Verizon, AT&T Halt 5G Launch near Airports to Prevent Disturbances in Aircrafts

America’s prominent telecommunication firms, Verizon Communications and AT&T, have temporarily suspended their 5G service rollout near airports to avoid any possible interferences onboard flights. This involves tentatively shutting off their wireless towers near select important airports namely JFK in New York, O’Hare and Midway in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, LaGuardia, and Seattle.

President Joe Biden seconded the decision, contending that the move will avert “potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations, and our economic recovery, while allowing more than 90% of wireless tower deployment to occur as scheduled."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since renewed its list of airports that aircrafts with sanctioned radio altimeter gear can avail of to travel to the key airports in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, LaGuardia, and San Francisco.

However, the FAA and several airline companies have cautioned that despite the new developments, the 5G launch can still cause certain disturbances in flights.