US FAA approves 90% of planes for low-visibility landings near 5G airports

AT&T and Verizon Communications agreed on Jan 18 to delay switching on new telecom towers near key airports.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday issued approvals for additional altimeters that allow about 90 per cent of the US commercial aviation fleet to perform low-visibility landings at airports where 5G wireless is deployed.

The FAA said it had cleared seven additional altimeters, bringing the total approved to 20. As of last week, it had cleared about 78 per cent of commercial planes.

AT&T and Verizon Communications agreed on January 18 to delay switching on new telecom towers near key airports even as they turned on the new 5G C-Band service.

Radio altimeters are used to give data on height above ground for bad-weather landings and the 5G technology could cause interference.

The issue is disrupting some landing in poor weather at smaller airports. Alaska Air said Monday the "rollout of this new 5G band is still creating disruptions for regional air travel."

Verizon agreed to temporarily not turn on about 500 towers near airports, sources told Reuters, or less than 10 per cent of their planned deployment, while the carriers and the administration work on a permanent solution.

Some US airlines are concerned about Verizon's plans to turn on additional towers around February 1 and want to know if those new towers could impact any current operations. Verizon did not immediately comment.