New Telegraph

5G deployment: Panic grips local, int’l airlines

U.S carriers mull flight cancellations

The global aviation industry is expected to be put on edge on Wednesday when telecommunication giants, AT&T and Verizon, launch a new 5G service. As countries including Nigeria are on the verge of deploying 5G, panic is said to have gripped the sector, especially the aviation industry. Nigeria’s deployment of 5G over major urban areas of the country will make it become Africa’s biggest network for the spectrum by 2025. This is coming as the Chief Executives of major United States passenger and cargo carriers warned of oncoming ‘catastrophic’ aviation disasters.

The carriers have warned that the new C-Band 5G service, which is slated for launch on Wednesday, might render a large number of wide-body aircraft inoperable, strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas, and cause chaos for US flights. CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and other airlines in a letter seen by New Telegraph, noted: “The vast majority of the travelling and the shipping public will essentially be grounded unless our major hubs are cleared to fly.”

The US highest aviation regulatory body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), recently issued a warning that possible interference could impair sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters, causing severe delays in low visibility flights. The FAA said: “It will continuetoensurethatthetraveling public is safe as wireless companies deploy 5G.

The FAA continues to work with the aviation industry and wireless companies to try to limit 5G-related flight delays and cancellations.” Airlines were debating whether to start cancelling some overseas flights due to the planned deployment of 5G. Aircraft manufacturing firm, Boeing, highlighted that the transportation industry was bracing for possible service disruptions as a result of the proposed limits of certain airports.

‘We are optimistic that we will be able to come up with solutions that safely offset as many schedule implications as feasible by working across businesses and with the government,” the company stated. UPS Airlines, Alaska, Atlas Air, JetBlue Airways, and FedEx in a joint statement said: “To put it bluntly, the country’s commerce will come to a halt.” The letter was addressed to Brian Deese, Director of the White House National Economic Council, Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator, Steve Dickson, and FCC Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenwarce.

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