Late last year, the Federal Communications Commission proposed relaxing its ban on wireless phone use during U.S. flights. Since then, the FCC received thousands of calls and letters opposing the idea. The majority of travelers, flight attendants groups, and even several members of Congress have objected to the lifting of the ban.

“The last thing most air passengers want is to be forced to listen to their neighbor chat on their cell phone about their ailments, dating problems, the latest reality TV show…,” Rep. John Mica, (R-Fla.), said at a hearing in July.

The industry has begun to acknowledge flyers concerns of being trapped on a plane with an overly loud and/or annoying passenger on their cell phone. Cingular Wireless even wrote to the FAA saying that passengers should be encouraged to “tap, not talk” during flights. In addition, many security experts have reiterated flight crew concerns of unruly passengers set off by the never ending conversation of some passengers.

To accommodate the need for passengers to stay connected, productive and/or entertained while flying, airlines have begin to move forward with testing Wi-Fi networks on flights. In June, the FAA gave Verizone Airfone and United Airlines approval to test Wi-Fi equipment for use in flight.

As frequent flyers, we are always looking for ways to make that 10 to 15 minutes waiting in line or few hours on a plane more productive. However, there are very few business phone conversations that we would feel comfortable handling where everyone on the plane could listen. Offering high-speed internet access during flights seems like a “no brainer”, but the price will have to be right.

The discussion from the FAA, FCC and industry groups has seemed very polar. It seems that we either have to accept unfettered cell phone use on planes or ban it all together. How about the addition of a “talking room” to be used for cell phone calls during flights and an allowance for cell phone usage only within this space? Access could be paid for, provided free or provided only to frequent flyers. The standard space for a bathroom could easily be used for two of these rooms.

This would provide an alternative to “all or nothing” views currently being discussed by regulators and the industry and would still allow passengers to send SMS from their seats and use Wi-Fi.