The concerns surrounding the deployment of 5G services in the US have started affecting flights worldwide. Air India, the only Indian airline to fly to the US, has canceled most of its US flights on January 19th. The India-US network is extremely popular, and the cancellation is expected to affect thousands of passengers.
US flights curtailed
The rollout of 5G services in the US has severely impacted Air India’s flights to the country. The carrier tweeted, saying its DEL-JFK, DEL-SFO, DEL-ORD, and BOM-EWR flights on January 19th have been canceled.
At the moment, the cancellations have only affected flights on Wednesday. The status of Air India’s scheduled US flights in the coming few days is still not clear. AI is the only Indian carrier flying to the US, and any further cancellations will severely affect the airline’s operations and leave thousands of passengers stranded.
#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
Boeing 787 and 777 not cleared
Air India’s active widebody fleet consists entirely of Boeing 777s and 787s. With the exception of Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), AI deploys the 777s to all US destinations. The FAA has okayed many aircraft to fly into US airports after the 5G rollout – unfortunately, the 777 and 787 did not make it to the list.
The widebody airplanes that have been given the green signal include the A330, A350, B747, B767, and MD-10/-11 jets. Except for the four parked 747s, none of the widebodies featured in FAA’s list are part of AI’s fleet.
Things are looking slightly tricky for AI at the moment as thousands of passengers are booked to fly on the carrier’s popular US flights in the days ahead. Thankfully, AI’s DEL-IAD flight, which uses the Boeing 787-8, has not been affected.
The FAA took inputs from the aviation industry identifying airports that will require buffer zones to help reduce the risk of disruption. Considering factors such as the number of low-visibility days, location, and traffic, 50 airports have been identified, including JFK, EWR, ORD, and SFO. IAD does not feature in the list.
Concerns around the 5G network
US airlines and aviation authorities are concerned that 5G signals could affect key aircraft instruments during the crucial landing phase. The C-band spectrum for some 5G providers in the US runs from 3.7–3.98 GHz, close to 4.2–4.4 GHz reserved for the international aeronautical band.
The FAA is concerned that 5G technology could interfere with sensitive aircraft instruments such as radio altimeters that measure the aircraft’s altitude above the terrain. Airlines and aviation experts in the US are worried that radio altimeter anomalies undetected by aircraft automation or pilots could result in unsafe landing.
While the FAA has approved two radio altimeter models in many Boeing and Airbus airplanes, covering around 45% of commercial passenger jets flying in the US, many airlines, including Air India, still find themselves in a tight spot.
Air India will be hoping for a solution soon to continue its US flights uninterrupted.
