Following concerns raised earlier in the week around signal interference from AT&T and Verizon’s C-band 5G rollout, British Airways has cancelled a number of flights to the US.

President Biden had already delayed deployment of the new 5G service, “around key airports,” but British Airways went beyond this by cancelling flights out with the designated airports where the 5G delays have been put in place.

A letter issued from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned that interference from the new 5G network could affect instruments on board crafts such as altimeters and hamper low-visibility, essentially forcing pilots to fly blind in poor weather.

“Safety is always our priority and although we had to cancel a handful of services, we’ve done everything we can to minimise inconvenience for our customers,” said a BA spokesperson.

They added: “We’ve changed the aircraft operating some of our flights and rebooked those on cancelled services onto alternatives. We’re disappointed that, like other airlines, some of our customers’ travel plans have been disrupted.”

The cancellations from British Airways comes despite UK regulator Ofcom stating that there’s no evidence to support the cause for alarm as well as AT&T noting that they had successful roll-outs of C-band 5G in 40 countries without any notable issues.

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Emirates boss Sir Tim Clark weighed in on the discussion, criticising the US governments handling of the issue: “I need to be as candid as I normally am, and say this is one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issues, subjects I’ve seen in my aviation career because it involves organs of government.

“The notion that, for instance, the United States government should sell its franchise for all frequencies for a large amount of money.

“Somebody should have told them at the time – that the risks and the dangers they placed in certain frequency uses around airfields, metropolitan fields that should have been done at the time.”

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