Despite safety concerns raised by the aviation sector, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized telecom companies to use 5G spectrum that is adjacent to frequencies utilized by aircraft equipment known as radio altimeters. Because of the risk of interference, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put in place safety restrictions which would have lead to significant operational disruptions for airline passengers, the shipping public, the supply chain, the delivery of needed medical supplies and our workforce.
32 million
passengers and millions of people who depend on timely air cargo shipments impacted.
345,000
U.S. airline passenger flights would have been delayed, diverted, or cancelled.
5,400
cargo flights would have been delayed, diverted, or cancelled.
$1.59 billion
per year in disruption costs for passengers in the form of lost time, productivity and wages.
The aviation industry wrote in a Nov. 18, 2021 letter to the FCC that “Air cargo and commercial air travel will likely cease at night and in any weather where the pilot cannot see the runway” if the interference issue isn’t addressed.
On Dec. 7, 2021, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive outlining the potential restrictions and citing “unsafe conditions” that required action before the Jan. 5, 2021, 5G implementation date “because radio altimeter anomalies that are undetected by the aircraft automation or pilot, particularly close to the ground… could lead to loss of continued safe flight and landing.”
On Jan. 13, 2022, the FAA issued hundreds of Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) detailing flight restrictions in advance of new 5G deployment around airports