International airlines to stop some flights to US over 5G concerns

Some of the world’s biggest airlines announced they would suspend flying to parts of the US over concerns about new 5G towers.

Emirates has grounded some flights. Picture: Karim Sahib/AFP

Some of the world’s biggest airlines announced they would stop flying to parts of the US over concerns about new 5G towers.

Emirates, Air India, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines all announced service cuts due to the potential issues.

Emirates said it would pause flights into nine airports across the US – Boston, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle.

Flights into Los Angeles, New York’s JFK Airport and Washington Dulles would continue.

Emirates announced a suspension to flights on Wednesday. Picture: Karim Sahib/AFP

Air India announced suspensions between Delhi Airport and San Francisco, Chicago and JFK.

Telecommunication companies AT&T and Verizon later agreed to a partial delay in activating their 5G networks following the outcry from airlines, who said the rollout could lead to travel chaos.

The pause from AT&T and Verizon came after the chief executives of some of the largest airlines warned of a “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping operations if the rollout set for Wednesday went as planned.

Aviation industry insiders said there could still be some flight cancellations and other impacts in the coming days, but the measures announced by AT&T and Verizon are expected to prevent the worst problems.

Telecom giants spent tens of billions of dollars to obtain 5G licenses last year, but as the launch date approached, aviation industry groups raised concerns about possible interference with aeroplanes’ radio altimeters – which can operate at the same frequencies.

AT&T described its latest delay as voluntary and temporary, with a spokesperson saying it is working with the airline industry and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “to provide further information about our 5G deployment, since they have not used the two years they’ve had to responsibly plan for this deployment”.

“We are launching our advanced 5G services everywhere else as planned with the temporary exception of this limited number of towers,” the spokesperson said.

Verizon and AT&T have paused plans to activate 5G cellular service across the nation. Picture: Justin Sulivan/Getty Images/AFP

A Verizon spokesperson said it would begin 5G service on Wednesday for some 90 million Americans, but the firm has “voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports”.

“The Federal Aviation Administration and our nation’s airlines have not been able to fully resolve navigating 5G around airports, despite it being safe and fully operational in more than 40 other countries,” the spokesperson said.

The announcements were welcomed by President Joe Biden, who said in a statement they “avoid potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations and our economic recovery, while allowing more than 90 per cent of wireless tower deployment to occur as scheduled”.

Verizon and AT&T have already twice delayed the launch of their new C-Band 5G service due to warnings from airlines and aircraft manufacturers concerned that the new system might interfere with the devices planes use to measure altitude.

The FAA said Sunday it had approved some transponders to be safely operated within areas where 5G will be deployed, clearing “as many as 48 of the 88 airports most directly affected by 5G C-Band interference.”

But the airlines are worried the remaining limitations at those airports, as well as a large amount of equipment still uncertified, could trigger a crisis that would ground thousands of flights.

The airline executives called on authorities to “take whatever action necessary to ensure that 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 was signed by CEOs of major airlines including American, United, Delta and Southwest, as well as the leaders of shipping giants FedEx and UPS.

– With AFP