Air India has reduced its flights to the USA due to the roll out of 5G telecommunications in America which tend to interfere with the avionics of planes and puts passengers at risk.
Air India, meanwhile, announced the suspension of services between Delhi and San Francisco, Chicago and JFK, as well as between Mumbai and Newark.
Air India tweeted that these flights (January 19) from Delhi, Mumbai to the US have been cancelled
• AI101/102 DEL/JFK/DEL
• AI173/174 DEL/SFO/DEL
• AI127/126 DEL/ORD/DEL
• AI191/144 BOM/EWR/BOM
However, in another tweet, the airline said that it will operate the flight to Washington DC from Delhi by AI103 on Wednesday.
"#FlyAI: Due to deployment of 5G communications in the USA, our operations to the USA from India stand curtailed/revised with change in aircraft type from January 19, 2022. Update in this regard will be informed shortly," said a tweet from Air India.
Other major international airlines have also begun cancelling flights to the United States after the Federal Aviation Administration raised concerns about 5G wireless towers near airports.
Emirates, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways also announced they would suspend flights after the Airlines for America trade group complained to the Biden administration over “catastrophic disruption” due to the scheduled 19 January rollout of 5G services.
Emirates suspended flights into nine airports, including Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle. It said it would continue flying into New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, the Los Angeles airport and Washington Dulles.
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America’s United Airlines said the US government's current 5G rollout plan will have a devastating impact on aviation, negatively affecting an estimated 1.25 million United passengers, at least 15,000 flights, and much-needed goods and tons of cargo traveling through more than 40 of the largest airports in the country annually.
When deployed next to runways, the 5G signals could interfere with the key safety equipment that pilots rely on to take off and land in inclement weather, the airlines said in a statement.
"We won't compromise on safety – full stop. But, governments in other countries have successfully designed policies to ensure the safe deployment of 5G technology and we're simply asking the US government to do the same. Otherwise, the radio altimeters on certain aircraft, which provide information to other safety systems like autopilot, heads-up displays, terrain warning, and pitch control, will be compromised and will result in significant restrictions on 787s, 777s, 737s, and regional aircraft in major cities like Houston, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago."
Meanwhile, US telecom giants AT&T and Verizon announced the activation of 5G towers near some US airports would be delayed for two weeks to resolve the differences.
AT&T blasted the Federal Aviation Administration after airline CEOs asked the Biden administration warning the launch on Wednesday could cause thousands of flight cancellations affecting more than 100,000 passengers.
