airline passengers

In the latest example of online travel agencies eliminating service fees to lure customers, Expedia is hanging up its $20 charge for booking airfares by phone -- undercutting both its rivals and the airlines themselves.

The friendly skies are not so affable when it comes to using cell phones on commercial airliners.

Nearly half of U.S. residents say they would oppose allowing cell phone use aboard flights even if there were no issues with the phones interfering with aircraft communications systems, a Department of Transportation survey finds. About four out of 10 residents said cell phone use should definitely or probably be permitted.

The European Commission has introduced technical and licensing regulations to let airline passengers use their mobile handsets and smartphones during flights. "Pan-European telecom services, such as in-flight mobile telephony, needed a regulatory 'one-stop shop' to operate throughout Europe, and this is why the commission has acted," said European Union Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

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