Exclusive-Major U.S. airline CEOs warn 5G could ground some planes, wreak havoc

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Southwest Airlines plane approaches to land at San Diego International Airport as U.S. telecom companies, airlines and the FAA continue to discuss the potential impact of 5G wireless services on aircraft electronics in San Diego, California,

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers on Monday warned of an impending "catastrophic" aviation crisis on Wednesday when AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) are set to deploy new 5G service.

The airlines warned the new C-Band 5G service could potentially make a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable and "could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas."

"Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded," wrote the chief executives of American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), United Airlines, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and others.

The FAA has warned that potential interference could affect sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters and impact on low-visibility operations.

"This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays," it cautioned.

Action is urgent, they added in the letter also signed by UPS Airlines, Atlas Air (NASDAQ:AAWW), JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) and FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Express. "To be blunt, the nation’s commerce will grind to a halt."

The letter, which was seen by Reuters, went to White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

Airlines for America, the group that organized the letter, declined to comment. The government agencies did not immediately comment.

AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year, on Jan. 3 agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks and take other steps to cut potential interference for six months. They also agreed to delay deployment for two weeks until Wednesday, temporarily averting an aviation safety standoff.

The CEOs of major airlines and Boeing (NYSE:BA) Chief Executive Dave Calhoun held a lengthy call with Buttigieg and Dickson on Sunday to warn of the looming crisis, officials told Reuters.

The airlines ask "that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles (3.2 km) of airport runways" at some key airports.

"Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies."

The airlines added that flight restrictions will not be limited to poor weather operations. "Multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable causing a much larger problem than what we knew... Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating

fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded."

The carriers added they urge action to ensure "5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption."

The FAA said on Sunday it had cleared an estimated 45% of the U.S. commercial airplane fleet to perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed starting on Wednesday. The airlines noted on Monday that the list did not include many large airports.