Despite progress the FAA has made with enabling commercial carriers to operate in an environment with 5G cellular interference, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said the rollout has created “significant challenges and uncertainty” for general aviation operations, including continued prohibitions from low-visibility approaches in 5G deployment areas.
Bolen expressed those concerns in a statement provided for Thursday’s House aviation subcommittee hearing on the 5G deployment. “The FAA is to be commended for its work to approve Alternative Methods of Compliance [AMOCs] that allow most commercial air carrier aircraft to operate safely at airports where there is potential for 5G interference,” Bolen said. “However, the FAA has only issued limited mitigations for business aircraft and helicopters to date.”
Noting 5G deployment is set to expand across the country, Bolen asked that the FAA dedicate the necessary resources to support AMOCs for general aviation. He stressed the need for further collaboration with the telecom providers and the Federal Communications Commission on the continued rollout. Currently, the AMOC process cannot be a permanent solution since it requires the FAA to reissue approvals every 30 days, absorbing significant resources.
“As new 5G towers come online, the FAA must review the data to determine if existing AMOCs still maintain an adequate level of safety or if modifications are necessary,” he said. This means FAA resources will not be as available for general aviation operations and manufacturers.
“If the telecom providers could share data on tower locations and deployment plans with the FAA as soon as it becomes available, the agency could manage the AMOC process more proactively and dedicate additional resources to general aviation operators,” Bolen said. “As the 5G rollout continues across the country, the FAA will face a growing workload to review and reissue AMOCs each month.”
NBAA believes further collaboration will provide the FAA with better visibility into future impacts of 5G.