Aries warn of imminent aviation crisis as AT&T and Verizon deploy 5 G service

WASHINGTON - The chief executives of major US passenger and cargo carriers warned on Monday of an imminent aviation crisis on Wednesday when AT&T and Verizon are about to deploy new 5 G service.

The airlines warned that the new C-Band 5 G service could potentially make a number of widebody aircraft unusable and could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas. The vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will be grounded unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, according to the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and others.

The FAA has warned of potential interference that could affect sensitive aircraft instruments such as altimeters and impact on low-visibility operations.

It said that more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subject to delays, cancellations or delays on a day like yesterday.

They added that action is urgent and signed by FedEx Express, Atlas Air, JetBlue Airways and UPS Airlines. To be blunt, the nation s commerce will grind to a halt. The letter, seen by Reuters, went to White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Aviation Administration FAA Administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

Airlines for America, the group that organized the letter, didn't want to comment. The government agencies did not immediately make a statement.

AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in a US $80 billion auction last year, agreed on January 3 to buffer zones around 50 airports in a bid to reduce interference risks and take other measures to cut potential interference for six months. They agreed to delay deployment for two weeks until Wednesday, temporarily averting an aviation safety standoff.

CEOs of major airlines and Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun held a lengthy call with Buttigieg and Dickson on Sunday to warn of the looming crisis, officials told Reuters.

The airlines ask for 5 G to be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 3.2 km of airport runways at some key airports.

Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain, and delivery of needed medical supplies. The airlines said that flight restrictions will not be limited to poor weather operations. Multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable, causing a larger problem than we thought Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be grounded indefinitely. The carriers urge action to ensure 5 G is deployed, except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely achieved without catastrophic disruption. The FAA said on Sunday it had cleared 45 per cent of the US commercial aircraft fleet to perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5 G C-band will be deployed on Wednesday. The airlines noted on Monday that the list did not include many large airports.