Leisure and business travelers had slightly different opinions on the usage of cell phones while flying - at least when it came to texting, according to a survey of 428 travelers at Albany International released this week.

On cell phones - Leisure travelers: 83 percent against, 8 percent in favor, and 9 percent indifferent.
                        Business travelers: 60 percent against, 27 percent in favor, and 13 percent indifferent.

Texting - Leisure travelers: 55 percent opposed, 35 percent in favor, and 10 percent indifferent.
              Business travelers: 64 percent in favor.

(photo from Vermontel)

I asked some friends what their thoughts on the survey were: Some thought it was great that the airport was getting local opinions on the matter, while others felt it was biased. Most agreed that no one wants to hear people talking on their cell phones on a plane, but texting was OK. One was especially specific and felt that calls should be limited to 15 minutes prior to arrival for domestic flights and 30 minutes for international flights, otherwise it should just be texting.

Personally, I enjoy doing other things while flying - like reading, watching in-flight movies, sleeping, or writing in my journal about a hopefully awesome trip that I just had.

If the FCC adopts new rules, it will be up to the individual airlines to decide on cell phone usage while airborne.

What do you think? 

And, speaking of ALB airport, I highly recommend checking out their art gallery. It's free to the public, you get parking validated, and it's actually usually a pretty cool rotating art exhibit.