Executives at several airline companies fear an aviation crisis is on the horizon after AT&T and Verizon implement their 5G networks this week.
These concerns arose after the Federal Aviation Administration issued several notices warning of 5G’s potential interference with select navigation tools.
“Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” the executives wrote in a letter acquired by the Washington Examiner.
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The FAA said 5G could interfere with tools that track altitude or help with landing in low-visibility scenarios. “This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays,” the letter states.
The letter concludes by claiming 5G’s impact on the aviation industry would grind the nation’s economy “to a halt.”
That is why the airline executives asked that “5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles of airport runways.” This implementation would allow 5G to be deployed while “avoiding harmful effects” on a number of industries, the executives said.
While the two wireless providers have agreed to implement temporary buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference, they do not include all of the major airline hubs, the executives stated.
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The letter was organized by the trade organization Airlines for America and was signed by executives from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, UPS Airlines, Atlas Air, JetBlue Airways, and FedEx Express. A4A then sent the letter to several government officials, including White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, and Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
The FAA started issuing notices Friday, warning that planes relying on untested altimeters or older versions will not be allowed to perform low-visibility landings where 5G is deployed.
AT&T and Verizon had previously delayed 5G turnout scheduled for Jan. 4 to allow the FAA to determine if there were any risks. The data providers delayed the networks’ activation until Jan. 19.
The FCC pushed back against the decision to delay, arguing in a Jan. 1 letter that the request for another one was “not backed up by the science, engineering, or law.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the plan to deploy 5G was made “over 660 days ago in a thorough, 258-page” document and that another delay would hinder “years of work and tens of billions of dollars in investment.”
