You know there is trouble when Tony Robbins, the tirelessly upbeat Mr. Motivation, is sulking.
But there he was on Twitter, lamenting the prospect of yet another torment in the hell of modern air travel: people talking on cellphones. The Federal Communications Commission is considering letting passengers use their phones while flying, and Mr. Robbins — and a lot of other people — are not happy.
“Do we really need this!?” Mr. Robbins, the motivational speaker, wrote in response to the news.
Others were more blunt. My inbox was flooded with angry messages. “I already hate my fellow passengers — this would only make it worse,” one reader wrote. A petition was created on the White House website to rally the quiet-cabin camp.
The reaction was the opposite of the mostly celebratory, Twitter-tape parade that marched through social media last month when the Federal Aviation Administration finally relented and agreed to let passengers read on their devices, surf the web and check emails during takeoff and landing. For many, the takeaway seems to be this: Let the guy squeezed next to me read quietly on a Kindle? No problem. Let him drone away in my ear? No way.
So why is the F.C.C. proposing something many people don’t seem to want? The agency is, in fact, trying to give us what we want: access to data while flying. One byproduct, however, is that people would, or could, also be able to make calls. But it may be difficult for people to get what many want — access to cellular data on flights — without getting what many don’t want — the occasional Chatty Cathy in 21B.
It isn’t a done deal. The F.C.C. has not issued a formal ruling, and commission officials declined to comment for this article. But an earlier statement from the F.C.C.’s chairman, Tom Wheeler, echoed the concerns that people like Mr. Robbins are voicing.
“We understand that many passengers would prefer that voice calls not be made on airplanes. I feel that way myself,” Mr. Wheeler said. “Ultimately, if the F.C.C. adopts the proposal in the coming months, it will be airlines’ decisions, in consultation with their customers, as to whether to permit voice calls while airborne.”
The F.C.C. provided me with documents and filings that help explain how this issue has evolved. The rules about using cellphones on planes date to the early ’90s, when phones were the size of milk cartons. Those devices, coupled with the weak electrical insulation in aircrafts, created crackly interference for pilots, so they were quickly banned. In 2007, the F.C.C. opened an internal review about whether to lift the rules, but safety concerns were still an issue, and the proposal was shelved.
Now, as the F.A.A.’s revision of its rules on using devices during takeoff and landing illustrate, today’s gadgets and planes are made for each other. In many respects, the F.C.C. is looking out for consumers, trying to give people the opportunity to connect to data on a cellphone rather than pay for costly — and often laboriously slow — Wi-Fi available on airplanes.
As is often the case with technology, the United States is trailing other parts of the world on this issue. The European Union began enabling airlines to permit cellphone and data use in 2008. As will be the case in the United States if the rules change, the European Union left it to airlines to choose which components of a cell service to make active during flights.
In Europe, Virgin Atlantic allows unlimited data connections, but it lets only six people talk on a cellphone at once. Some Lufthansa flights allow data connections through a cellphone, but no phone calls. Emirates lets an unlimited number of passengers talk on their phones — though few apparently do. How is it working so far? A study by the F.A.A. in 2012 found no reports “of air rage or flight attendant interference related to passengers using cellphones on aircraft” in other countries.
The change here, if it comes, will not happen overnight. There’s a long process to go through first.
“Once the F.C.C. issues its opinion, it would be up to the F.A.A., the airlines, or both, to decide whether to roll out services,” said Angela Giancarlo, a lawyer at Mayer Brown and a former F.C.C. official. Then, as in Europe, the airlines would be able to decide whether to allow data services, voice services, neither or both. Most important, pilots and stewards would have a “kill switch,” so if someone is talking too much, his or her phone could be shut off from the cockpit.
“There is no quiet car at 30,000 feet,” Senator Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wrote in an email. “Staying connected and entertained by checking email and playing a game on your phone is one thing, but loud, intrusive phone calls would strain the social compact we all enter into when we board a plane.”
So what happens next? On Dec. 12, the F.C.C. proposal will be presented to its commissioners. If approved, it will then be put online for a public comment. That’s when everyone — airlines and passengers alike — can voice their opinions.
But, travelers, think carefully. Say no to cellphone use, and you lose that data connection on your iPad and smartphone at 30,000 feet. And that is what many of you have been asking for all along. You might have to sit next to Chatty Cathy. But at least you will be able to tweet about it.
Email: bilton@nytimes.com