Americans give mixed reactions on allowing mobiles in airlplanes

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's proposal to allow cellular services on airliners have drawn mixed reactions from daily fliers.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler confirmed in late October that it is planning to let passengers use their cellphones during the flights, if there's a miniature cell tower on the plane, PCWorld reports.

However, it would be up to the airlines to decide whether passengers could use their phones for voice calls or just for texting and data services, the report added.

The in-flight cellphone concept has drawn criticism as well as appreciation from ordinary Americans.

The FCC banned cellphones on planes in 1991 to prevent transmissions from the air from interfering with cellular networks on the ground, which were not designed to handle calls from planes.