US airlines warned of a possible crisis in the industry due to the introduction of 5G

U.S. airline executives have warned that the introduction of new 5G technology could result in most planes remaining on the ground, thousands of Americans unable to return home from overseas, and trade stalling. Reuters writes about it.

The warning came in a letter sent to White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and several other officials. “If our main hubs are unable to fly, then the vast majority of passengers and carriers will remain on the ground,” says the letter, signed by executives from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue, as well as UPS and FedEx. .

The reason for the problem is that 5G technology can interfere with critical aircraft instruments operating in the C-band, such as radio altimeters, which determine the distance of the aircraft from the ground and are extremely important when flying in low visibility conditions. In an earlier appeal, airlines asked for "5G implementation throughout the country, except for areas within 2 miles (3.2 km) of runways" at some key airports.

As Bloomberg previously reported, interference caused by 5G towers does not necessarily block radio altimeters, but it can cause them to give inaccurate readings.