Picture the scene; you’ve finally got through security at the airport, having had the entire contents of your bag deposited unceromoniously on the floor by an over zealous customs officer. You’ve just made the flight, having been unable to find the entrance to Heathrow T5, and having been trapped in a faulty lift with a large family from Texas for the best part of an hour. And in a tragically ironic twist of fate you’ve just sat down in your cattle class seat, wedged between said family.

But things are looking up, you’ve just opened the first of several complementary luke warm beers, the non-descript pretzel type snacks are going down surprisingly easily and even the in-flight movie doesn’t look half bad. And then all hell breaks loose. Yes, thanks to comms regulator Ofcom, British airlines will be able to install systems allowing passengers to make phone calls and send texts from their mobiles during flights. Forget business productivity, what about the general sanity of everyone on the plane? It’s unclear yet how much the service is likely to cost, but one thing is sure; at some point, you will be sat next to a passenger for whom money is no object.

29 Mar 2008