All Eyes Again on C Band Near Airports
The FCC’s C-band order faces a test this week as wireless carriers more fully turn up their C-band operations starting Saturday. A report Monday on ABC’s Good Morning America warned of possible flight delays during the travel weekend for the…
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July 4th holiday because of delays in retrofitting some radio altimeters. “The concern is there is a possibility of a bleed-over … that it could cause radio altimeters, which are critical to certain types of landings in jetliners, to malfunction,” said aviation expert John Nance. Delta said 190 of its 900 planes aren't equipped with updated altimeters, while United says it expects to meet the deadline for mainline jets, industry officials said: American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines say they retrofitted all their aircraft and don’t expect problems. “The FCC put DOT and airlines on notice of #5G C-band operations 5 years ago,” tweeted former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: “Earlier this year, the FAA said it would cost airlines $26 million to retrofit airplanes. In 2022, those airlines made $6.8 billion from bag fees alone.” Wireless carriers agreed earlier this year to extend protection for flight operations from some C-band deployments until Jan. 1 (see 2304030070). “The airline industry had more than five years to prepare for the changes, didn’t do enough, and will probably blame anyone but themselves if things go wrong,” Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner told us. Airlines For America didn’t comment. The major carriers and the FCC also didn’t comment.