Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., praised the Department of Transportation...

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., praised the Department of Transportation for its work developing a proposed rulemaking to ban in-flight phone calls. “I'm glad the Department of Transportation is serious about putting the brakes on a bad idea before it takes flight,” Alexander said in a statement Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1tG9IFT). “Banning in-flight cell phone conversations would bring us one step closer to avoiding something that the two million passengers flying each day do not want: to be trapped by a seatbelt in 17-inch-wide seats thousands of feet above the ground listening to the same thing we hear in airports -- arguments with spouses, next week’s schedule, or last night’s love life.” Alexander had introduced legislation to ban in-flight calls late last year following the FCC’s announcement it would address the issue.