on the taxiway and ill meet him at the clients offices.
a) Hope you didn't take your gun :rolleyes:;)
B) But in circumstancs like these, people simply used to use their common sense...ah, he's not here, plane must be delayed, I'll meet him at client's offices, he'll be clever enough to realise that and so on....
On the other hand, I haven't seen Mrs Fnaar for a couple of weeks, she was meant to meet me from work.... :rolleyes::biggrin:
 

Pete

Guest
One thought occurs to me: what happens when your phone switches from the local (i.e. your home country) network to an overseas one (with corresponding hike in tarrifs)? Is it a sudden switch-over or is there a dead zone? Could this happen in mid-call? I presume for UK residents there's always going to be a dead zone over the Channel anyway.

Last week we came across from France on the ferry, so the question of prohibitions didn't arise. But, knowing that I'd lose cover as soon as we were out at sea, and not needing to make any calls, I dutifully switched off as we set sail and didn't switch on again till we were docked in Newhaven.
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
I got the impression it would be a whole new network all together, given that you'll be 30000ft up. So it could be "Ryanairtel" and you'd be charged a flat rate by them regardless of where you call from.
 
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OP
Bigtallfatbloke

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
amazing how quick mobiles stop interferring with the cabin instruments when the carrier figures out a way to make money from them
 
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