Talking or Non-Talking?

Forget the notion that a cell phone might turn your passenger jet into a screaming ball of flames. The real problem, says this pilot, is that air travel is hard enough already without a planeful of people blabbing incessantly, whether for work or from boredom, at 35,000 feet.

While the article's author hopes the airlines--when one day the cell phone ban is inevitably lifted--will at least offer different seating sections, as in the old days when smoking was still allowed on flights, I'm a bit more cynical. My fear, of course, is that chat-free seating will be available at a price, the sonic equivalent of 5 extra inches of leg room sold for a "nominal fee," as in United's Economy Plus seating. That will be a black day indeed for air travel.