Airlines Across US Cancel, Reschedule Dozens of Flights Amid 5G Wireless Technology Rollout Concerns

A Delta Airlines passenger jet approaches to land at LAX in Los Angeles on April 7, 2021. Mike Blake/Reuters

Multiple airlines across the United States have been scrambling to reschedule or cancel flights to the country ahead of a planned 5G wireless technology rollout on Jan. 19 that has sparked safety concerns among officials.

The cancellations come as Verizon and AT&T are finally set to roll out their next-generation 5G wireless technology despite ongoing concerns as to how the technology could affect flights.

Air India on Jan. 18 announced on Twitter that four flights scheduled for Jan. 19 and departing from India and arriving at U.S. airports including the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, O'Hare International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport would be canceled.

“Due to deployment of the 5G communications in USA, we will not be able to operate the following flights of 19th Jan'22,” the airline stated, listing four India-to-U.S. flights.

In a statement, Dubai-based Emirates airline said it was also suspending flights to nine U.S. destinations from Jan. 19 due to “operational concerns associated with the planned deployment of 5G mobile network services in the U.S. at certain airports.”

The airline said the affected destinations were Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco, and Seattle, and the flights would be suspended until further notice.

Emirates flights to New York JFK, Los Angeles (LAX), and Washington (IAD) will continue to operate as scheduled.

“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,” Emirates stated.

Atlanta-headquartered Delta stated it was planning for the possibility of “weather-related cancellations caused by the deployment of new 5G service in the vicinity of dozens of U.S. airports, starting as early as Wednesday.”

“The FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], which regulates airlines, has issued numerous notices that restrict flight activity near airports where this new deployment of 5G service in the C-band spectrum could cause limited interference with altitude instruments on aircraft under various weather conditions that aircraft safely operate in today. As such, Delta is taking the necessary steps to ensure safety remains the priority in compliance with FAA guidelines,” the company stated.

A contract crew for Verizon works on a cell tower to update it to handle the new 5G network in Orem, Utah, on Dec. 10, 2019. George Frey/AFP via Getty Images

A Dreamliner 787-10 arriving from Los Angeles pulls up to a gate at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, on Jan. 7, 2019. Seth Wenig, File/AP Photo

Meanwhile, 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.”

“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,” the company stated.

The company canceled 20 flights to the United States including to the cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

Of particular concern in the 5G rollout appears to be the Boeing 777.

Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. similarly stated that it had been informed by Boeing that “5G signals for U.S. mobile phones, which will begin operating in the U.S. on January 19, may interfere with the radio wave altimeter installed on the Boeing 777.”

The company had canceled some flights to the United States on Jan. 19, but after receiving confirmation from the FAA “that there is no longer a problem with the operation of the Boeing 777” it would resume service to the United States with the Boeing 777 starting Jan. 20.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and if there is any impact on our flight operations, we will promptly announce it on our website,” the airline stated.

Multiple other companies including Korean Air, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, and German airline Lufthansa stated they had switched some of their Boeing 777s scheduled to fly into the United States for other aircraft.

The Epoch Times has contacted Boeing for comment.

It comes after CEOs from some of the biggest airlines in the United States warned of potential flight issues to air passengers if 5G C-band technology isn’t deployed in a safe manner around airports.

In a letter to White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the CEOs warned that the nation’s commerce could essentially “grind to a halt” and there could be “significant operation disruptions.”

The letter was signed by the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and others.

On Jan. 18, both AT&T and Verizon agreed to temporarily delay their 5G rollouts near certain airports amid ongoing flight safety fears.

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and our nation’s airlines have not been able to fully resolve navigating 5G around airports, despite it being safe and fully operational in more than 40 other countries,” Verizon said in a statement.

AT&T told The Hill in an email that it had “temporarily deferred turning on C-Band transmitters within a two-mile radius of the airport runways specified by the FAA,”  but didn’t state which airports were affected.

On Jan. 16, the FAA stated that it had cleared an estimated 45 percent of the U.S. commercial airplane fleet to perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed on Jan. 19.