Due to potential signal interference, a number of international airlines have paused some of their US operations as 5G communication services are deployed across the country.
Emirates said on its website that flights to the following US destinations will be suspended from January 19, 2022 until further notice:
Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Miami (MIA), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA) are the major airports in the United States (SEA).
#FlyAI: Due to deployment of the 5G communications in USA,we will not be able to operate the following flights of 19th Jan'22:
AI101/102 DEL/JFK/DEL
AI173/174 DEL/SFO/DEL
AI127/126 DEL/ORD/DEL
AI191/144 BOM/EWR/BOMPlease standby for further updates.https://t.co/Cue4oHChwx
— Air India (@airindiain) January 18, 2022
Flights to New York JFK, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. are still operating as planned.
Air India announced on Twitter that it is canceling flights to New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Newark owing to the implementation of 5G in the United States.
Meanwhile, Japan Airlines issued a statement claiming that Boeing had informed the airline that “5G signals for U.S. mobile phones, which will begin functioning in the United States on January 19, 2022, may interfere with the radio wave altimeter installed on the Boeing 777.”
“Until safety is established, we have chosen not to utilize this aircraft type on U.S. mainland routes, and we regret to cancel the flight that cannot be changed to a Boeing 787.”
Airline executives urged U.S. officials to prevent 5G from being implemented within 2 miles of affected airports until the FAA figures out a way for affected airplanes to fly safely or risk a “catastrophic disruption” to passenger flights & supply chain. https://t.co/y1gF980Tgb pic.twitter.com/iAbm05y9NS
— TamiCam🇺🇲 (@megami_shiawase) January 17, 2022
ANA (All Nippon Airways) issued a similar statement, citing Boeing’s caution regarding the B777 aircraft and stating that some flights to the United States had to be canceled as a result.
All major US airlines, through Airlines for America, submitted a letter to US government authorities on January 17, 2022, warning that the implementation of 5G could bring catastrophic interruptions, turmoil, and cancellations.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved around 45 percent of the US commercial aircraft to undertake low-visibility landings at airports across the country where 5G infrastructure has been installed on January 16, 2022.
The administration did, however, issue an airworthiness advisory requiring Boeing 787 pilots to take extra care while landing on wet or snowy runways at airports where 5G C-band connectivity is available.
The Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 have not yet been approved for these flights.
Some Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767, MD-10/-11, and Airbus A310, A319, A320, A321, A330, and A350 types have been certified.