AT&T, Verizon pause 5G rollout near US airports to avoid flight disruptions

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Reuters) – AT&T (TN) and Verizon Communications (VZ.N) agreed Tuesday to temporarily delay turning on some wireless towers near major airports to avoid significant disruption to U.S. flights. prevent the rollout of 5G service that will provide faster wireless service to tens of millions of people.

President Joe Biden praised the agreement, saying it will “prevent potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations and our economic recovery while allowing more than 90% of wireless tower deployments to proceed as planned.”

Late Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration updated its list of airports that could use planes with approved radio altimeter equipment to include major airports like New York’s JFK and LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway, San Francisco and Seattle.

The FAA would also update its list of Airbus and Boeing aircraft with the approved equipment in the coming hours. The updates should dramatically reduce the impact of the nearly 1,500 5G restriction notices issued by the FAA.

Airlines and the FAA warned that new restrictions due to the 5G service, which Verizon and AT&T will launch Wednesday, would still lead to some flight disruptions. Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) said that while the wireless moves were a positive development, “some flight restrictions may remain.”

United Airlines told customers on a flight from Denver to Houston that a three-hour delay was the result of the new 5G systems, according to a post on its website. It also suggested that customers contact the Federal Communications Commission with any concerns.

The FAA has warned that 5G wireless interference could affect sensitive aircraft instruments such as radio altimeters and significantly hamper operations in low visibility conditions.

The FAA said it expects “there will be some impact due to the limitations of some radio altimeters.”

Verizon will temporarily shut down about 500 towers near airports, sources told Reuters, or less than 10% of their planned deployment, while the airlines and administration are working on a permanent solution, informed sources said. Details of the agreement, including the length of the break, were not disclosed.

Both Verizon and AT&T will launch 5G elsewhere in the country.

Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement that the FAA has “a process in place to assess the altimeter’s performance in the 5G environment and resolve any outstanding issues. It is essential that the FAA is now completing this process with both care and speed.”

Airlines for America, a passenger and cargo trade group, said the “pause provides an opportunity to ensure that all stakeholders, consumers and the U.S. economy are served in the long run.”

This marks the third time AT&T and Verizon have agreed to delay deployment of the new C-Band 5G wireless service. In November, the companies postponed implementation by 30 days to January 5, and then agreed to delay implementation until January 19.

Nearly all but a handful of the affected sites are Verizon towers, officials said.

Still, the FAA and airlines must grapple with permanently resolving the concerns, especially since AT&T and Verizon had previously agreed to take some measures to reduce the interference for six months.

Despite the agreement, major foreign carriers, including Air India and Japan’s largest airline, ANA Holdings (9202.T), said they had canceled some flights to the US due to possible 5G interference.

ANA said on its website that it had canceled some Boeing 777 flights after Boeing “announced flight restrictions on all airlines operating the Boeing 777 aircraft”. Boeing did not immediately comment.

Airlines are likely to cancel some additional flights in the coming hours pending formal guidance from the FAA about the announcements from Verizon and AT&T. They warned Monday of “catastrophic” consequences. Airlines had expressed concern that the problem could prevent them from flying Boeing 777s and other widebody jets to many major airports.

The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and freight carriers said Monday that the new 5G service could render a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable, “strand tens of thousands of Americans abroad” and cause chaos for U.S. flights.

The airlines asked for “5G to be implemented all over the country, except within about 2 miles (3.2 km) of runways” at some major airports.

Verizon’s rollout plan is much more aggressive than AT&T’s. It is significantly affected by the Biden administration’s request to delay the use of some towers near airport runways.

AT&T and Verizon won significant C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year.

Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg told employees on Jan. 4 that the airline saw no aviation safety issues with 5G and had resisted previous delays, officials told Reuters.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Leslie Adler and Gerry Doyle

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