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US flights cancelled over 5G rollout concerns. What is happening?

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Akshata Kamath
Akshata KamathJan 19, 2022 | 15:59

US flights cancelled over 5G rollout concerns. What is happening?

US telecom providers AT&T and Verizon set up their 5G devices across the country and were gearing up to start rolling out its 5G services on January 19, i.e., today. But now, US airlines and their officials have warned the Joe Biden administration of 'catastrophic disruption' and urged him to urgently intervene.

What disruption? The 5G devices could make large aircrafts unstable (and unusable), and this might cause a bigger chaos. US might see a grave disruption of supply chains as large cargo flights carrying essential supplies and vaccines would have to be cancelled. Also, thousands of domestic and international passengers would be stranded because of cancelled domestic and international passenger flights. Not a situation that the US wants to face. 

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This has already got many international carriers to cancel their flights to the US. Emirates, Air India, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways announced they would suspend flights to the US. US airplane trade group also pressured the Biden administration to stop the 5G rollout near airports. 

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

WHY IS 5G ROLLOUT OF CONCERN TO AIRCRAFTS?

The concern is whether wireless 5G signals within a 2-mile radius of key airports and towers could interfere with airplane devices called radio altimeters. Radio altimeters are the devices that pilots use to understand how far they are from the ground, and it helps them land in poor visibility.

The aviation industry is worried that this signal interference would tamper with sensitive airplane devices and give pilots an inaccurate judgement while landing planes in low visibility. Pilots don't want to risk any lives.  

This is what a radio altimeter looks like:

Most of the time, knowing our altitude above the sea, and the altitude of any terrain and airports in the area, is sufficient. But there are also times we need to know our exact height above the ground directly beneath us. This is where Radio Altimeters come in. pic.twitter.com/p21RLQLQUo

BUT HOW WILL IT INTERFERE?

Now AT&T and Verizon's 5G device uses the new C-band airwaves. The C-band is a set of radio airwaves that is used both by 5G wireless activity and by aircraft radar altimeters. The entire C-band ranges from 3.7–4.2 GHz. The altimeters, which help airplanes land and take off, use 4.2-4.4 Ghz; whereas the 5G networks use 3.7-3.9 Ghz. Any change in frequency or potential confusion in the needle movements can mess with the pilot's judgment. 

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Officials have also acknowledged that many aircrafts do not have modern radar altimeters, and that at least some airplanes are affected by 5G waves. But no one is clear about how many faulty altiimeters actually exist and since even a single crash can be tragic for everyone, airplanes do not feel comfortable with the 5G rollout at all.

WHAT DO AIRPLANE CARRIERS AND PILOTS WANT? 

The US carriers had collectively sent a letter asking the Biden government to keep 5G signals at least 2 miles away from US airports. This is needed immediately to avoid significant disruption. As pilots are prepared to ground their planes if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) doesn’t act, the nation's e-commerce will grind to a halt. 

This move seems to be significant because passengers reportedly got strongly worded statements from airline companies regarding the delay, asking them to talk to the Federal Commission for any complaints. 

Even the Air Line Pilots Association issued a statement: 

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Airlines have urged Biden to take action as flights might be disrupted, delayed and diverted to other cities. The 5G rollout was about to kick in on Wednesday, but lawmakers have asked for a further delay of 5G deployment. 

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS CANCELLED 

Emirates suspended its flights into nine airports, including Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle; but would continue flying into New York’s John F Kennedy airport, the Los Angeles airport and Washington Dulles. 

Air India, meanwhile announced the suspension of services between Delhi and San Francisco, Chicago and JFK, as well as between Mumbai and Newark. Japan Airlines have cancelled all Boeing 777 flights to US. 

WHAT WILL AT&T DO?

The telecom operators have now announced that the 5G activation near the airports would be delayed for 2 weeks to resolve the issues.

Last updated: January 19, 2022 | 15:59
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