Air India has decided to cancel eight flights to and from the U.S. on Thursday amid concerns that the rollout of 5G wireless services in the U.S. could affect key aircraft functions, airline sources said.
This is the second day in a row that Air India’s US flights have been hit. On Wednesday, the airline cancelled flights to and from New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Newark.
According to information shared by the airline on Twitter, its flights to Washington, D.C., are operating as planned. Air India operates to five US destinations.
Flights to San Francisco, Chicago and Newark were also canceled on Thursday.
Throughout Wednesday, airline officials were busy coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. aviation safety regulator, to assess the impact of 5G service on their flights and the impact of mitigation measures announced by telecom operators as an ongoing effort. part of the work. Negotiate with the U.S. government.
As a result, until 9:30 pm. On Wednesday, the airline had yet to announce the status of its Thursday flights, leaving many passengers anxious.
The airline has not announced whether U.S. flights for the rest of the week have been canceled or rescheduled.
Hours before launching 5G service on Wednesday, mobile carriers AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay the opening of a limited number of cell towers around some airport runways, after U.S. carriers warned that flight connections could be severely disrupted.
The deployment of C-band 5G spectrum forms the foundation of Verizon and AT&T 5G networks. The FAA warned that this could interfere with the plane’s radio altimeter, which measures the plane’s height above the ground, and create challenges when landing, especially in low-visibility conditions.
Complete News Source : The Hindu
