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Fears 5G could interfere with airport traffic
The entire holiday period will also see large crowds. That could be problematic this weekend when major wireless carriers flip the switch on 5G cell service near airports. There’s fears 5G could interfere with a plane’s radio altimeter.
ATLANTA - It is the holiday hustle at airports ahead of Independence Day. TSA checkpoints at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are racing toward a record as tens of thousands head out for the 4th of July.
"The line was wrapped around," said Wesley Harris. "I never experienced anything like that before in my life."
The TSA at ATL could set an all-time record Friday by screening about 104,000 passengers.
"We knew that it was going to be extremely busy, we had every single security lane open, nice and early," said Robert Spinden, Georgia Federal Security Director for the TSA.
While Friday is expected to be the busiest, the entire holiday period will also see large crowds.
That could be problematic this weekend when major wireless carriers flip the switch on 5G cell towers near airports. There are fears 5G could interfere with a plane’s radio altimeter.
"It's like a radar in a lot of ways, it sends out a signal which bounces on the ground and comes back to the airplane," said Paul Carr, a former Delta Air Lines Captain.
Airlines have been working for more than a year to upgrade their planes, but the Secretary of Transportation says not everyone is done yet.
In a letter Pete Buttigieg wrote, "This means on bad-weather, low-visibility days in particular, there could be increased delays and cancelations."
Delta says supply-chain issues mean about 20% of its fleet still needs to be updated, but it plans to strategically move planes to reduce impacts.
The airline says, as of July 1, approximately 190 Delta narrow-body aircraft are not yet equipped with updated radio altimeters. This includes all A220s, most A319s and A320s, and some A321s, but they expect progress to continue through the summer.
In a statement it said, "What this means for Delta is that some of our aircraft will have more restrictions for operations in inclement weather. Safety of flight will never be in question, and Delta will adhere to all directives and regulations from our regulators. Many Delta teams have been working to insulate any additional delays from our customers and people through strategic aircraft routing. While we expect minimal operational impact, we continue to work with our supplier to see that every Delta aircraft is equipped with updated radio altimeters."
Carr says issues this weekend is unlikely.
"It would be extraordinary circumstances, and extraordinary circumstances happen, that there are going to be any disruptions over the weekend or the 4th of July because of this issue," he said.
Other major carriers like American, Southwest and United say they have retrofitted all of their planes.