Travel chaos: 5G wireless signals could disrupt US flights starting this weekend
- Aviation groups have warned for years the signals could interfere with aircraft equipment, especially devices using radio waves when landing in low visibility
- Some airlines are not protected against radio interference, including Delta whose smaller planes lack upgraded altimeters, and a number of foreign airlines
Airline passengers in the United States who have endured tens of thousands of weather-related flight delays this week could face a new source of disruptions starting on Saturday, when wireless providers are expected to power up new 5G systems near major airports.
Aviation groups have warned for years that 5G signals could interfere with aircraft equipment, especially devices using radio waves to measure distance above the ground and which are critical when planes land in low visibility.
Predictions that interference would cause massive flight groundings failed to come true last year, when telecom companies began rolling out the new service. They then agreed to limit the power of the signals around busy airports, giving airlines an extra year to upgrade their planes.
The leader of the nation’s largest pilots’ union said crews will be able to handle the impact of 5G, but he criticised the way the wireless licenses were granted, saying it had added unnecessary risk to aviation.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently told airlines that flights could be disrupted because a small portion of the nation’s fleet has not been upgraded to protect against radio interference.
Most of the major US airlines say they are ready. American, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier and United say all of their planes have height-measuring devices, called radio altimeters, that are protected against 5G interference.
