PEORIA, Ill. – There probably won’t be any direct problems at Peoria International Airport when and if cellular phone companies move forward with their 5G technology upgrade.
But Executive Director Gene Olson says where the problems could lie are if you have to travel to, or have a connecting flight at, a bigger city.
“What the [Federal Aviation Administration] does in this kind of a situation is they say, ‘Unless you can prove that your system is good to go, you can’t fly into that area and use that equipment,'” said Olson.
The concern, Olson says, is how a 5G signal may interfere with a plane’s instrument panel — especially when it comes to landing.
So, Olson says, he gets the concerns of airlines when it comes to the rollout.
“As with anything in aviation, unless you can demonstrate that it is safe, you can’t do it,” said Olson. “So, aviation is probably oriented towards fail-safe than any other industry.”
Tuesday, both AT&T and Verizon Wireless said they would delay turning on 5G connectivity on towers near larger airports. The Biden Administration has been discussing the matter with phone companies, and with the aviation industry.
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