Airlines express concern about possible interference from 5G technology with sensitive aircraft equipment such as radio altitude gauges.
The heads of the two largest aircraft manufacturers in the world asked the United States government to delay the launch of new telephone services under 5G technology.
In a letter, top executives at Boeing and Airbus warned that the technology could have “a huge negative impact on the aviation industry.”
Concerns had previously been raised that 5G wireless technology in the C-band spectrum could interfere with aircraft electronics.
In turn, the US telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon must implement 5G services on January 5.
“5G interference could negatively affect the ability of aircraft to operate safely,” Boeing and Airbus Americas chiefs Dave Calhoun and Jeffrey Knittel said in a joint letter to US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
The letter cited research by trade group Airlines for America that found that if the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) 5G rules had been in effect in 2019, about 345,000 passenger flights and 5,400 cargo flights would have faced delays, diversions or cancellations.
The aviation industry and the FAA have raised concerns about possible interference from 5G technology with sensitive aircraft equipment such as radio altitude gauges.
“Airbus and Boeing have been working with other US aviation industry stakeholders to understand possible 5G interference with radio altimeters,” Airbus said in a statement.
“An aviation security proposal to mitigate potential risks has been submitted to the United States Department of Transportation for consideration,” he added.
The FAA issued airworthiness directives this month warning that 5G interference could result in flight deviations, saying it would provide more information before the January 5 release date.
In November, AT&T and Verizon delayed the commercial launch of C-band wireless service by a month until January 5 and took precautionary measures to limit interference.
Aviation industry groups had said the measures did not go far enough, and Boeing and Airbus said they made a counterproposal that would limit cellular transmissions around airports and other critical areas..
Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the FAA’s 5G directives would ban the use of radio altitude gauges at about 40 of the largest airports in the United States.
The US wireless industry group CTIA said that 5G technology is safe and accused the aviation industry of generating fear and distorting the facts.
“A delay will cause real damage. Delaying deployment by a year would subtract $ 50 billion in economic growth, just as our nation recovers and rebuilds from the pandemic, ”CTIA Executive Director Meredith Attwell Baker wrote in a blog last month.
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