Senators urge ban on in-flight calls

Two senators are urging the Department of Transportation to ban in-flight calls to prevent fights from breaking out among passengers.

Sens Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wrote to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to encourage him to follow through with the ban the Transportation Department proposed in February 2014.

“We strongly support the agency's efforts to preserve the last vestige of quiet in our busy skies,” the senators wrote in the letter. The senators, who introduced the Commercial Flight Courtesy Act in December to ban in-flight calls through legislation, say cellphone conversations could create a “hostile atmosphere” for passengers. They said they worry flight crews might have to referee “senseless disputes” between passengers -- or even force air marshals to reveal their identities to break up physical altercations. “We are concerned that the addition of this entirely avoidable aggravation of a confined space will create a possibly hostile atmosphere on commercial flights,” the senators wrote.