An overwhelming majority of Americans don't want airlines to allow passengers to talk on their cellphones during flights, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.
The survey released Wednesday found that 59 percent of Americans oppose in-flight cell phone use while only 30 percent support the idea.
"'Buckle up; hang up and shut up on airplanes,' chatter-weary American voters say," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The poll's results were echoed Thursday by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. The two frequent fliers introduced a Senate bill to prohibit cell phone conversations on commercial flights.
"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 two million passengers a day, hurtling through space, trapped in 17-inch wide seats, yapping their innermost thoughts."
Feinstein added: "Flying on a commercial airline - in a confined space, often for many hours - is a unique travel experience that is, candidly, not conducive to numerous passengers talking on cellphones."