{"id":449090,"date":"2026-05-19T08:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449090\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T08:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:33:10","slug":"british-airways-now-lets-you-make-in-flight-video-calls-i-beg-that-you-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449090\/","title":{"rendered":"British Airways now lets you make in-flight video calls \u2013 I beg that you don’t"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am a rock, I am an island\u201d is a Simon & Garfunkel<\/a> lyric I often think of while experiencing the miracle of flight. Up there, high above the clouds, is the final frontier of unreachability. \u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t take that meeting,\u201d one could say, \u201cI\u2019ll be in the air.\u201d But alas, nothing good can stay.<\/p>\n

As British Airways launches<\/a> high-speed Starlink internet across the entirety of its fleet, the airline has announced that it will allow passengers to make and receive video and phone calls aboard their planes. The disappointment here is twofold: one, that we are willingly giving up the sanctity of the temporary isolation that flights offer, and allowing phones into them just like everywhere else; and two, that British Airways<\/a> thinks all of its passengers can be trusted to enjoy this new privilege without foisting their voices and the tinny din of their devices upon those with whom they\u2019re sharing space.<\/p>\n

Think, dear reader, of the actor Matthew Rhys, who just this week gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal decrying, quite rightly, the lack of headphone use running rampant among video watchers in public spaces the world over. Even in the quiet car of the Amtrak Northeast Regional, from within which I write this rant, a person was watching America\u2019s Funniest Home Video-style highlights on Youtube at full volume, nary an earbud in use, until approached by the conductor and ordered to stop. On Mother\u2019s Day, on the Metro North, I sat inches from a woman playing slots on her phone, the jangling coin sound effects blaring.<\/p>\n

British Airways, for its part, makes a plea on its website while outlining how they hope this will work: \u201cPlease be considerate.\u201d Guidance for potential video callers asks them to use headphones and speak in a low voice: \u201cPlease always use headphones when watching or listening to content on your device,\u201d they request, and so do I.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not the only airline to engage in this social experiment. While many airlines that have in-flight Wi-Fi prohibit video calling, Etihad<\/a> has encouraged its passengers to make calls since 2023.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not the only Traveller editor in dismay over the news. Abigail Malbon<\/a>, our global manager of audience development, says: “Planes are a special type of oblivion, where you cross time zones and have a rare, but legitimate, excuse not to be in constant contact with the world. And when I\u2019m not in contact with anyone, I certainly don’t want to hear other people’s conversations. The noise of a business meeting, or worse, an argument, would push me over the edge. Time to invest in some really good noise-cancelling headphones<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arati Menon<\/a>, global digital director and therefore no Luddite, dislikes in-flight Wi-Fi altogether. \u201cI\u2019m one of those people who secretly hopes [it] doesn\u2019t work,\u201d she says. \u201cNo one needs to be clearing their work inbox when they could be watching Anne Hathaway\u2019s unscripted fall on wet bleachers in Princess Diaries while drinking a subpar Chardonnay and eating 10 tiny pretzels. Having someone make a completely unnecessary, non-urgent call from their plane seat<\/a> \u2013 just because they’re bored \u2013 is my worst nightmare. Flights are hard, especially for those of us not flying in the upper cabins, and I’d rather airlines not go out of their way to make them harder. Smaller seats, less legroom, meals on a budget, and now someone whispering indiscreet sweet nothings to their lover in my ear. Pure hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

For senior features editor Megan Spurrell<\/a>, it\u2019s the final transmogrification of airplanes into city buses. \u201cAs much as I love eavesdropping, the last thing I need is to pay $600 to spend a red-eye beside a stranger dissecting a Real Housewives reunion with their bestie. Spare me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Call us when the\u2013 actually, wait, don\u2019t call us at all.<\/p>\n

A version of this article originally appeared on Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler US<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI am a rock, I am an island\u201d is a Simon & Garfunkel lyric I often think of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[23915,85,46,125],"class_list":["post-449090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-air-travel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}