Air travel chaos during summer looms as US keeps 5G deadline

The decision by the United States Transportation Administration not to officially delay the deadline for airlines to refit planes with new sensors for addressing possible 5G interference, may cause flight disruptions during the peak summer months.US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that the airlines concerned were told the July 1 deadline remained in place.Airlines have repeatedly warned that they will not be able to meet the deadline and may be forced to ground some planes.Telecoms firms have previously delayed 5G rollout to allow airlines to adapt.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and aviation companies have previously raised concerns that C-Band spectrum 5G wireless could interfere with aircraft altimeters, which measure a plane's height above the ground.In a recent call, Buttigieg urged the airline companies to work aggressively to retrofit their planes before the deadline that expires on July 1.That said, three US telecos - AT&T Services, T-Mobile, UScellular, and Verizon agreed to extend until January 1, 2028 the "voluntary mitigation measures” for 5G C-band transmissions at 188 US airports.These mitigation measures, which were put in place in January 2022, concurrent with the rollout of 5G C-band operations at or near US airports, include lowering the power of 5G transmissions and had been set to expire July 1 this year.The latest agreement by the telcos to defer until January 2028 full power-up of 5G C-band transmissions near airports certainly buys time, but does not necessarily address underlying issues.The global body of airlines IATA noted: "While the agreement is a welcome stop-gap development, it is by no means a solution. The underlying safety and economic issues around 5G C-band deployments by telecommunications services providers (telcos) have only been kicked down the road.”"Airlines did not create this situation. They are victims of poor government planning and co-ordination. Industry concerns about 5G, expressed for many years in the appropriate forums, were ignored and over-ridden. Half-measure solutions have been foisted upon airlines to implement at their own expense and with little visibility into their long-term viability."This extension is an opportunity for all stakeholders, including telcos, government regulators, airlines and equipment manufacturers, to work together for a fair and equitable solution,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president (Operations, Safety and Security)."Many airlines have indicated that despite their best efforts they will not meet the July 1 deadline owing to supply chain issues. But even for those that do, these investments will bring no gains in operating efficiency. Furthermore, this is only a temporary holding action. Under current scenarios, airlines will have to retrofit most of their aircraft twice in just five years."And with the standards for the second retrofit yet to be developed we could easily be facing the same supply chain issues in 2028 that we are struggling with today. This is patently unfair and wasteful. We need a more rational approach that does not place the entire burden for addressing this unfortunate situation on aviation,” Careen added.Industry experts say the rollout of 5G technology in the United States could potentially have an impact on airlines, specifically on their use of radio altimeters during landings.Radio altimeters are instruments that use radio waves to measure the distance between an aircraft and the ground, which is crucial for safe landings, particularly in low-visibility conditions.The frequencies used by 5G technology are close to those used by radio altimeters, which has raised concerns that 5G signals could interfere with the accuracy of the altimeters, potentially causing pilots to receive incorrect altitude readings during landings.This could lead to safety issues, such as planes touching down too soon or too late, which could result in accidents.To mitigate this potential risk, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have been working closely with airlines and telecommunication companies to establish safety protocols and implement safeguards to prevent interference with radio altimeters.Some of the measures include reducing the power of 5G signals near airports and conducting testing to ensure that radio altimeters are not affected by 5G transmissions.But while the rollout of 5G technology in the United States could potentially have an impact on airlines, steps are being taken to ensure that any potential risks are minimised and that the safety of air travel is not compromised.Pratap John is Business Editor at Gulf Times. Twitter handle: @PratapJohn