Emirates will resume Boeing 777 flights to the US after assurances over a partial delay to rolling out 5G services.
However, airline president Tim Clark didn’t hold back in a scathing criticism of handling by the FAA, the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies.
"This is one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issues I’ve seen in my aviation career," Clark told CNN yesterday.
"Somebody should have told them a long time ago that it would compromise safety of operation of aircraft in metropolitan areas, with catastrophic consequences if this was allowed to continue. I think that message got through at a very, very late stage."
With the partial delay, Emirates will restart Boeing 777 service to Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando and Seattle on Friday.
The issue of 5G interference is more pronounced for Boeing 777 aircraft.
"We welcome the latest development which enables us to resume essential transport links to the US." Clark said.
Still, it is only a temporary fix, he said.
In the US, Verizon and AT&T networks use C-band 5G which can potentially interfere with radio altimeters.
