RyanAir to Offer In-Flight Cell Phones
RyanAir will start letting passengers make in-flight cell phone calls on some flights in the next couple weeks, and the carrier will charge about $3.50 a minute for the privilege.
The carrier is fitting 14 of its planes with mobile phone masts that will make it possible for as many as six passengers at one time to receive or send calls, text messages and email via a BlackBerry or similar electronic device.
Charges for the calls will vary according to the roaming charges that are imposed by the user’s network, and Ryanair will be taking a large percentage of the payments to the network provider. If the trial is successful it will be rolled out to the rest of the fleet within six months.
Is the airline worried that such a move will disturb the peace of other valued passengers? Not really. Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, had this to say about it:
"If you want a quiet flight, use another airline. Ryanair is noisy, full and we are always trying to sell you something."
British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh is determined that his company won't be offering anything similar. He was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "The vast majority of our customers have said please don't offer mobile phone communication."