Cellphone Use In-Flight

The Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Transportation are toying with changing the rules for in-flight cellphone use, but, at least to judge by this Bloomberg report, the approach is a top-down, one-rule-fits-all approach. So long as there's no safety issue, why not let the airlines themselves set their own rules and compete to attract either travelers who want quiet cabins or travelers who want to talk on their phones? Maybe they want to handle it with separate seating areas, a la the Amtrak "Quiet Car," or with premium pricing for either quiet or the ability to talk on the phone. Let the customers and the airlines decide it rather than the federal bureaucrats. Certainly the airlines have experience in trying to cater to certain market segments with everything from blue potato chips to more legroom in coach.