Nick Calio, president of the airline trade group Airlines for America (A4A), plans to testify before Congress on February 3 that it will take years for the airline industry to fully adapt to the new 5G-C wireless service being deployed by AT&T and Verizon.
"The process that led to this operational nightmare should be held up as a cautionary tale of government communication and coordination gone awry," Calio will say in remarks obtained by Reuters News Service. "It will likely take years, not days or weeks, to fully and permanently mitigate the interference issues caused by deployment of 5G in the C-band."
The airlines have warned for months that the new wireless upgrade could cause havoc with flight operations, including flight instrumentation and particularly onboard altimeters. The altimeters help pilots with navigation in the case of low visibility when landing.
Originally scheduled to go live last month, the telecommunications companies backed down slightly and said they would limit the service near airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which joined in the fight against 5G implementation, has already approved about 90 percent of the entire fleet of commercial planes flying in the U.S. and given its go-ahead for altimeters already in use on those jets.
But the other 10 percent of planes remain an issue.
"With many outstanding questions still on the table, there are disruptions in our future, even with further compromise and collaboration," Aerospace Industries Association President Eric Fanning plans to say in his testimony, according to Reuters.
But Meredith Attwell Baker, CEO of the telecommunications lobby group CTIA, plans to tell Congress that she "remains confident that 5G poses no risk to air traffic safety."
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