The federal government on Thursday moved closer to allowing cellphone use during flights, but with a catch: Passengers won’t be able to use the devices to make calls.

If approved, the new rules would mean consumers could use their data plans to surf the Web or send e-mails and texts once a plane reaches 10,000 feet. But flights would remain free of the cacophony of people jabbering into their phones.

Many of the details have yet to be worked out. Federal transportation officials, for instance, said they did not yet know how they would stop — or whether they would penalize — passengers whose phones start to ring in the middle of a flight.

It was also unclear which airlines might offer the service and whether they would add charges for passengers who use data plans on a flight.