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Clark Behind The Headlines

We haven't had it yet on my radio show: no one has called in from an airplane. Even though mid-flight phone calls are now legal in several countries, it is something I would dread see in the good old U.S of A. And it seems many flight attendants here agree with me! Their union has called for permanent ban on in-flight cell phone calls.

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There was a recent story in USA Today about how some people have found away around the cell phone ban by using the Web-based program “Skype” to make calls while they're in the air. Now there's nothing specifically that says “Skyping” is illegal, but that doesn’t make it right.

Think of how loud people talk when they're on their cell phones. You can’t even think around them! Factor in the ambient noise of an aircraft, crying babies and perhaps a bad connection… and people will be SHOUTING over each other!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a technophobe. The Web surfing while flying thing has been great. Most of the flights I take now have WiFi on board. I love being able to IM somebody from the air. I've tweeted from an airplane to our Clark Howard twitterers – but I think I’m drawing the line there.

I want to hear what you think. Do you think that all types of phone calls should be banned on flights? I know my vote.