The FAA on Wednesday said that close to two-thirds, or 62 percent, of U.S. commercial fleets have been cleared “to perform low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies deployed 5G C-band.”
“The new safety buffer announced Tuesday around airports in the 5G deployment further expanded the number of airports available to planes with previously cleared altimeters to perform low-visibility landings. The FAA early Wednesday cleared another three altimeters,” the agency said in a statement.
Among the aircraft models that have been cleared by the FAA include certain Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380 models and Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777 and MD-10/-11 models, the agency noted. Last week, the FAA had only cleared 45 percent of U.S. commercial fleets, Inside Towers reported.
The announcement by the FAA comes as Verizon and AT&T on Wednesday rolled out their 5G service on C-band while agreeing to delay its deployment on towers near certain undisclosed airports. The decision came amid appeals from airlines concerned that 5G service near certain airports could interfere with radio altimeters.
Even with these approvals, flights at some airports may still be affected, according to the agency. The FAA also continues to work with manufacturers to understand how radar altimeter data is used in other flight control systems.
“While we anticipate minor disruptions at some airports due to the remaining 5G restrictions, we’re pleased the Biden administration reached a compromise with AT&T and Verizon to avoid mass cancellations across the aviation industry,” United Airlines stated Wednesday, reported The Hill. “We look forward to a higher level of coordination between the regulators, telecom companies and the aviation industry to ensure that customers are not faced with disruptions going forward.”
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