With the introduction of Starlink, Qatar Airways has made it easier than ever to conduct video calls onboard through services like FaceTime or Zoom. Would this be workable in the USA?
With FaceTime And Zoom Now Easier Than Ever On Qatar Airways, A Test Case For The USA
Earlier I wrote about the debut of the first Boeing 777 aircraft with Starlink onboard, giving passengers wi-fi download speeds of up to 350 Mbps. With speeds like that come so many new possibilities…and so many potential downfalls.
In-flight mobile phone calls, FaceTime, Zoom, Teams, and Skype have been permitted for years on Qatar Airways. But in most cases, you didn’t see or hear such calls because the Internet connection was too poor. That changes with the introduction of Starlink…such conversations will now be possible.
Qatar Airways has no rules prohibiting their usage, instead stating it expects passengers to “be respectful.”
And I’m okay with it…I’m still okay with it after all these years.
For years, carriers in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia have allowed onboard mobile phone access and we have not seen fights break or even tempers flare. I hear the same argument every time I bring this up – we cannot allow cell phones because there is always “that guy” who won’t shut up and will eventually aggravate “that other guy” and lead to cursing and the exchange of blows.
Folks, this is a straw man. I know Americans are a special breed and flight attendants are deadset against the allowance of cell phone calls, but consider the positive side of putting working cell phones in the hands of troublemakers: first, they are going to speak into their phone instead of speaking to you. Second, if they’re talking on their phone it probably means they are not drinking or kicking the seat in front of them. I actually think much of the rage onboard planes derives from being helplessly disconnected from the ground: being able to speak to a friend or loved one in a tense situations like a crammed airplane will cool tensions, not inflame them.
Of course, I may be wrong, but I think we now have the perfect test case onboard the Qatar Airways 777. As Qatar retrofits its entire 777 fleet over the next several months with Starlink, we will see what it is like when the internet is just as fast, if not faster, in the air as on the ground.
- Will there be more people who don’t use headphones?
- Will there be obnoxious phone calls and video calls?
I don’t know, but my hunch is that it is going to be just fine…
Onboard internet transformed my travel patterns and made me a much more productive person. I used to take only late-night flights on transcontinental routes because I could not afford to be disconnected during peak work hours from the internet. Now I can travel during the day and keep up on work and my clients via onboard internet. It will be even easier if I can make calls too and I promise not to yell…
I hope United Airlines, which will debut Starlink in 2025, is keep a close eye on all this. Offering a “cell phone section” onboard could be a big value-add…or something to avoid.
I have had more than my fair share of occasions of being seated within earshot of people having long phone calls on trains, and it is discourteous to the rest of the cabin/compartment within minutes of the call starting. And so I hope the airlines don’t encourage this kind of stuff with video calls either. I prefer more peaceful cabins over more talking going on. And video calls come with more light pollution on top of the sound pollution.
My first video call on a plane using in-flight internet was a choppy session over 15 years ago. And nowadays there are more texting options to communicate in real time that the need for a call should be lower than it used to be. And yet we know there will be more of the “see where I am” calls with this kind of thing unless airlines restrict it.
It was just some weeks back earlier this year that a rather elderly Swedish guy on my train had to get up and tell an elderly visiting American guy if it was all that urgent that he needs to yap for so long on the phone. The American guy had barely said a peep to his wife/partner on the train ride but was full of words for his phone-mate. I couldn’t help but grin that someone local had solved the problem for everyone including maybe even the phone yapper’s significant other.
if we don’t allow phone conversations, perhaps there should be no talking at all on the phone.
No difference if someone is talking on their phone or talking to their seat mate. The same noise is created
Derek, speaking only to your seatmate limits the number of simultaneous conversation.
@Derek … There ought to be no talking on the plane . Also , no sneezing and no coughing .
I disagree that it is the same noise. Individuals talking on the phone while wearing Airpods consistently talk at a much louder volume for two reasons. First, because their ears are plugged, they cannot hear themselves as well. Second, they talk louder to help the person on the other end hear them better. Imagine trying to sleep on a long-haul business class flight while the guy behind you is trying to close a deal via a series of heated phone calls. It will be worse than toddlers.
In many modern business class seats passengers can not easily talk with seat mates. And I find on US flights passengers tend to talk quite loudly regardless of whether they are on the phone, but something seems to prompt people to speak more loudly when talking into a device.
Btw, I have used video calls on TK for quite a while at low volume with no issues.
Ick. Not only will there be ” that guy and the other guy “, but a cabin full of chatter. There will be tearful breaking up couple drama. Alcohol will fuel inappropriate conversation. The social media influencers that never are quiet, will be in competition to be heard. Ick
This is why Amtrak has quiet cars.
They didn’t put in the quiet car option in order to raise prices or boost margins? In some parts of the world, that is what the result was from selling a quiet cabin/car on the trains. Which airline will be the first to charge a premium for a “quiet” section of the plane?
@GUW. It was a conductor that randomly designated a Quiet Car because of the annoying phones on the NE corridor. Any conversation is to be in hushed tones.
Premium Quiet. Yeah I’d pay
If you do it well behaved in Business Class, I would not have a problem – did this personally already in the past and nobody got disturbed. But in a full economy with 10 people doing this – especially in the night – this might be super bothersome…. Especially as a lot of persons speak super loud if they have headphones on.
I’ve been using VOIP on aircraft for years, and before that the inflight roaming that Emirates used to offer going back 15+ years. I don’t ever recall a problem with anyone. Put on a headset and nobody even knows what you are doing given the ambient noise in the cabin.
You’ve never heard a kid singing along to what’s playing on the screen in the seat in front of you on a plane? That’s better than the noise from a person who thinks it’s more important to try to speak extensively on an inflight VOIP call when a written emessage or email would work just as well or better if the matter is so very important that it can’t wait until on the ground.
I think the point is that any activity can be disruptive if not handled properly. As you point out, a kid watching the seatback IFE can be worse than someone making or taking a voice or video call.
Other than curiosity from my seatmates, I haven’t once had anyone even notice any calls I have taken or made from flights.
No, no, no, no, no!
+1000
PLEASE! NO! Do it for the children!
No, imagine everyone talking over each other because of the engine noise and other conversations. If folks don’t talk on their phones for a while we all get a break. There are too many people confined to their seats for the most part and don’t need undo noise and distraction. People sleep on planes.
Allow this in the US and not a single flight will land at destination. All flights will have to be diverted due to fights on board. Americans are not culturally built for this to be allowed on planes.
I think it’s a dreadful idea, particularly when travelling long haul in Y with many pax trying to sleep. Fortunately most of my flights are short haul and for the longer ones I typically find a way to sit upfront (whether it’s through miles, offers, creative routings, hidden cities etc).
I fear I would grab someone’s phone and feed to a “service” dog.
Ugh no we do not need to be trapped in the sky listening to your work conversations!! Travelers have enough opportunities to be rude without yapping at the top of their lungs on the phone in the middle of the night when other flyers are trying to sleep. No no no no.
Zoom and FaceTime would be absolute carnage. A large enough of a small percentage will be obnoxious and make the cabin hell for the rest of us. Too many people just don’t give a sh1t and are very inconsiderate of those around them. It’s bad enough when you are seated somewhere and you have these asshats looking at videos without headphones. It’s going to be just like that if not worse using zoom and FaceTime.
@Batchaloupe +1.
If United allows this, I’m switching carriers.
“Offering a “cell phone section” onboard could be a big value-add”
The equivalent of how we used to have smoking sections?
On Amtrak, violators of the quiet cars can be tossed of the train at any point the conductor picks. Good luck getting flight attendants to even enforce a noise rule.
That was meant to be tossed OFF the train. And from some power invested over 100 years ago, it’s still stands. On a flight, this will never happen. ;· ).
Don’t tell that to Pinochet. Good thing he’s long gone so you can’t.
I cannot stand the self-important businessman who thinks his call is so important that he continues after the door closes. Nothing is that important, and the fact that somehow we’ve constructed this ‘you must be available at all times’ culture is terrible. It can wait. Let’s go back to reading the news or a good book, or having a friendly conversation with a person next to you. Or even playing a game on your device of choice.