The US government will not extend the deadline for airlines to update the altimeters they use on planes to combat potential interference from 5G networks.

An altimeter is used to measure altitude.

Concerns that 5G could affect aircraft altimeters, which measure how high an aircraft is above the ground, led to brief outages at some US airports last year as companies operating internationally canceled some flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week it has no plans to extend the July 1 deadline until new rules come into effect that prohibit certain low visibility landings without upgraded altimeters.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents more than 100 carriers flying to the United States, said “supply chain issues make it unlikely that all aircraft will be updated by the July 1 deadline, threatening peak disruptions for the season.”

For its part, CTIA, the trade group that represents the US wireless industry, notes that almost 40 countries are already using 5G in the area of ​​the radio spectrum used in conjunction with altimeters, and no negative impact on aviation was recorded.

Last year, Verizon and AT&T voluntarily agreed to delay C-Band 5G until July 1 as carriers work to upgrade their altimeters. IATA said on Tuesday that “more is needed” and that many airlines will have to upgrade most of their aircraft twice in just five years.

On March 31st, four major carriers agreed to take some voluntary measures to address concerns about air travel safety and the full utilization of 5G C-band spectrum.

Separately, the FAA on Tuesday proposed seven airworthiness directives for several Boeing aircraft due to potential interference from 5G networks. The proposed rules cover 4,800 aircraft in the US and 14,600 aircraft worldwide. They require changes to the flight manuals by June 30 to prohibit certain landings and include specific procedures for calculating landing distances and certain approaches in the presence of interference.

Source: BBC