The president of the airline Emirates says concerns over the 5G rollout and lack of preparation is “one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible” situations he has seen in his career.
Earlier this week, several international airlines canceled flights into the United States, citing concerns about interference from 5G cell phone technology and its effect on some airplane instruments, such as radio altimeters.
“The concern is that the airwave spectrum used by the 5G technology could clash with the signals used by radio altimeters, measuring instruments that help pilots determine the distance from the ground to the bottom of an aircraft during low visibility operations,” NBC noted at the time.
Speaking to CNN, Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said his airline was not made aware of potential issues until Tuesday morning “to the extent that it was going to compromise the safety of operation of our aircraft and just about every other 777 operator to and from the United States and within the United States.”
We were not aware that the power of the antennas in the United States have been doubled compared to what’s going on elsewhere. We were not aware that the antenna themselves have been put into a vertical position rather than a slight slanting position, which then taken together compromise not only the radio altimeter systems but the flight control systems on the fly by wire aircraft. So on that basis we took that decision late last night to suspend all our services until we had clarity.
Clark minced no words and called the lack of preparation one of the worst situations he has seen in his aviation career.
“I need to be as candid as I normally am, and say this is one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issue subjects, call it what you like, I’ve seen in my aviation career because it involves organs of government, manufacturers, science, etc,” he said.
On Tuesday, AT&T and Verizon both announced that they would delay 5G activation on some towers at certain airports on Wednesday, expressing frustration with the Federal Aviation Administration’s lack of preparation.
A woman holds a sign about the impending launch of 5G services by AT&T and Verizon, at a rally against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Huntington Beach, California. A Verizon spokesperson said the company would begin 5G service on Wednesday for some 90 million Americans, but the firm has “voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports.” (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
“We are frustrated by the FAA’s inability to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services, and we urge it do so in a timely manner,” Megan Ketterer, a spokesperson for AT&T, said.
President Biden praised AT&T for agreeing to temporarily delay the rollout around certain airports.
“My team has been engaging non-stop with the wireless carriers, airlines, and aviation equipment manufacturers to chart a path forward for 5G deployment and aviation to safely co-exist — and, at my direction, they will continue to do so until we close the remaining gap and reach a permanent, workable solution around these key airports,” the president said.
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