re: Today I learned wifi calling on a plane is outlawed in the US, but not elsewhere... why?

Remember when they used to allow smoking on planes? If I remember right theere were flights that actually had nonsmoking and smoking sections, which was ludicrous.

As I remember the phones on planes, it was like $5 per minute cash.

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It’s one of the few windows of time remaining where you can still get away with not having to instantly respond to or be in contact with the outside world, and don’t need a made up excuse for being so. I hate people who clamor to close all such windows. Hate them.

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As much I’ve come to dislike airports, I’ve started looking forward to flights for exactly this reason. I’m usually sitting next to a coworker or a close family member, all of whom I like but will gladly entertain themselves if any one of us doesn’t feel like talking. I can read, play card games or do puzzles with one of my kids, or even doze off if I’m tired enough—and maybe more importantly, I can’t do much in the way of work, coordinating events, managing people’s schedules, or putting out fires.

In spite of what we seem to think sometimes, the world will never stop turning because one person has to engage airplane mode for a little while. In fact, I’m convinced that humans truly need to be unplugged sometimes, even if we have to be forced into it. Commercial flights are one of the few everyday experiences left that demand it, and that aspect of it should be sacrosanct.