FAA Announced 50 US Airports That Will Have Buffer Zones for 5G Service

Federal Aviation Administration announced the 50 US airports that will have “buffer zones” for 5G service. Airlines for America along with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and FAA chief Stephen Dickson sent requests to AT&T and Verizon to delay the rollout of their 5G service.

The airline trade group told Federal Communications Commission that C-band 5G can interfere with airplane devices. Also, Airlines for America said that this can disrupt altimeters that measure the plane’s height above ground. To promote safety, The FAA only allowed the use of certain altimeters that are “accurate and reliable in the US 5G C-band environment”.

Altimeters play an important role whenever pilots are landing with low-visibility. Buttigieg and Dickson warned that the rollout will cause “unacceptable disruption” to airline operations. It could result in delays and cancelations. Also, some flights will have to divert to other cities.

5G Buffer Zones

Airports in Dallas, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, and Las Vegas will have 5G buffer zones. The list of airports was made based on traffic volume, geographic location, and the frequency of low-visibility days. Also, according to the FAA, the buffer zones will only offer protection in the last 20 seconds of the flight.

On the bright side, 5G wireless service will not affect all airports. There are some airports that shouldn’t worry about 5G service disrupting daily operations . For instance, Denver International Airport isn’t on the list because 5G service will not be available in the area. Also other airports are far enough from 5G towers to cause disruptions according to the FAA.

Wireless providers will rollout 5G C-band service by January 19. AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay the rollout “to work in good faith with aviation stakeholders”. AT&T and Verizon’s decision to delay the rollout of 5G service by two weeks was praised by President Joe Biden. Biden said that it was a “significant step in the right direction”.