{"id":817655,"date":"2026-07-23T00:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/817655\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T00:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:42:12","slug":"i-was-open-mouthed-crackdown-on-selfish-act-driving-passengers-and-crew-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/817655\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was open-mouthed\u2019: Crackdown on selfish act driving passengers and crew crazy"},"content":{"rendered":"

He shielded his phone with his hand and hunched his body towards the wall, but I could still hear him. \u201cHave you booked the accommodation<\/a>?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n

Now, I don\u2019t usually earwig on people\u2019s phone calls. But I was on a plane<\/a>, and this chap in the seat next me had dialled up his pal on his mobile. As we were literally speeding down the runway.<\/p>\n

\"Plane<\/p>\n

A passenger made a phone call as the plane was taking off.\u00a0iStock<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t believe it. I mean I\u2019ve seen some bizarre things on planes<\/a>, but I was open-mouthed at this. <\/p>\n

Then, later, on my connecting flight, a couple in the exit row were making a racket audible to the whole plane. \u201cPing. Ping. Ping. Ping.\u201d <\/p>\n

They had no shame about the rolling texts. Despite the fact the wheels of the plane were about to lift off.<\/p>\n

In fact, phone use on flights is so common now that airlines and lawmakers are cracking down.<\/p>\n

As more airlines <\/a>roll out Wi-Fi and open up mobile use in the sky, I fear we\u2019re heading for a showdown.<\/p>\n

We have enough to contend with on a plane without adding phones to the mix. People seem to have completely done away with any regard to the rules.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, strict new laws around phone use are now on the table to combat everything from making phone calls to not using headphones.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/p>\n

Sarah says she\u2019s sick of people on phones on planes\u00a0Sarah Swain<\/p>\n

The crackdown has already started in the USA<\/a>, with the debate going all the way to the top after being in the works for a few years.<\/p>\n

A bill introduced by lawmakers in the House of Representatives would make taking phone or video calls from the air illegal,\u00a0Business Insider reported.<\/p>\n

The Quiet Skies Act<\/a>\u00a0is a rare bipartisan move that would \u201cfinalise a ban on in-flight calls on commercial planes\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

People seem to have done away with any regard to the rules. on planes, Sarah says.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Flight attendants say it\u2019s not just bad etiquette \u2013 it\u2019s about safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re shoved into a tin can, and we\u2019re hurdling through the sky at 38,000 feet. It\u2019s not a normal situation to be in,\u201d Ally Murphy, former flight attendant and cabin service supervisor at Virgin Atlantic, told the website. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re shoulder-to-shoulder with somebody and having to speak loudly, you\u2019re really disrupting the other passengers around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s something Aussie airlines are starting to tackle too, at least in the written rules.<\/p>\n

You can pay for Wi-Fi on some Jetstar flights<\/a>. But the airline says online voice and video calls are blocked.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s free on some Qantas <\/a>flights, but the airline\u2019s website notes \u201cvoice and video calls aren\u2019t permitted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Virgin Australia<\/a> also sells Wi-Fi passes but warns online: \u201cPlease refrain from using voice services and video conferencing as a courtesy to other guests on-board.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Traveling<\/p>\n

Airlines are also cracking down on headphone use.\u00a0iStock<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just people making phone calls in the firing line either. Headphone use is also something airlines are cracking down on.<\/p>\n

In fact, United Airlines has officially updated its Contract of Carriage policy to include the right to refuse service to guests \u201cwho fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content\u201d.<\/p>\n

Those who fail to follow the rule \u201con a permanent or temporary basis\u201d will be removed from the plane at any point, the new section reads.<\/p>\n

Why do we need flight mode on planes?<\/p>\n

Phone use could be an issue for the cockpit.<\/p>\n

An\u00a0airline<\/a>\u00a0pilot has also revealed why passengers must put their phones on\u00a0airplane\u00a0mode <\/a>when flying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does have the potential to mess with the headsets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have an aircraft with 79, 80, 150 people on board, and even three or four people\u2019s phones start to try and make a connection to a radio tower for an incoming phone call, it sends out radio waves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a potential that those radio waves can interfere with the radio waves of the headset that the pilots are using.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He shielded his phone with his hand and hunched his body towards the wall, but I could still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-817655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}