Six former chairs of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — Ajit Pai, Tom Wheeler, Julius Genachowski, Michael Copps, Michael Powell and Mignon Clyburn — urged the Biden administration to resolve a dispute over the planned use of 5G wireless spectrum that the aviation industry says poses an air safety risk, according to Reuters.

Major U.S. air carriers warned that plans by wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon to use C-Band spectrum for 5G wireless services starting January 5, 2022, could disrupt thousands of daily flights and cost air passengers more than a billion dollars annually in delays. United Airlines Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby warned that the 5G spectrum use “could delay, divert or cancel about 4% of daily flights and impact hundreds of thousands of passengers”.

The aviation industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have raised concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters. The FAA has issued directives for airlines to revise airplane and helicopter flight manuals to prohibit some operations requiring radio altimeter data when in the presence of 5G C-Band wireless broadband signals.

And, the FAA plans to issue further notices to airlines offering more detail on the potential interference and is in discussion about which altimeters could be used under the current mitigation plans.

The Biden administration wants eagerly to resolve the issue and has urged airlines to work with the wireless carriers to reach agreement. United’s Kirby has said that the FCC and FAA “need to get in a room and talk to each other and solve the problem,” adding that the issue “cannot be solved on the back of airlines.”

However, wireless carriers have shown no interest in further delays to using the spectrum. Verizon has said that “there is no evidence that 5G operations using C-band spectrum pose any risk to aviation safety, as the real-world experience in dozens of countries already using this spectrum for 5G confirms,” and added it was confident the FAA ultimately will conclude C-Band 5G use “poses no risk to air safety.”

References:

1. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-airlines-warn-5g-wireless-could-cause-havoc-with-flights-2021-12-15/
2. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-warns-5g-wireless-use-could-prompt-flight-diversions-2021-12-07/