Airlines Warn of Chaos if AT&T and Verizon Deploy 5G Expansion

The airline executives said in their letter on Monday, which was reported earlier by Reuters, that aircraft manufacturers had informed them in recent weeks that the measures promised by Verizon and ATT were not enough to prevent interference with aircraft sensors. They asked that the 5G technology not be activated within two miles of 50 major airports.

“Multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable,” according to the letter, which carried the letterhead of Airlines for America, an industry group. “Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded,” stranding thousands of passengers and worsening turmoil in the supply chain, the airlines said.

“Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” said the letter, which was also signed by the chief executives of FedEx Express and UPS Airlines.

Spokesmen for ATT and Verizon declined to comment. A spokesman for the F.A.A. did not respond to a request for comment.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/17/business/airlines-5g-warning.html