According to an FAA statement, “an estimated 78 percent of the U.S. aircraft fleet” has been approved to land at 5G Band C airports, even in low-visibility conditions. The agency’s statement comes after a week of controversy over the deployment of the upgraded cellular technology, which has led U.S. airlines to warn of “catastrophic disruption” to their flights and some international airlines to announce they will halt flights to some U.S. airports.
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Concerns that some radiometers wouldn't properly pick up signals from the new 5G transmitters were what caused the confusion. While there are precautions that should prevent this from happening, including creating buffer zones around airports, an incorrect altitude reading could cause real problems during a low-visibility landing.
Given the risk, the FAA said that only planes with altimeter instruments that they have tested will be allowed to land at airports where the new 5G technology has been rolled out, when conditions are not optimal.
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On Jan. 16, the agency announced that there were two suitable altimeter instruments, which were increased to five on Wednesday. It said the instruments were installed on “certain” versions of airplanes such as the Boeing 737, 747 and 777. The FAA announced on Thursday that 13 altimeter instruments cover “all” Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787, MD-10/-11 and Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380 models. It also noted that “certain” Embraer 170 and 190 regional jets are covered.
The FAA still predicts that some instruments will fail the test and will be “overly sensitive to 5G interference.” Planes equipped with these models will not be allowed to land at airports with the new 5G technology in low-visibility conditions, which could prevent airlines from scheduling flights using these planes to those airports, given the unpredictable weather.
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Carriers of the new technology have been frustrated with the FAA and airlines for their handling of the situation. Their rollouts have been delayed multiple times, and on Tuesday, AT&T issued a statement condemning the FAA’s “failure to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting airline service.” Verizon followed up with a similar statement that also cited other countries’ rollouts.
You can read the FAA's full statement on 5G page .
