The United States government is in limbo in regards to cellphone use on planes, as one federal agency considers allowing the calls, another now wants to make sure that doesn't happen, according to the Associated Press.
Passengers who frequently fly oppose allowing calls in flight, polls show, the AP reported. In line with that sentiment, the Department of Transportation signaled in a 22-page notice posted online Friday that it wants to retain a ban on the calls.
The notice comes just two months after the Federal Communications Commission voted to pursue lifting the ban, according to the AP.
In an Associated Press-GfK poll three months ago, 48 percent of Americans opposed letting cellphones be used for voice calls while flying, while 19 percent were in favor and 30 percent were neutral, the AP reported.
Among those who'd flown four or more times in the previous year, the rate of opposition soared to 78 percent, according to the AP.
The Department of Transportation regulates aviation consumer issues, the AP reported. The FCC has responsibility over whether the use of cellphones in flight would interfere with cellular networks on the ground.
Lawmakers are pushing legislation to require transportation regulators to implement a ban on the calls, the AP reported.
In its notice on Friday, Transportation said it believes allowing passengers to make cellphone calls "may be harmful or injurious" to other passengers, according to the AP.
This is because "people tend to talk louder on cellphones than when they're having face-to-face conversations," the department said, according to the AP. "They are also likely to talk more and further increase the noise on a flight, as passengers would not be simply talking to the persons sitting next to them but can call whomever they like."
Some planes already have seat-back phones in place, but they are rarely used, the AP reported.
The "concern is not about individual calls, but rather the cumulative impact of allowing in-flight calls in close quarters," the department said in the statement, according to the AP.
