Air India resumes US flights following Boeing clearance on 5G impact

Flight to New York departs Thursday morning, those to Chicago and San Francisco from Delhi in the afternoon

Air India flights to the US resumed on Thursday following a clearance from Boeing.

The airline was forced to cancel most of its flights to and from the US on Wednesday over concerns related to 5G rollout, but has resumed services upon receiving fresh operating instructions for the Boeing 777 aircraft from the plane maker.

An Air India Boeing 777 aircraft took off for New York on Thursday morning, while flights from Delhi to Chicago and San Francisco departed in the afternoon with a slight delay as some passengers had to undertake fresh RT-PCR tests.

In a tweet, Air India said its flights to the US were affected during the last two days and normal operations will resume from Friday. Currently, the airline operates flights to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco.

Late on Wednesday evening, Boeing shared its technical guidance with the airline on anomalies that could occur due to interference of 5G signals with the radio altimeter in aircraft. This guidance, which is issued in the form of flight crew operations manual bulletin, also lists steps and recommends actions that pilots need to take in various stages of the flight.

Air India also issued a standard operating procedure to its pilots after receiving the guidance from Boeing. “When operations are planned at a US airport where the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) for 5G interference, the flight crew will need to be alert for system anomalies. Monitoring and cross-checking of barometric and radio altimeter indications can provide early indications of 5G interference. If the autopilot or autothrottle is not performing as expected, pilots should disconnect both and apply manual inputs to ensure proper control of path and performance,” Boeing said in its bulletin.

Telecom service providers AT&T and Verizon announced on Tuesday a pause in 5G rollout around key airports in the US following an urgent plea by airlines. However, this announcement by telecom companies isn’t enough. The FAA and aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus or Boeing still need to undertake mitigation measures to ensure safe operations at US airports.

On January 16, the FAA had approved two radio altimeter models installed in a wide variety of Boeing and Airbus planes. On Wednesday it cleared three other altimeters. FAA also said it was working with manufacturers to understand how radar altimeter data is used in other flight control systems.