U.S. considers cellphones on flights but no calls Separately, the Department of Transportation is considering a proposal that would ban calls outright. Passengers could still use their data plans on smartphones and tablets to surf the Web or send e-mails and texts. The idea of allowing cellphone calls on planes generated a massive storm of public criticism after it was first put forward by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler last month. Travelers, flight attendants and lawmakers voiced concern that the proposal unleash unbearable cacophonies of phone conversation on packed airplanes. We believe USDOT's role, as part of our Aviation Consumer Protection Authority, is to determine if allowing these calls is fair to consumers. USDOT will now begin a process that will look at the possibility of banning these in-flight calls. As part of that process, USDOT will give stakeholders and the public significant opportunity to comment," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. On Thursday, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that also would prohibit cellphone calls on commercial airlines, echoing an effort in the House this week. "Keeping phone conversations private on commercial flights may not be enshrined in the Constitution, but it is certainly enshrined in common sense," Alexander said. This legislation is about avoiding something nobody wants: nearly 2 million passengers a day, hurtling through space, trapped in 17-inch-wide seats, yapping their innermost thoughts. Foxx said he also was concerned about the possibility of in-flight cellphone calls but defended the FCC's decision to approve the telecommunications service. "As the FCC has said before, their sole role on this issue is to examine the technical feasibility of the use of mobile devices in flight," Foxx added. The FCC's vote Thursday wouldn't approve the technology for in-flight cellphone calls. It would only take public comment on the new permissions. Wheeler has argued that the agency needs to update an arcane ban on cellular services during flight because there are no longer safety concerns of potential interference from radio signals with the cockpit. In a House oversight hearing Thursday morning, Wheeler said a 22-year-old ban on in-flight cellphone services is outdated. If the basis for the rule is no longer valid, then the rule is no longer valid. This is a simple proposition, as applicable to the rules about the telegraph . . . and the rules about on-board interference which technology has made unnecessary," he said.