The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers on Monday warned of an impending ‘catastrophic’ aviation crisis on Wednesday when AT&T and Verizon finally deploy their new 5G services.
The two companies have spent tens of billions of dollars to license the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz frequency range for its new high-speed C-Band 5G service.
But officials with the FAA and airplane manufacturer Boeing have warned that there is potential for interfere with vital aircraft instruments that operate in the 4.2 to 44 GHz range, such as radio altimeters that tell pilots their altitude as they fly in low visibility.
In short, the fear is that false altitude readings could confuse pilots as they approach the runway in poor visibility conditions, with potentially disastrous results. The planes would have to be grounded as a result.
And on a day like Sunday when winter weather gripped the nation, the CEOs claim in their letter that interference to airplanes’ altimeters could result in ‘more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays.’
Action is urgent, they added in the letter, writing: ‘To be blunt, the nationĀ“s commerce will grind to a halt.’
The CEOs of some of the nation’s largest airlines wrote to federal officials on Monday warning about the potential negative effects of 5G
Verizon and AT&T have since agreed to push back the launch of their new service from January 4, but it is now set to debut on Wednesday.
When that happens, the airline CEOs warned federal officials on Monday, a significant number of widebody aircrafts will become unusable and ‘could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas.’
‘Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,’ wrote the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
‘The harm that will result from deployment on January 19 is substantially worse than we anticipated for two key reasons,’ they explained.
For one, they said, even though the FAA announced it had cleared for use two radar altimeters used in some Boeing and Airbus jets so they could perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed, the list did not include many large airports.
Additionally, they argued, because radio altimeters provide critical information to other safety and navigation systems in modern airplanes, multiple modern safety systems ‘will be deemed unusable.’
‘Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded.’
‘The ripple effects across both passenger and cargo operations, our workforce and the broader economy are simply incalculable,’ the CEOs wrote as they asked officials ‘that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles of airport runways’ at some key airports.
‘Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies.’
The carriers added they urge action to ensure ‘5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption.’
The letter, which was obtained by DailyMail.com, went to White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
The wireless service can render radar altimeters, which measures altitude, unreliable. Pictured is a Verizon 5G tower going up in Utah
Aviation officials fear that 5G signals near airports could interfere with certain airplane instruments, including the radio altimeter used to gauge altitude
It was signed by the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines , Southwest Airlines as well as officials from UPS Airlines, Atlas Air, JetBlue Airways and FedEx Express.
Airlines for America, the group that organized the letter, declined to comment. The government agencies did not immediately comment.
AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year, on January 3 agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks and take other steps to cut potential interference for six months.
They also agreed to delay deployment for two weeks until Wednesday, temporarily averting an aviation safety standoff.
The CEOs of major airlines and Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun held a lengthy call with Buttigieg and Dickson on Sunday to warn of the looming crisis, officials told Reuters.
But the issue doesn’t just affect airplanes – they could also have a negative effect on the nation’s helicopters, including lifesaving medevac choppers.
Under US law, all commercial helicopters must have a working altimeter in order to fly. Without them, officials warn, landing in remote areas or on hospital landing pads will be near impossible.
Helicopter Association International petitioned the FAA in October asking for medevacs to be exempt from the law when 5G rolls out, and the FAA granted it last week for areas where 5G C-Band interference could affect the radio altimeter.
Source: Daily Mail