By Bikram Vohra
Last month, IBD reported the concern over the activation of 5G in the US and the possible threat it caused on the C band to instrumentation in flight, especially the landing configuration in bad weather. Most likely to be adversely affected is the altimeter. Now with less than a day to go and the big boys of telecom Verizon and AT&T ready to go online Wednesday, ten top heads of American carriers have warned of heavy disruptions. As if things were not already bad enough with Omicron dashing hope of an early revival in the industry, this ‘threat’ comes as a big blow.
The BBC has reported that the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were joined by others in saying: “Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies”, including vaccine distribution. It is said that Boeing and Airbus have supported the move to ensure there is no 5G activity two miles radius of the airport. According to the report, the letter gives a due warning in the interests of safety. “Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are vast swathes of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded.
“In addition to the chaos caused domestically, this lack of usable wide-body aircraft could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas.” “The group of airlines said: “Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are vast swathes of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded. “In addition to the chaos caused domestically, this lack of usable wide-body aircraft could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas.”
Verizon and AT&T defend their decisions by saying that 5G is operational in Europe, and US airlines have been flying there without any incidents for weeks. They believe 5G does not impact instrumentation, and there is no evidence of it. A further delay in staying 5G operations could cost billions in losses.
Meanwhile, the FAA is clearing aircraft installed with specific radar altimeters that can land at 5G sensitive airports. Chances are, pilot confidence in their instruments will be a matter of utmost concern.
Air India also emphasised the potential 5G disruptions. The airlines on Tuesday, Tweeted that it will “curtail/revise (US ops)… with change in aircraft type from January 19, 2022. This is “due to deployment of 5G communications in the USA,” AI explained.
