Calls and texts to be allowed on new Air New Zealand flights

[oz_mark]

Calls and texts to be allowed on new Air New Zealand flights | The Australian

AIR New Zealand passengers will be allowed to use their mobile phones in flight within the next month after the airline announced plans to install special safety technology.

The airline aims to fit out its latest black-liveried domestic Airbus A320 with a phone system that routes the signal through an onboard cell site and then onto a satellite after local authorities approved its use today.

 

[wyvern]

Texting and internet would be good and it would be good if more airlines could roll this out. Phone calls I am not so sure about.

 

[Archphoto]

I truly am not looking forward to texting and calls on flights. It's bad enough having to hear umpteen different ringtones and sms tones in crowded elevators etc, let alone everyone talking at the top of their voice.

It's bad enough trying to sleep in whY, now I'm going to have to try and block out this as well; internet I welcome with open arms, the other 2 I can definitely live without. It's not so hard to inform your clients etc that you're away from the office for 24hrs on a flight and will return their calls at an opportune time, is it? ie: a time zone call that is acceptable to both parties.

 

[Flying Fox]

Personally, I think that its a step back-wards.

 

[gumpy]

i'm not pleased at all... there are lovely countries out there where talking on the phone isn't allowed on the train and bus... this is definitely a step backwards...

 

[burrco]

Stuck in a confined space surrounded by people on mobile phones sounds horrific. I hope this menace is quarantined to domestic flights only - but once the technology spreads I doubt it

 

[nlagalle]

Stuck in a confined space surrounded by people on mobile phones sounds horrific. I hope this menace is quarantined to domestic flights only - but once the technology spreads I doubt it

Most of my flights are DOM and I'd hate it if they allowed calls and SMS in flight.

Will they have quiet zones on the plane where phones must be off??

 

[oz_mark]

Most of my flights are DOM and I'd hate it if they allowed calls and SMS in flight.

Will they have quiet zones on the plane where phones must be off??

...and some people think babies/infants are annoying:shock:

I'll take a infant chucking a tanty over someone yabbering on a mobile phone.

 

[trooper]

I think it's a bad step too... and will tell NZ that..:mrgreen:

However.. Given the quoted costs unvolved one can hope it won't be too widespread...

Bit of a confusing article... Only the new AllBlack A320 is mentioned.. (so is this going to be domestic only? ) Yet the photo is a 747... (typical:shock....

 

[JohnK]

Why are we giving in to minority again? I really cannot understand this decision or what they are trying to achieve. More air rage? I really do not want to sit there listening to ringtones and keypad tones for the duration of the flight.

Is it really too much to ask people to keep their phones turned off for the duration of the flight?

 

[pauly7]

If this is for real no more NZ for me thankfully QF and DJ aren't moving on this.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Given that it's a joint venture involving Vodafone it probably won't work anyway :!::mrgreen::mrgreen:

 

[Archphoto]

Why are we giving in to minority again? I really cannot understand this decision or what they are trying to achieve. More air rage? I really do not want to sit there listening to ringtones and keypad tones for the duration of the flight.

Is it really too much to ask people to keep their phones turned off for the duration of the flight?

Because it'll garner more $$$$$ for the airlines maybe - and the majority be damned!!:shock:

I'm dreading it - how can you police it? Air-rage will become an even bigger problem methinks. . . . . . . .

 

[RB]

I wonder what NZ believe they are gaining with this step. To me it would be a negative to consider when booking a flight.

 

[Archphoto]

I certainly *won't* be booking Air NZ for flights once implemented - the last bastion of airline travel sanity appears to be falling.:evil:

 

[JohnK]

What happens if the majority of airlines go down this path and we are left with little or no choice?

 

[Archphoto]

Scary thought; my only hope is that it is controlled. They really need to look closely as to how they're going to implement these features.

Would hate an overnight flight to be destroyed by incessant sms and call tones (not to mention everyone talking!) throughout.

Maybe having a set time - 1 hour after takeoff during the day on flights >3 hours for sms & calls - internet throughout? Of course that wouldn't control VOIP calls now would it?

 

[anat0l]

What happens if the majority of airlines go down this path and we are left with little or no choice?

That is what I think is going to happen. Certainly, the notion is being heavily mobilised around the world, none less than already in the USA (of course).

The BA CW LCY service allows mobile phone connectivity for certain periods whilst crossing the Atlantic, although the charges are just as extortionate. In addition, silent mode is encouraged, voice calls (including VOIP) is mutually prohibited and finally, it's only (up to) 32 pax in the entire aircraft.

In general, I'd be tempted to "ban" voice calls but allow the rest, allowing only silent mode. That, of course, won't stop the tap-tap-tap sounds of people texting or what not.

Frankly there are things that people can do on an aircraft that others will find are not good and yet be powerless to stop them. Examples include bad eating habits, bad digestive habits, talking loudly or crudely, reclining, spilling into an adjacent occupied seat, failing to control children, laughing out loud at the comedy programme on the IFE, etc. The answer to all of these is unfortunately not necessarily simply removing the source of the (potential) problem, i.e. can't ban fat people, can't fine/imprison those that pass gas, can't ban kids from flying, can't remove all comedies from the IFE selection, etc.

 

[JohnK]

Frankly there are things that people can do on an aircraft that others will find are not good and yet be powerless to stop them.

Agree although it is beyond my comprehension why another (mobile calls and texts) needs to added to the list.

My theory on these matters is "Give people an opportunity to annoy others and they will abuse the privilege!". It is sad that it is always the person that requires some peace and quiet or privacy is the one that suffers.

And yes I know in theory it is public transport (not quite but close) but some people do not know how to behave in public and have no respect for anyone other than themselves....

 

[dot]

Frankly, I don't know why everyone is so upset about this. The call costs will be similar to seatphones and how many of you have seen anyone actually use those? I never have.

In order to use the service, the pax will have to have international roaming enabled on their phone (probably less than 10% of all mobile phones across Au/NZ). Just because it is available does not mean everyone will use it.

I have used (sent and received) the SMS capability of seatphones before and that was very useful albeit relatively expensive (I think it was $1.90 per message in and out).

The article states the pricing as:

Passengers using the service will be charged $NZ0.80 ($A0.60) for an outbound text, $2.66 per minute to make a call, $1.52 per minute to receive a call and $15.21 per megabyte of data downloaded.

If we compare that with Telecom NZ's international roaming rates;

• Receive a call - NZ$1/min
• Outbound calls vary depending on country from NZ$0.75 to more than NZ$5/min
• Data NZ$8/Mb to NZ$30/Mb depending on country
• Inbound SMS - free
• Outbound SMS NZ$0.80

My experience has been that subscribers are reluctant to pay those sort of rates when travelling internationally. As in-flight mobile use attracts similar rates, when you combine it with peoples general reluctance to speak on phones in close quarters such as on a plane, I doubt you will get many people speaking on the phone. On the other hand, I do think that SMS traffic will prove popular - but again, only a small percentage of mobile phone subscribers will have international roaming enabled.