by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:00 AM ET, Thu January 20, 2022
Airlines in the United States revealed the rollout of new 5G mobile networks was having only minimal impact on the aviation industry.
According to Reuters.com, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it had issued new approvals for additional low-visibility landings, allowing around 62 percent of commercial planes operating in the U.S. to perform bad-weather landings at some airports.
The FAA also cleared aircraft using three approved radio altimeters, which give data on height above grounds for bad-weather landings, after previously approving two others. AT&T and Verizon announced plans to delay turning on telecom towers near key airports as the new 5G C-Band service rollout kicked off.
Verizon said it would temporarily wait to start about 500 towers near airports.
Officials from American Airlines and United Airlines faced a minor operational impact, with American attributing several delays and cancellations to the new 5G service and United reported "minor disruptions at some airports."
Southwest Airlines told Reuters it "anticipates very minimal impact on our operation."
Airplane models with one of the five cleared altimeters include some Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, MD-10/-11 and Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380 models.
"Even with these approvals, flights at some airports may still be affected," the FAA told Reuters.
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