5G news: Trump official says Biden refused to ‘side with science,’ prompting airline chaos
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement Wednesday blaming the Biden administration for the chaotic rollout of Verizon and AT&T’s 5G wireless, which caused several airlines to cancel or delay flights in and into the US over fears that the technology would disrupt aircraft instruments.
“This is a clear failure of leadership. At any point in time, the White House could have stood up and sided with the science. They didn’t,” Mr Carr said.
Major international airlines have begun cancelling flights to the United States after the Federal Aviation Administration raised concerns about 5G wireless towers near airports.
Emirates, Air India, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways announced it would suspend flights after the Airlines for America trade group pressured the Biden administration over “catastrophic disruption” due to the scheduled 19 January rollout.
Emirates suspended flights into nine airports, including Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle. It said it would continue flying into New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, the Los Angeles airport and Washington Dulles. Sir Tim Clark, the airline’s president, called the US government and the wireless companies “delinquent” and “irresponsible” for creating the conditions that allowed for the chaos to occur.
Wireless telecom giants AT&T and Verizon announced the activation of 5G towers near some US airports would be delayed for two weeks to resolve the differences.
The high-speed 5G internet uses so-called C-band frequencies close to those used by aircraft to measure their altitude, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warning potential interference could affect sensitive aeroplane instruments such as altimeters and significantly hamper low-visibility operations.
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5G rollout: United Airlines tells delayed customers to complain to the government in angry online message
United Airlines have advised disgruntled customers to contact the FCC amid ongoing 5G-related delays.
The company issued the message to customers whose flights had been delayed by several hours on Tuesday evening as a result of the rollout of a new 5G system across the US.
“New: @United tells customers to contact @FCC over delayed flight,” journalist David Shepardson shared on Twitter, with a screenshot of the United message attached.
The airline’s message reads: “Your flight is delayed due to potential interference caused by the implementation of a new 5G signal by telecommunications systems near Denver International Airport and its possible impact on aircraft equipment.
“If you have any concerns, please address them with the Federal Communications Commission here.”
Read more:
United Airlines share angry message with customers amid ‘reckless’ 5G rollout
United was just one of many airlines forced to delay and cancel flights on Wednesday due to 5G issues
Pilot Association: FCC and telecom companies “ignored” our warnings over 5G interference
The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 61,000 pilots at 38 US and Canadian airlines, put out a statement last night on Twitter regarding the 5G implementation delay.
“Today we issued the following statement on the recent #5G implementation delay,” they captioned the Tweet.
The association went on to say that the delay in rollout acknowledges the seriousness of aviation safety and operational risks.
But airline passengers and shippers “deserve a commitment from the telecom companies not to launch the new 5G service at any of the airport locations identified by the FAA as being susceptible to 5G interference” until a permanent fix is found, the statement concluded.
Read it in full below:
Emirates chief says he did not know about US 5G rollout until morning prior, calls all involved “delinquent,” and “irresponsible"
Sir Tim Clark, the president of Dubai-based airline Emirates, blasted the US government and US wireless providers during an appearance on CNN Wednesday.
Mr Clark said he was not made aware of the details of the US 5G rollout until Tuesday morning. Emirates primarily operates using Boeing 777s, which are especially susceptible to the kind of instrument malfunction airline safety experts warn could be caused by 5G.
“I need to be as candid as I normally am, and say this is one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issue subjects, call it what you like, I’ve seen in my aviation career because it involves organs of government, manufacturers, science, etc. And you know, the notion that, for instance, the United States government should sell its franchise for all the frequencies for a large amount of money,” he told CNN’s Richard Quest. “Somebody should have told them at the time - that the risks and the dangers they placed in certain frequency uses around field, airfields, metropolitan fields that should have been done at the time.”
Which major hub airports have been affected?
The Independent’s David Taintor has collected a list of hub airports that have been affected by the 5G rollout.
Those airports include Boston Logan International, Chicago’s O’Hare, and the Dallas Fort Worth International airport.
For a full list of US hub airports currently experiencing delays caused by the rollout, as well as a look into which international carriers are cancelling flights, check out the story here.
Japan Airlines to resume flights to US beginning Thursday
Japan Airlines issued a press release Wednesday morning informing customers it would resume flights to the US on Thursday.
“Today on January 19, we have received confirmation from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) that there is no longer a problem with the operation of the Boeing 777 and we will resume service to the U.S. mainland with Boeing 777 from January 20,” the company said in the statement.
The airline cancelled flights on Wednesday in response to the wireless carriers’ 5G rollout.
United Airlines issued a statement just before noon on Wednesday praising the Biden administration for reaching a compromise with Verizon and AT&T that temporarily halted the rollout of 5G at cell towers near airports.
"While we anticipate minor disruptions at some airports due to the remaining 5G restrictions, we're pleased the Biden Administration reached a compromise with AT&T and Verizon to avoid mass cancellations across the aviation industry," the statement said.
"We look forward to a higher level of coordination between the regulators, telecom companies and the aviation industry to ensure that customers are not faced with disruptions going forward.
Fewer than 300 flights have been cancelled due to the 5G rollout
Despite the widespread critcism from the airline industry toward the US’s planned 5G rollout on Wednesday, fewer than 300 flights appear to have been cancelled as a result. As President Joe Biden noted in a statement earlier today, 90 per cent of cell towers scheduled to utilise 5G were activated today. The only towers that were not activated were those within 50 miles of an airport.
FlightAware is a company that tracks flight delays and cancellations. As of 1 pm, 2,398 flights have been cancelled today, and 3,488 were delayed.
Based on those numbers it is difficult to tell exactly how many were caused by the 5G rollout, but cancellation and delay data from other days suggests these numbers are not unusual.
Yesterday, 2,688 flights were cancelled, and 6,363 were delayed.
FAA gives Boeing 777 waiver to fly in US during 5G rollout
Bloomberg reports that the FAA issued waivers for Boeing 777s to fly during the 5G rollout on Wednesday. The company warned that the planes should not land at airports where 5G was present as it could affect their altimeters.
The Boeing 777’s altimeter uses frequencies just above the frequency that Verizon and AT&T are using for their 5G wireless services. Aviation experts fear that the broadband frequencies may be too close to those used by the 777s and could cause malfunctions to the airplanes’ equipment.
Bloomberg noted that its information came from sources that were prohibited from speaking on the subject.
British Airways, All Nippon Airways release statement on 5G rollout disruption
British Airways released a statement on Wednesday updating customers on its operations amid the 5G disruption to airline traffic.
“Safety is always our priority and although we had to cancel a handful of services, we’ve done everything we can to minimise inconvenience for our customers. We’ve changed the aircraft operating some of our flights and rebooked those on cancelled services onto alternatives,” the statement said. “We’re disappointed that, like other airlines, some of our customers’ travel plans have been disrupted.”
All Nippon Airways out of Japan also issued a statement Wednesday saying it would resume flights on Thursday.
“As the launch of the 5G service in the U.S. has now been partially postponed, operation of flights from 1/20 will follow the normal schedule based on FAA notification that there is no safety issue with the operation of Boeing 777 aircraft to the U.S. airports that we serve,” the company said in the statement.
Numerous airlines, Japan Airlines and Emirates, have cancelled flights into the US amid the troubled rollout. Japan Airlines later reversed its position and said it would resume flights to the US beginning Thursday.
No Canadian flights impacted by 5G rollout
Canadian airlines have not been affected by the 5G rollout in the US on Wednesday, according to several major airlines operating in the country.
Air Canada and WestJet Airlines said that none of their flights to the US have been cancelled due to the rollout.
Transport Canada said it has taken protective measures to reduce interference with plane altimeters flying in so-called exclusion zones at airports near 5G towers.
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