Should airlines let passengers make calls via Wi-Fi?

— -- Roger Flessing was on an American Airlines flight to Seattle recently when he began speaking with his son on his iPhone.

Unsure of how his action might be received by others, the Tacoma resident says he spoke discreetly. But soon, he says, flight attendants were leaning over, asking for a demonstration on how to make calls on their mobile phones. "They were saying, 'Wow this is great. We have to check our schedule, and we couldn't do that before,' " says Flessing, who flies often for his job as a communications executive for the non-profit relief organization World Vision.

Flessing wasn't making a conventional cellphone call. He was using Truphone, which allows smartphones to use wireless, or Wi-Fi, connections to make calls. The technology is known as Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP. Flessing also booted his laptop and videoconferenced with his brother using Skype, another VoIP application. He turned his computer to face the window so his brother could see the clouds. "My brother says, "How are you doing this?' "

It's a question that domestic airlines will have to answer with more clarity if they plan — as they say they do — to block phone calls during flight now that Wi-Fi is accessible on about 600 planes in the USA and passengers can talk online as Flessing did.

It's a controversial issue that's triggering fierce debate among travelers, airlines and regulators. Federal regulations prohibit in-flight cellphone use — but not Internet-based phone calls — lest they interfere with flight operations and create congestion in ground cell towers. A bill in Congress seeks a similar ban on all in-flight voice communications by passengers.

It's all the more controversial because airlines in Europe, Asia and the Middle East allow calls and have even taken it a step further by introducing pay-by-minute cellphone service using satellites.

Americans are split about in-flight mobile phones, a survey by the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics found. About 45% said cellphones should be banned on aircraft. About 40% said they should definitely or probably be allowed if they don't pose a safety threat, according to the survey, which queried about 1,000 households.