by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:55 AM ET, Wed January 19, 2022
Officials from several major airlines reached out to the United States government and listed concerns about the implementation of 5G mobile networks and their impact on airplanes.
According to Fox Business, the chief executive officers from Alaska Airlines, American, Delta, FedEx, JetBlue, Southwest, United and other carriers sent a letter saying "immediate action to address 5G interference with (the) National Aviation System was needed."
The concerns were sent to the National Economic Council Director, the Secretary of Transportation, the Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The airline CEOs believe the implementation of the 5G mobile networks could cause interference with certain airplane instruments, possibly resulting in serious disruptions to service and thousands of travelers being stranded.
Executives said there could be significant disruption to commercial air travelers and the shipping industry. As a result, they believe 5G should only be deployed in areas that won't interfere with airport operations.
"We are writing with urgency to request that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate two miles of airport runways at affected airports as defined by the FAA on January 19, 2022," the letter obtained by Fox News read. "This will allow 5G to be deployed while avoiding harmful impacts on the aviation industry, traveling public, supply chain, vaccine distribution, our workforce and broader economy."
"We further ask that the FAA immediately identify those base stations closest to key airport runways that need to be addressed to ensure safety and avoid disruption in a manner that is narrowly focused and consistent with the agreement established on January 3, 2022," the letter continued.
United Airlines released its own statement about the implementation of 5G mobile networks and their impact on the safety of its passengers moving forward:
The federal government's current 5G rollout plan will have a devastating impact on aviation, negatively affecting an estimated 1.25 million United passengers, at least 15,000 flights and much-needed goods and tons of cargo traveling through more than 40 of the largest airports in the country annually. When deployed next to runways, the 5G signals could interfere with the key safety equipment that pilots rely on to take off and land in inclement weather.
We won't compromise on safety - full stop. But, governments in other countries have successfully designed policies to ensure the safe deployment of 5G technology and we're simply asking the US government to do the same. Otherwise, the radio altimeters on certain aircraft, which provide information to other safety systems like autopilot, heads-up displays, terrain warning and pitch control, will be compromised and will result in significant restrictions on 787s, 777s, 737s and regional aircraft in major cities like Houston, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Unfortunately, this will result in not only hundreds of thousands of flight cancellations and disruptions for customers across the industry in 2022, but also the suspension of cargo flights into these locations, causing a negative ripple-effect on an already fragile supply chain. We implore the Biden administration to act quickly and apply the same common-sense solutions here that have clearly worked so well around the world.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the implementation of 5G wireless near U.S. airports:
The U.S. Travel Association is urgently calling on the U.S. government and mobile wireless carriers to delay the introduction of 5G wireless around affected airports until critical operational concerns can be resolved.
The implementation of 5G around affected airports threatens to disrupt domestic and international air travel, delay thousands of passengers, and cause unnecessary economic harm to the nation and the entire travel industry - not just airlines.
Now is not the time to take such significant risks. We strongly urge the U.S. government and mobile wireless carriers to act immediately to delay the implementation of 5G around affected airports identified by the FAA.
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