Airlines across the world rushed on Wednesday, January 19 to cancel or change flights heading into the United States of America over an ongoing dispute about the rollout of 5G mobile phone technology near American airports.
According to Associated Press, the issue appeared to particularly impact the Boeing 777, a long-range, wide-body aircraft used by carriers worldwide.
Two Japanese airlines directly named their aircraft as being particularly affected by the 5G signals as they announced cancellations and changes to their schedules.
The Dubai-based Emirates, a key carrier for East-West travel, announced it would halt flights to Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Newark, New Jersey, Orlando, among others over the issue beginning from January 19.
However, Emirates disclosed it would continue flights to Los Angeles, New York, and Washington. But cited the cancellation as necessary due to “operational concerns associated with the planned deployment of 5G mobile network services in the U.S. at certain airports.”
“We are working closely with aircraft manufacturers and the relevant authorities to alleviate operational concerns, and we hope to resume our U.S. services as soon as possible,” the state-owned airline said.
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The United Arab Emirates successfully rolled out 5G coverage all around its airports without incident, like dozens of other countries. But in the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration worries that the C-Band strand of 5G could interfere with aviation equipment.
Of particular concern in the 5G rollout appears to be the Boeing 777, a major workhorse for Emirates, which only flies that model, and the Airbus A380 jumbo jet.
Qatar Airways also anticipates “minor delays” on return flights from the U.S. but says otherwise its dozen U.S. routes are operating as scheduled.
Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. said in a statement that the FAA “has indicated that radio waves from the 5G wireless service may interfere with aircraft altimeters.” Altimeters measure how high a plane is in the sky, a crucial piece of equipment for flying.
“Boeing has announced flight restrictions on all airlines operating the Boeing 777 aircraft, and we have canceled or changed the aircraft for some flights to/from the U.S. based on the announcement by Boeing,” ANA said. It canceled 20 flights to the U.S. over the issue to cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.
Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. similarly said that it had been informed that 5G signals “may interfere with the radio altimeter installed on the Boeing 777.”
“We will refrain from using this model on the continental United States line until we can confirm its safety and we regret to inform you that we will cancel the flight for which the aircraft cannot be changed to the Boeing 787,” the airline said.
The cancellations come even after mobile phone carriers AT&T and Verizon will postpone new wireless service near some U.S. airports planned for this week.
The FAA will allow planes with accurate, reliable altimeters to operate around high-power 5G. But planes with older altimeters will not be allowed to make landings under low-visibility conditions.
Meanwhile, Choi Jong-yun, a spokeswoman of Asiana Airlines, said the company has not been affected so far because it uses airbus planes for passenger flights to the U.S. and does not use the affected Boeing planes to transport cargo.
But said airlines have also been instructed by the FAA to avoid automatic landings at affected U.S. airports during bad weather conditions, regardless of plane type.
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