The 2013 plan to debate the idea of allowing passengers to make cell phone calls while up in the air should be taken “off the table permanently,” Ajit Pai says.
Ajit Pai testifies at a Senate hearing in 2016. On Monday, Pai circulated an order that would end the FCC plan to consider letting airline passengers talk on their phones while flying.
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of an FCC plan to let airplane passengers make phone calls fizzling out.
On Monday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order that would end the agency’s 2013 plan to decide whether to change its recommendation that cell phones not be used on airplanes. The plan opened the issue for public comment and possible revision.
FCC commissioners must now vote on Pai’s order to decide whether to permanently ax the plan.
“I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest,” Pai said in a statement. “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.
