01-18-2022, 02:17 PM
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/air...-rcna12525
Quote:“To be blunt, the nation’s commerce will grind to a halt," the chief executives of major carriers warned in a letter.
The aviation industry faces “catastrophic” disruption from the rollout of a new 5G service this week, airline leaders have warned.
In a letter sent Monday to United States transportation and economic officials and obtained by NBC News, the CEOs of major carriers said that the launch could ground flights and leave "tens of thousands of Americans" stranded overseas.
The warning came ahead of Wednesday's rollout of the new C-Band 5G service from telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon. It also comes as airlines continue to contend with the fallout from widespread flight cancellations fueled by the spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19 and a series of winter storms that caused travel chaos across the U.S.
The airlines warned that the 5G signals risked interfering with safety equipment pilots rely on to take off and land in inclement weather.
“Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” they said in the letter, which was signed by the chief executives of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue, along with leaders of UPS and FedEx.
“Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” the letter said.
Without clearance, it added: "To be blunt, the nation's commerce will grind to a halt."
The letter was addressed to National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Stephen Dickson and Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
Major airline CEOs warn about the rollout of 5G service
Jan. 18, 202208:35
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Fifth-generation wireless technology, widely known as 5G, promises to deliver ultra-fast internet speeds, extra bandwidth and increased connectivity, with telecommunications companies around the world racing to roll out the service.
Both AT&T and Verizon have previously insisted that 5G networks operate safely without interference in nearly 40 countries and would do the same in the U.S. They declined to comment further on Monday.
The concern is that the airwave spectrum used by the 5G technology could clash with the signals used by radio altimeters, measuring instruments that help pilots determine the distance from the ground to the bottom of an aircraft during low visibility operations.
Both companies have agreed to maintain buffer zones around at least 50 airports to reduce the possibility of interference. And the Wednesday rollout of the new 5G service comes after an already two-week delay that was requested by the Department of Transportation in response to concerns from aviation leaders.
AT&T and Verizon initially rejected the government’s request in early January, but reversed course and agreed to the two-week delay.
At the time, Buttigieg said that talks between the FAA, major airlines and wireless carriers were “healthy.”
Will 5G end up leaving some people behind?
Dec. 14, 201805:18
[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Will 5G end up leaving some people]
Airline leaders said they wanted the service to be rolled out "everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles of airport runways at affected airports."