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Home » Travel » I Used My Cell Phone on Turkish Airlines. No One Cared.
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I Used My Cell Phone on Turkish Airlines. No One Cared.

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 16, 2017April 16, 2017 23 Comments

Turkish Airlines In-Flight Calls

Turkish Airlines permits the use of mobile phones in-flight.

Using T-Mobile Wi-Fi, I was able to call my wife during my ~14hr flight on Thursday. The connection was clear and we had a nice conversation…it helped to pass time on a very long flight.

But did I disturb those around me? Was I that obnoxious guy…?

I guarantee you I was not.  Even my seatmate had no idea I was on the phone!

Here’s the thing–the noise from the engines overshadows the sounds around you, creating white noise that drowns out conversation. When you are 36,000 feet in the air and those around you are either sleeping or watching a movie, you cannot hear your neighbor talking.

How do I know? The lady across the aisle from me was also on the phone and I had no idea what she was talking about.

Point: I maintain fears about cell phone use onboard airplanes are overblown

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai just went on the record this week recommending that his agency block a proposal under consideration to let airlines set their own mobile phone polices.

Whether to allow onboard wi-fi based calling is not up to the FCC, but the FAA (it is not currently prohibited). I’ve argued here why I support the use of mobile phones in-flight.

But one more data point. Just like the people who complain about the spoiled brats running around airline lounges (that seem to be invisible), there will always be those with knee-jerk reactions to the use of phones onboard.

I urge such critics to be a little more pragmatic. I have yet to be on a flight that permitted cell phone usage in which a passenger was rude or obnoxious. I’m not saying it will never happen, but I am saying fears over what WILL happen are greatly exaggerated.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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23 Comments

  1. Philip W Reply
    April 16, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    What was the cost of the call? Was it charged as an international call even though you used wifi calling?

    In the UK they say that if you use wifi calling outside the UK then it’s charged as an international call.

    • Matthew Reply
      April 16, 2017 at 4:53 pm

      No charge for me. I use about 20-30 hours of wi-fi calling last month from Germany and Greece and was not charged for any of it.

    • MeanMeosh Reply
      April 16, 2017 at 5:57 pm

      US-based TMO plans don’t charge for WiFi calling, at all. One of the many reasons I switched to them, despite the occasionally sketchy coverage.

    • Sunny Reply
      April 16, 2017 at 9:27 pm

      Another blackmail propaganda! Why are you trying to make
      It look
      Like company is bad?because they fly more destinations than any other airlines.they are becoming the most fastest growing company in the world?also by using your mobile device you are risking yours and other people life in danger???and admitting it here.thats a bullshit.you are lucky that inwasnt sitting next to you to show who cares and who wont.

  2. Greg Reply
    April 16, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    I totally agree with you on this.

    I’ve dialed into entire board of directors meetings from planes, totally respectably and recovered a substantial amount of the cost of the trip. Nobody noticed, and my seat mate stayed asleep.

    UA status notwithstanding, on the right trips I would absolutely fly a different airline to be able to make calls.

    • A Reply
      April 17, 2017 at 3:02 am

      Are you sure no one noticed? Just because you’re chatting away doesn’t mean that no one glared at you and you were oblivious.

      • Matthew Reply
        April 17, 2017 at 9:40 am

        Of course people noticed, but no one listened. I could not hear the woman’s conversation across the aisle from me.

  3. Dom Reply
    April 16, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    “Was I that obnoxious guy…?” Yeah, you were.

    • Matthew Reply
      April 16, 2017 at 8:58 pm

      Child, please.

  4. Ed Reply
    April 16, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    While 80% of the calls will probably be okay, there are those who tend to tend to be loud on the phones (aka the teenage girl rapidly chatting loudly or the asian people screaming like the person is actually 20k miles away) which would drive me nuts.

  5. Christian Reply
    April 16, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    Your point flies in the face of your attack on the misbehaving European passenger a couple of weeks ago. Either give the person the benefit of the doubt or don’t. You seem to want the best of both worlds. Pick one.

    • Matthew Reply
      April 17, 2017 at 9:40 am

      What are you talking about? The Lufthansa diversion? That passenger’s nationality was not identified…

      • Christian Reply
        April 17, 2017 at 12:43 pm

        The nationality of the Lufhansa passenger is irrelevant. Either you give people the benefit of the doubt or you don’t.

  6. Alan Brint Reply
    April 16, 2017 at 11:21 pm

    Agree with last comment. You can’t have it both ways. Either you are willing to accept all of the risks or you are not. Personally, I am not, especially long hall. I’m sorry to disappoint you, Matthew, but I have a problem with people on their phones in flight because I cannot take the risk that they will be loud and obnoxious when I am trying to sleep. Its not like on an airplane you can ask someone to keep it down that easily if they aren’t sitting on the aisle or right near you. FAs already do a lot, and they can’t do that themselves.

  7. A Reply
    April 17, 2017 at 2:58 am

    If I were in economy and my seatmate all of the sudden decided to have a long conversation on a cell phone, I would know. I would care. I would be annoyed. I would think that person was very rude.

    And not everyone speaks softly. You can bother a lot of people on a plane-especially in the back where you’re packed liked sardines- depending on how loud you talk on the phone.

  8. Jake Reply
    April 17, 2017 at 10:23 am

    I pray for a giant solar event that will make all cell phone calling impossible.
    Such a perverse sense of entitlement.
    Of course no loud mouth ever disturbed anyone while talking on a cell phone in a public place.

  9. Matthew Reply
    April 17, 2017 at 10:34 am

    I’m so sick of people claiming that cell phones are a disturbance when they have no experience actually flying on an airline that permits cell phone use onboard.

    • A Reply
      April 17, 2017 at 11:08 am

      Thankfully, not planes. But trains, and buses, and subways…it’s not like those places are dramatically different.
      Actually, planes might be worse for being disturbed by cell phone conversations-there’s assigned seating, fewer places to go, and the rides are often longer…

  10. rjb Reply
    April 17, 2017 at 11:05 am

    I think cell phones should be allowed on all flights. I also think you should grow a pair and tell people to shut up when they are being loud an obnoxious. I have a real problem with people farting on planes.

  11. Jake Reply
    April 17, 2017 at 12:22 pm

    Please give me a list of airlines that allow cell phone calling. I will avoid them if at all possible.
    I have had several miserable Amtrak rides because of loud cell calls. Not everyone is as gentle as you are.

    • Matthew Reply
      April 17, 2017 at 12:33 pm

      Middle East carriers, Turkish off the top of my head. Good idea for an article. I’ll see if I can find them.

  12. Dan Reply
    March 17, 2019 at 12:54 pm

    Such a clickbait, vilifying headline. Not saying you did it on purpose but it still is.

  13. Shannon Reply
    January 30, 2023 at 5:26 am

    I’m on a Turkish Air flight from Istanbul to Chicago in business class (so spaced out). The man across the aisle from me has made several calls. All have been disruptive. He’s not especially loud, but the sound is noticeable and invasive to the quiet that most of us desire for sleep or work.
    It’s early 2023 and I’m grateful that calls are still prohibited on most flights.

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