Airlines ready for flight restrictions in 5G standoff

The initial move by the airlines is a response to an order from the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month. The directive outlined possible restrictions on landing in inclement weather in 46 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, where the new wireless service is set to begin on January 5.

The plan comes as US regulators consider two proposals – one from the telecommunications industry and another from the aviation industry – to protect aircraft from potential 5G interference with cockpit security systems. Common in modern air travel, they help planes land in bad weather, prevent accidents and avoid collisions in between.

The wireless industry has said the planned service poses no threat to the aircraft, while the Federal Aviation Administration has said it is concerned that frequencies using cellular signals could potentially disrupt cockpit systems.

Airlines are in the midst of controversy. United Airlines Holdings Inc. “If there’s weather, if there’s strong winds, if the visibility isn’t good because of the haze, you can’t use that equipment,” Scott Kirby, chief executive of the U.S., told reporters on December 15. Can’t get off at the airport in Detroit, in Atlanta, in Chicago O’Hare—just think about what that means. This cannot be the result.”

As they work out the various scenarios, airlines are waiting for specifics from the FAA on how broad or targeted the restrictions on landings can be—and where—beginning January 5, industry officials said. About a week before that date, the FAA is expected to issue pilot warnings specifying which airports will be subject to the restrictions, people familiar with the matter said.

People familiar with the matter said air safety regulators are analyzing cell-tower and aircraft data to determine where 5G signals could potentially interfere with aircraft.

Despite the unknown, airlines are assessing what that could mean for canceled or diverted flights for fuel, aircraft and crew needs, said George Paul, vice president of technical services at the National Air Carrier Association, Which represents small cargo and passenger airlines.

“It’s like a bad storm – you don’t know where it’s going to hit until it really gets a little closer,” Mr Paul said.

The initial plan by the airlines is the result of a long-running conflict between US telecommunications and aviation regulators, which have been operating out of sync for more than a year.

The Federal Communications Commission auctioned off parts of a 5G-friendly frequency, also known as C-band, about a year ago. Top auction winners AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. were authorized to begin offering some faster cellular service earlier this month, but to address the FAA’s still-unresolved concerns, the companies had to wait until Jan. Rollout delayed. The companies also promised to reduce C-band signal strength, especially near airport runways, for an additional six months.

Flight limits could complicate the US airline industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic travel has made a comeback, and airlines are betting on a surge in demand for international flights in the summer of 2022. However delays by the Boeing Company in delivering its 787 Dreamliner, Mr. Kirby, may require some carriers to reduce travel plans. In a Senate hearing on December 15, potential 5G restrictions were called “the biggest and most damaging potential issue before us”.

US telecommunications industry executives have made controversial claims about the security risks of the new technology. “The fear of the aviation industry rests entirely on discredited information and intentional distortions of fact,” said Nick Ludlum, a spokesman for wireless industry group CTIA. “We will launch this service in January with the most comprehensive set of protective measures in the world.”

Regulators protest over competing proposals from the US aviation and telecommunications industries to limit new 5G signals near airports. At a high-level meeting on Wednesday that included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, officials discussed proposals from both industries to create buffer zones around airports, people familiar with the matter said.

Buttigieg requested that the FCC consider the aviation industry’s proposal, some of those people said. Another person familiar with the meeting said that FCC officials described that proposal as a non-starter that would amount to a no-5G option.

Ms Rosenworcel of the FCC has said she believes officials will find a solution to allow 5G deployments quickly and securely. “I believe in the mitigation offered by the wireless industry,” she said in a December 14 press conference.

An FAA spokesperson said the regulator continues to work with other federal agencies and wireless companies to help “5G C-band and aviation safely coexist.”

Airlines are also looking to aerospace manufacturers for guidance.

Boeing, which sometimes makes its own safety recommendations, is evaluating potential risks not addressed by the FAA, people familiar with the matter said.

According to one of these people, Boeing engineers are investigating issues related to takeoff and pilots’ reactions to possible 5G interference.

European aircraft maker Airbus SE said it is working with its regulators and the FAA to provide guidance to airlines. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the FAA’s counterpart, does not approach the 5G issue with as much concern as US regulators, a person close to the regulator said, but is aware of unconfirmed reports of 5G interference and is questioning the concerned. There is airlines.

The scope of any US flight ban is expected to depend largely on 5G buffer zones around airports. Such proposed protections include 5G signal strengths and limits on antennas pointing in certain directions to avoid possible interference with aircraft’s radar altimeters, which measure the distance between the aircraft and the ground.

A preliminary FAA analysis has found the aviation industry’s proposal is likely to avoid significant disruptions to US air traffic, people familiar with the matter said. These people said the agency’s preliminary analysis of the telecom industry’s proposal suggests it could lead to widespread cancellations and diversions in inclement weather.

The FAA can also determine that some radar altimeters are not at risk of interference, exempting aircraft equipped with them from any flight limits, according to a senior White House official associated with mediating the dispute.

Large airport buffer zones would block cellphone carriers, who spent $81 billion for C-band licenses, from reaching many customers in often densely populated cities.

Speaking at a recent Senate hearing, Delta Air Lines Inc.’s chief of operations, John Laughter, said: “The safety concerns with aircraft and aviation are very real, and I also know there is a solution here.”