FCC Chairman: No Cell Phone Calls on Planes, Please

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today moved to kill a 2013 proposal that would have allowed cell phone calls on planes.

Pai proposes that the agency terminate a 2013 plan that sought to relax rules governing mobile communications on planes. The agency will still needs to vote on Pai's proposal.

"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 cell phone calls on planes," Pai said in a statement. "I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest. 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."

The FCC's existing rules prohibit people from using certain frequencies to place voice calls from mobile devices on planes. Even though the FCC moved to change those rules in 2013, cellular phone calls are still banned on airplanes.

When the FCC first floated the idea, the big concern was that travelers would be stuck next to passengers who would talk for hours on their cell phones. Pai's predecessor Tom Wheeler in 2013 argued that the ban should be lifted and airlines should be able to decide whether or not to permit voice calls over cellular networks while airborne.

Recommended by Our Editors

Report: NSA Can Monitor Cell Phones in Flight

The issue came up again in December when the US Department of Transportation announced a proposal that would require airlines to inform customers prior to purchase if their flight allowed passengers to make voice calls with their mobile devices. The FCC's current rules do not ban Wi-Fi calling, though most US airlines do. Allowing Wi-Fi voice calls without providing adequate notice "would be an unfair and deceptive practice," the DOT argued.