Global Courant
Airline passengers who endured tens of thousands of weather-related flight delays this week could face a new source of disruption starting Saturday, when wireless carriers are expected to start up new 5G systems near major airports.
Aviation groups have been warning for years that 5G signals could interfere with aircraft equipment, especially those that use radio waves to measure distance above the ground and are critical when planes land in poor visibility.
Predictions that interference would lead to massive flight groundings came true last year, when telecom companies began rolling out the new service. They then agreed to limit the strength of the signals around busy airports, giving airlines an extra year to upgrade their planes.
The leader of the country’s largest pilot union said crews can handle the impact of 5G, but he criticized the way the wireless licenses were issued, saying it had added unnecessary risk to aviation.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently told airlines that flights could be disrupted because a small portion of the country’s fleet has not been upgraded to protect against radio interference.
Most major US airlines say they are ready. American, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier and United say all of their planes have altimeters, called radio altimeters, that are shielded from 5G interference.
The big exception is Delta Air Lines. Delta says it has 190 planes, most of them smaller, that still don’t have improved altimeters because the supplier couldn’t deliver them fast enough.
The airline does not expect to cancel flights over the issue, Delta said Friday. The airline plans to carefully route the 190 aircraft to minimize the risk of flights being canceled or aircraft being forced to divert from airports where visibility is poor due to fog or low cloud cover.
Delta aircraft not retrofitted include several models of Airbus jets: all A220s, most A319s and A320s, and some A321s. The airline’s Boeing jets have improved altimeters, as do all Delta Connection aircraft, which are operated by Endeavor Air, Republic Airways and SkyWest Airlines, the airline said.
JetBlue did not respond to requests for comment, but told The Wall Street Journal it expects to retrofit smaller Airbus jets by Oct. 17, with potentially “limited impact” in Boston for a few days.
Wireless providers, including Verizon and AT&T, are using a portion of the radio spectrum called C-Band, which is close to the frequencies used by radio altimeters, for their new 5G service. The Federal Communications Commission licensed them for the C-Band spectrum and rejected any risk of interference, saying there was sufficient buffer between C-Band and altimeter frequencies.
When the Federal Aviation Administration sided with airlines and objected, the wireless companies delayed the rollout of their new service. In a compromise brokered by the Biden administration, the wireless carriers agreed not to fire up 5G signals near about 50 busy airports. That postponement expires on Saturday.
AT&T declined to comment. Verizon did not immediately respond to a question about its plans.
Buttigieg reminded the head of the Airlines for America trade group in a letter last week about the deadline, warning that only planes with modified altimeters would be allowed to land in low visibility conditions. He said more than 80% of the US fleet has been upgraded, but a significant number of aircraft, including many from foreign airlines, have not been upgraded.
“This means, particularly on days with bad weather and poor visibility, there could be more delays and cancellations,” Buttigieg wrote. He said airlines with planes awaiting retrofit should adjust their schedules to avoid stranding passengers.
Airlines say the FAA has been slow to approve standards for upgrading the radio altimeters and supply chain issues have made it difficult for manufacturers to produce enough of the devices. Nicholas Calio, head of Airlines for America, complained of a rush to adapt planes “under pressure from the telecommunications companies”.
Jason Ambrosi, a Delta pilot and president of the Air Line Pilots Association, accused the FCC of granting 5G licenses without consulting aviation interests, which he says has “left the world’s safest aviation system at heightened risk.” “Eventually we will be able to deal with the consequences of 5G.”
(TagsToTranslate)Wireless Technology
