Major U.S. Airlines CEOs Warned 5G Could Ground Flights, Cause Aviation Crisis
Ramp agents unload the top deck of a Boeing 767 at UPS Worldport on January 3, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. UPS will handle the movement of approximately 60 million holiday returns during returns season, which spans from November 14 to January 22. Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Major U.S. airlines and cargo carriers warned about the introduction of the new 5G wireless service set on Wednesday. The new technology could ground flights, possibly strand thousands of Americans overseas and delay the delivery of major goods.

CEOs of the major carriers wrote in a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden's administration officials that C-band 5G causes disruptions to airplanes' instruments that could cause "huge swaths" of the U.S. fleet unusable, according to The Hill report.

The executive officials noted that most of the nation's large airports will be under 5G-related flight restrictions from the Federal Aviation Administration.

CEOs of Delta Airlines, United Airlines, FedEx, UPS, and others wrote that more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions, or delays.

The FAA has warned that potential interference could affect sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters and widely hamper low-visibility operations.

Airlines and 5G Service Launch

On Monday, airline companies were considering whether to start canceling some international flights that are set to arrive in the United States on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report.

Planemaker Boeing said that the transportation industry is preparing for some service disruption with the proposed restrictions at selected airports.

The planemaker said they are optimistic that they can come up with solutions that would safely mitigate as many schedule impacts as possible.

Alaska Air, Atlas Air, and JetBlue Airways also signed the letter sent to White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, and Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also received the letter.

The group that organized the letter, Airlines for America, has declined to comment on the matter, while government agencies that received the latter have yet to respond.

5G Wireless Service

AT&T and Verizon won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year. They agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks and another precautionary measure to decrease possible interference for six months, according to a CNBC report.

In addition, they agreed to delay the launch for two weeks until Wednesday, temporarily preventing an aviation safety standoff.

The airlines had also asked the telecommunication companies that the 5G be imposed everywhere in the country except within the approximate two miles of airport runways at major airports.

The carriers added that they want immediate action to ensure 5G is implemented except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can decide how to safely accomplish it without disruption.

The CEOs wrote that unless their major hubs are cleared to fly, the huge majority of the traveling and the shipping public will be essentially grounded.

The FAA released a statement regarding the upcoming 5G service, saying that 45 percent of U.S. commercial flights were cleared to land at airports where 5G will be deployed and that more airports will be cleared in the coming days, according to a Forbes report.

The 5G service is reportedly 16 times faster as compared to 4G.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by Mary Webber

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