Long-haul carrier Emirates today said it would resume its Boeing 777 flights to the U.S.by Saturday after halting its use of the aircraft there over an ongoing dispute over the rollout of new 5G services in America.
But the airline warned that a ‘long-term resolution’ is needed following the launch of 5G.
The warning comes as blasted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Biden administration for ‘sleepwalking’ through the long awaited, yet disastrous, rollout of 5G technology.
Dubai-based Emirates, which flies only the Boeing 777 and the double-decker Airbus A380, was among international carriers which cancelled early flights or switched to different planes on Wednesday following warnings from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing over possible interference from the new 5G signals.
But the FAA later told airlines there was no longer a problem with the operation of the Boeing 777, leading them scrambling to resume their flights.
Emirates said it would resume its Boeing 777 service to Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando and Seattle on Friday.
Flights to Boston, Houston and San Francisco, which saw Emirates deploy its Airbus A380 jumbo jet, will resume Boeing 777 flights on Saturday.
Emirates President Tim Clark, who has slammed the 5G fiasco as the ‘most delinquent, irresponsible’ mess he has seen in his 50-year aviation career and blamed it on Buttigieg, apologized to the airline’s customers for the disruption.
‘Safety will always be our top priority, and we will never gamble on this front,’ Clark said.’We welcome the latest development which enables us to resume essential transport links to the U.S. to serve travelers and cargo shippers.’
But Clark warned: ‘However, we are also very aware that this is a temporary reprieve, and a long-term resolution would be required.’
This graphic shows how the wireless spectrum used by 5G networks could interfere with altimeters, which measure a plane’s altitude and is especially important for low-visibility operations.The CEOs of the airlines have asked officials that the 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles of airport runways at some key airports
An Emirates Airlines Boeing 777 lands at Logan International Airport in Boston, March 10, 2014
AT&T and Verizon launched their 5G network across America on Wednesday morning, switching on 4,500 towers to bring faster wireless to their customers.They had to hold back on ten percent of the towers — 500 — that are near airports because the frequencies the towers emit could interfere with the signal on some planes.
Eighty-eight airports now have buffers to protect against it but some major airports like Boston and Memphis do not. In the most recent FAA announcement on Wednesday afternoon, the government said ’62 percent’ of flights could operate safely — leaving nearly half to reschedule.
On Wednesday, some airline passengers who were unaware of the fiasco showed up at airports ready to board their flights but were told they had been canceled.
Air India, Emirates, BA, Japan Airlines and All Nippon canceled flights on Tuesday, then rushed to bring them back on Wednesday following new FAA advice saying the Boeing 777 was safe to use.
In total, 473 flights to, from and within the US have been canceled so far, according to tracking website FlightAware.It’s unclear if all have been scrapped because of 5G, but the network launch is causing major issues.
Republicans have blamed Buttigieg and the administration for the botched rollout, with GOP members of transportation and technology-related congressional panels releasing a joint statement Wednesday claiming the Biden administration ‘sleepwalked’ the process.
‘The Biden administration has failed to provide any leadership to find a solution to this spectrum issue,’ the statement reads.’The U.S. government has hardworking experts who can address any outstanding technical issues, but instead of leading, the has sleepwalked through this botched process.’
‘By lurching from one arbitrary deadline to the next with no clear plan or strategy for resolution, this Administration’s negligence continues to delay finding a lasting solution that improves our everyday wireless communication while protecting aviation safety.’
The letter was signed by four Republicans — Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves from Missouri; Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves from Louisiana; Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington; and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta from Ohio.
Texas Republican Representative Beth Van Duyne tweeted of the disaster: ‘The airline industry has been hit hard by authoritarian vaccine mandates and staffing shortages.The last thing it needs is failed leadership on the 5G rollout.’
Buttigieg and the administration also faced some backlash from within their own party for the fiasco.
Democratic Representative Sharice Davids tweeted Wednesday: ‘Glad to see that Verizon and AT&T have agreed to delay 5G deployment around key airports.Our main priority as Congress is safety, and this solution allows the vast majority of wireless deployment to continue while protecting passengers and cargo from delays and disruption.’
A group of Republicans who head up the minority in transportation and technology-related committees and subcommittees slammed the administration for it’s disastrous 5G roll out.They wrote: ‘The U.S. government has hardworking experts who can address any outstanding technical issues, but instead of leading, the White House has sleepwalked through this botched process’
Republican Rep.Beth mercedes mini van Duyne slammed the administration for ‘failed leadership’ leading to a slew of flight cancelations due to the roll out
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr also blasted Biden on Wednesday.
‘The Biden Administration’s botched handling of C-Band 5G offerings highlights a failure of competent leadership,’ he wrote on Twitter.’The White House walked back a Biden-brokered infrastructure agreement after just two weeks.’
‘This is a bad deal,’ he assured.
‘The Biden Administration could have stood up and sided with science,’ Carr continued.’They didn’t. Their silence paved the way for a pressure campaign timed to maximize the chances that Administration officials would cave. They did.’
‘Running a dysfunctional process does not promote air safety or America’s 5G leadership.’
The president of Emirates has slammed the 5G fiasco as the ‘most delinquent, irresponsible’ mess he has seen in his 50-year aviation career and blamed it on Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who he says knew about the impending chaos but failed to warn anyone in time to stop it.
Eighty-eight airports now have buffers to protect against it but some major airports like Denver, Atlanta, Boston, Memphis do not.
In the most recent FAA announcement on Wednesday afternoon, the government said ’62 percent’ of flights could operate safely — leaving nearly half to reschedule.
Sir Tim Clark, the president of Dubai-based Emirates, appeared on