United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby in a statement yesterday said that AT&T and Verizon Communications plans to switch on 5G wireless services January 5 could create thousands of daily flight cancellations in the U.S. Four percent of daily industry flights could be delayed, canceled or diverted, he said.
Kirby spoke following a Senate hearing, saying the wireless carriers must delay the use of the spectrum. He told Reuters the FAA and FCC need “to get in a room and talk to each other and solve the problem,” adding “the issue cannot be solved on the back of airlines.”
“If United is looking for someone to blame for their cancelled flights,” WIA’s CEO and President Jonathan Adelstein told Inside Towers, “they’ll have to look elsewhere than the wireless industry. The ability of 5G to operate safely in the C-band is already confirmed by real-world experience around the globe. If wireless was a legitimate reason, he’d already be cancelling all United flights to Europe where they use the same frequencies,” he said.
Reader Interactions