Air India informed on Tuesday that its operations from India to the US will be curtailed or revised from January 19 onwards on account of the deployment of 5G communications in the US.

In a tweet, the airline wrote, “Due to deployment of 5G communications in USA, our operations to the USA from India stand curtailed/revised with change in aircraft type from 19th January 2022.”

A detailed update in this regard is expected soon.

Late on Tuesday night, the airline updated that the AI103 flight from Delhi to Washington DC on January 19 will operate as per schedule. Air India will be providing further updates regarding departures to other destinations in the US via Twitter.

US AIRLINES RAISE ALARM

Earlier, on Monday, major US passenger and cargo carriers warned of ‘chaos’ and “catastrophic disruption” ahead of the country’s roll-out of 5G ‘C-Band’ service by telecom companies on January 19.

In a letter to the National Economic Council Director, Secretary of Transportation, and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the chief executives of several airlines under the banner ‘Airlines of America’, called for immediate intervention “to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies” due to 5G services.

In their letter, the CEOs wrote, “We are writing with urgency to request that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles (3.2 kms) of airport runways at affected airports as defined by the FAA on January 19, 2022. This will allow 5G to be deployed while avoiding harmful impacts on the aviation industry, travelling public, supply chain, vaccine distribution, our workforce and broader economy.”

HOW DOES 5G ROLL-OUT AFFECT AVIATION?

AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year, on January 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 (January 19), temporarily averting an aviation safety standoff, news agency Reuters reported.

But the airlines are not convinced enough has been done. In a separate statement on Monday, United Airlines said, “The federal government’s current 5G rollout plan will have a devastating impact on aviation, negatively affecting an estimated 1.25 million United passengers, at least 15,000 flights and much-needed goods and tons of cargo traveling through more than 40 of the largest airports in the country annually.”

They warned, “When deployed next to runways, the 5G signals could interfere with the key safety equipment that pilots rely on to take off and land in inclement weather. We won’t compromise on safety – full stop.”

United Airlines said they are simply asking the US government to design policy for safe deployment of 5G technology, “otherwise, the radio altimeters on certain aircraft, which provide information to other safety systems like autopilot, heads-up displays, terrain warning and pitch control, will be compromised and will result in significant restrictions on 787s, 777s, 737s and regional aircraft in major cities like Houston, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.”