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Airlines avoided mass flight cancellations on Wednesday morning after an 11th-hour decision by AT&T and Verizon to restrict a new 5G cellular service near airports. As of early afternoon, more than 260 flights had been canceled in the United States, according to FlightAware, an aviation data firm. Just four days earlier, airlines had canceled 470 flights, the best day for flight cancellations in a month. Airlines had warned earlier in the week that the major expansion of 5G service scheduled for Wednesday would disrupt passenger and cargo flights, causing chaos. The companies said the new service could interfere with some radio altimeters, devices that, among other things, determine a plane’s altitude, posing a safety risk especially in bad weather. The so-called C-band frequencies used by 5G are closer to the portion of airwaves used by the altimeters than the frequencies used by earlier generations of cellular service. On Wednesday, the FAA expanded the list of planes and altimeters approved to land in low-visibility conditions at airports where 5G service is deployed. Now, an estimated 62% of the US commercial fleet can land safely under those conditions, the agency said. Even as wireless carriers and federal officials hashed out a compromise on Tuesday, several international airlines said they would cancel or adjust flights to the United States. But many of those companies reinstated flights by Wednesday morning. The 5G expansion had already been delayed twice over aviation safety concerns, first from late December to early January and then again to this week. On Tuesday, the wireless companies relented again and said they would not activate the new service within two miles of some runways, in line with a request from the airline industry. <br/>

For the third time in less than two months, the US aviation system on Tuesday faced the threat of widespread flight disruptions over potential 5G interference, only to get a temporary reprieve. A last-minute accord between wireless telephone companies and aviation authorities averted major disruptions but didn’t eliminate them. Left to be worked out is a long-term solution that will enable mobile phone companies to take advantage of super fast wireless technology without interfering with aviation. AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. agreed on Tuesday to temporarily delay switching on hundreds of 5G cell towers near U.S. airports in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration and other government officials. The towers broadcast on frequencies adjacent to those used by radar altimeters that help aircraft land in poor weather. The agreement calls for temporary no-5G buffer zones around airports while federal regulators and industry groups try to reach a permanent solution without repeating the crisis in coming months. <br/>

An estimated 62% of the US aviation fleet is approved to perform low-visibility landings at most airports without fear of interference from 5G mobile phone service, according to aviation regulators. New safety buffers agreed to on Tuesday by wireless companies also allowed an expansion to the number of airports where flights can safely operate, the FAA said Wednesday. The agency issued its first major update since AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. began using new frequency bands for fast 5G mobile phone service in dozens of metropolitan regions around the US. The radio waves are close to those used by aircraft radar altimeters and the FAA has said there is a risk that they could cause interference. The agency issued its first major update since AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. began using new frequency bands for fast 5G mobile phone service in dozens of metropolitan regions around the US. The radio waves are close to those used by aircraft radar altimeters and the FAA has said there is a risk that they could cause interference. The agency approvals include most Boeing and Airbus models, including Boeing’s 777, which was left off of the list on Sunday. Several foreign carriers had canceled flights to the US on the 777 after Boeing issued a warning to its operators. <br/>

Disruption to US-bound air travel caused by the rollout of 5G services in the United States eased on Wednesday as authorities approved more flights, but a top airline warned "irresponsible" regulatory confusion would be felt internationally for days. Airlines and telecom companies have been at loggerheads over the deployment of 5G mobile services over concerns that the powerful signals could interfere with airplane systems. Carriers across Asia, the Middle East and Europe cancelled flights to the United States or switched planes at the last minute on Tuesday and Wednesday, disrupting travel for thousands of passengers, over safety concerns caused by the 5G deployment. But Japanese carriers said late on Wednesday they would restore cancelled flights and US airlines said thousands of planes were operating normally after two telecom carriers agreed to delay the rollout at key airports. The decision late on Tuesday by AT&T and Verizon Communications to delay switching on new telecom masts near key airports, just hours ahead of a wider US rollout, came too late to avoid a ripple of cancellations. Much of the initial disruption hit the Boeing 777, for decades a workhorse of long-distance air travel. Dubai's Emirates, the world's largest international passenger carrier and the largest 777 operator, hit out at "mixed messages" as it suspended nine US destinations.<br/>The airline's longstanding president Tim Clark told CNN it had not been aware of the extent of the safety concerns until Tuesday and let rip at what he called it "one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible" episodes in his career. Some 32,000 Emirates passengers over the next three days "will be completely inconvenienced as a result of flight cancellations," Clark said, adding the message about safety risks had "got through at a very, very late stage".<br/>

A technological innovation that helped pilots fly fighter jets during World War II is now at the heart of the dispute between airlines and AT&T and Verizon over 5G, an innovative service meant to speed up mobile devices. The clash has been years in the making and came to a head in the last few weeks. AT&T and Verizon agreed on Tuesday to restrict 5G near airports after airlines warned that potential interference from it could cause a crucial device on planes to malfunction, and force them to cancel flights. Even with the airport restriction, a number of international airlines on Tuesday canceled flights to the United States, though some of those flights were restored. The instrument in question is a radio altimeter. It was first developed in the 1920s but still plays a crucial role in planes, helping pilots determine a jet’s altitude and its distance from other objects. In some planes, altimeter readings are fed directly into automated systems that can act without input from pilots. As aviation experts describe it, the 5G system used by AT&T and Verizon works in similar frequencies to the ones used by altimeters. “You do not want to be on planes landing without the altimeter working,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a former deputy secretary at the Department of Transportation in charge of researching new technologies. She added that aviation regulators were correct in raising concerns about 5G and were taking appropriate steps to ensure safety. But telecommunications experts say that there is little or no risk to altimeters from 5G and that the aviation business has had years to prepare for what little risk there is. “The science is pretty clear — it is hard to repeal the laws of physics,” Tom Wheeler, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, wrote in a piece for the Brookings Institution in November, in which he noted that F.C.C. engineers had found no real cause for concern. Story has more.<br/>

In that long-ago time before the pandemic, most travelers chose an airline based on a single, straightforward factor: price. And those who didn’t grab the cheapest fare typically steered their business toward a carrier where they had frequent-flyer miles. Cleanliness, by contrast, barely registered. These days, hygiene is the most important factor in choosing a travel company for almost 60% of Americans, according to a survey by aerospace products manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. That tracks with IATA data showing that passengers worry about boarding planes, with 42% of them uncomfortable using lavatories and more than a third concerned about breathing recirculated cabin air. “We know that our customers are more conscious than ever about hygiene,” says Anil Jain, engineering chief at Air India Express, which has introduced robots to clean its planes. “We need to be proactive.” Gone are the days when airlines could get away with quickly picking up the trash and wiping down the galley between flights, doing a deep cleaning only once a month or so. As the pandemic sent revenue into a tailspin in the spring of 2020, most carriers stepped up their hygiene game in hopes of convincing travelers that it’s safe to fly. They began touting their hospital-grade HEPA filtration systems that bring in fresh air every few minutes. And many planes now get a serious cleanse every day with virus-killing chemicals, antibacterial foggers, electrostatic sprayers, or ultraviolet lights that zap germs. But with the omicron variant of the coronavirus wreaking havoc worldwide as the pandemic enters its third year, consumer fears about cleanliness are spiking again.<br/>

Deliveries of China's home-grown narrow-body C919 aircraft, which is yet to be certified by the country's aviation regulator, are expected to start in 2022, local media cited an official with the state planemaker COMAC as saying on Wednesday. Wu Yongliang, deputy general manager of COMAC, made the comments on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the political advisory body for Shanghai city, where COMAC is based, according to the government-backed media outlet The Paper. The C919 aircraft, China's ambition to rival Aibus and Boeing, earlier missed a previously stated target of achieving certification by the end of 2021, with the Civil Aviation Administration of China saying the programme only completed 34 certification tests out of 276 planned. When asked about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the C919 programme, Wu said the impact was manageable and relevant work was being carried out in an orderly manner, according to The Paper.<br/>

Aircraft carrying much-needed humanitarian supplies from Australia and New Zealand will arrive in tsunami-hit Tonga on Thursday, as the South Pacific island finally made contact with the rest of the world after being cut off for five days. Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft loaded with humanitarian supplies and a sweeper to help remove ash from the airport runway had left Brisbane and another aircraft would leave later on Thursday. New Zealand's foreign minister said its air force has also sent a C-130 Hercules from Auckland, which will land in the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa at about 4 p.m. New Zealand time (0300 GMT). "The aircraft is carrying humanitarian aid and disaster relief supplies, including water containers, kits for temporary shelters, generators, hygiene and family kits, and communications equipment," foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta said. The delivery of supplies will be contactless and the aircraft is expected to be on the ground for up to 90 minutes before returning to New Zealand, she said. Tonga is COVID-19 free and is concerned that aid personnel may bring the virus.<br/>

Lessor Avolon has painted an optimistic outlook for the aviation sector’s continued recovery in 2022, noting medical progress against the coronavirus pandemic and economic growth. It observes that over 9 billion coronavirus vaccines have been administered, and that each successive wave of Covid-19 sees a fall in lethality. “Medical progress underpins aviation’s recovery enabling governments and passengers to travel again,” says Avolon. It also ses continued economic growth this year, ”driving demand for air travel when passengers are freed to do so.” The company made the observations in 2022 outlook entitled ‘Rise Above,’ authored by head of portfolio management Jim Morrison and head of counterparty risk Rosmarie O’Leary. Another major trend that will continue is the push to sustainable aviation. The lessor observes that there are over 250 electric, hybrid, or hydrogen projects underway, and that advanced air mobility companies raised over $6 billion in 2021. In the push to sustainable aviation, however, it warns that creating rules that have unintended consequences must be avoided, given that aviation supports 1% of world GDP directly, and 8% indirectly.<br/>