What Air Travelers Need to Know About 5G
The risk: 5G technology close to airports poses risks for air safety. 5G is designed to operate at nearly the same radio frequency used by aircraft altimeters. These instruments provide pilots near real-time data about their altitude when taking off and landing in poor weather conditions.
- What this means: Like trying to have a serious conversation in a noisy, crowded room, 5G interference could cause the radio altimeter to provide incomplete or erroneous information or no data at all. The resulting confusion could put air travelers at risk.
The urgency: The federal government and the telecom industry planned to launch 5G without taking seriously the safety concerns pilots and the industry had been raising.
- The back story: For years, ALPA has warned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that interference from the C-Band spectrum could affect aircraft’s radio altimeters. It wasn’t until the final hour when aviation authorities threatened to cancel flights in areas where 5G was implemented that officials took these warnings seriously.
The latest: Under pressure, the telecom industry delayed introducing 5G near certain airports due to concerns expressed by the FAA and air safety experts, including ALPA. This delay helped avoid mass disruptions and flight cancelations to both passenger and cargo flights. 5G implementation is now proceeding incrementally as the FAA certifies which aircraft can operate safely near 5G.
- What this means: This is a welcome step, but we don’t think it is good enough. Workers and travelers should not be at risk until the impact of the service is fully understood. The safety of all involved — whether it’s for traveling, shipping, or working — is too important for the skies to be our testing ground.
What’s next: The incremental process of certification and additional 5G rollout continues. But federal regulators must prioritize air safety over corporate interests. Greater collaboration is needed among the telecom and aviation sectors and the federal government to ensure that safety trumps corporate policies.
- The bottom line: ALPA urges federal regulators to safeguard air transportation as 5G service expands. We need action to:
- Fund and charge the FAA with staying informed and included in national spectrum strategies.
- Require the FCC to share publicly the new service transmitting data when issuing a new or revising an existing license.
- Require the FCC to collaborate with, and defer to, U.S. government agencies charged with safety oversight.
- Grant the FAA authority to reject new or expanded FCC spectrum applications that affect aviation until safety can be ensured.
- Require the FAA to share information on approved alternative methods of compliance.
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