The list of aircraft that are approved by the FAA to perform low-visibility landings at airports has been expanded.
The trade association that represents regional airlines is still warning of disruptions.
We can't operate into many large airports. When bad weather comes, that is going to be a problem.
The FAA approved the landing of some regional aircraft in low-visibility conditions. The FAA estimates that 80% of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have received such approvals.
When manufacturers are able to demonstrate that radio altimeters on a particular aircraft type are not susceptible to interference during approaches from broadband transmissions on the C-Band spectrum, which is the spectrum occupied by AT&T and Verizon 5G service, approvals are issued. The altitudes are 2,500 feet and below.
American Airlines is confident that the 5G issue is solved.
Despite Thursday's approvals, the FAA said that some aircraft types are likely to be too susceptible to 5G interference to get a sign-off. That could be bad news for operators of the remaining regional aircraft.
The first significant example of the impact the new 5G deployment could have on regional flights came on January 20, when San Francisco's airport had low-visibility conditions. According to Aerology, more than 20 regional aircraft had to enter into a holding pattern that lasted hours. Tim Donohue is a former leader of United's station operations at Newark Airport.
According to the Washington Post, five regional flights were diverted from Salt Lake City that morning.
If we had a bad widespread weather event, that is a small indication of what we could see.
On Thursday and Friday, the FAA issued advisories warning airports that could be impacted by diversions due to bad weather and interference on radio altimeters from 5G transmissions.
The FAA listed Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Seattle, Jacksonville, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento on its 5G advisory.
Disruptions are occurring despite the agreement between the FAA and the telecom companies to set up buffer zones around 86 airports.
According to a letter sent by the CEOs of the two largest carriers to the DOT and FAA, the buffer zones reduce the signal strength of C-Band transmission by a factor of 10. They don't eliminate the signals.