The president of Emirates says the 5G rollout that led to flights being canceled is ‘one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible’ situations he’s witnessed

• The president of Emirates lashed out at US 5G rollout plans.
• Tim Clark told CNN it was “one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issues” he’d seen in his career.
• Airlines including Emirates and British Airways canceled flights over 5G safety concerns.

The president of Emirates has slammed a 5G rollout plan in the US that prompted airlines to cancel flights.

“This is one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issues, subjects, call it what you like, I’ve seen in my aviation career,” Emirates President Tim Clark told CNN Wednesday.

His comments came after Dubai-based Emirates and other airlines announced Tuesday they would suspend flights to some US airports over safety concerns linked to a 5G rollout near airports. Verizon and AT&T agreed last-minute on Tuesday that they would delay the launch of 5G service near airports after airlines warned the technology could cause massive flight disruptions.

Despite the pause of the rollout, some airlines – including Emirates – continued to suspend flights. 

Clark told CNN that 5G was being deployed differently in the US compared to other countries, and that Emirates wasn’t aware until Tuesday morning of “the extent that it was going to compromise the safety of operation of our aircraft and just about every other 777 operator.” He added that Emirates decided to suspend the flights “until we had clarity.”

Many of the aircraft used on the affected routes are Boeing 777 airplanes. The Federal Aviation Administration Sunday published a list of Boeing and Airbus aircraft whose radio altimeter models were approved for performing low-visibility landings at many of the US airports where the 5G rollouts were due to take place. The 777 aircraft was not included in the January 16 list, although some 777 models have been included on updated lists.

Emirates said Tuesday that from Wednesday it was suspending flights to six of its 12 US passenger destinations and was switching another three routes from Boeing 777 planes to Airbus A380s “due to operational concerns associated with the planned deployment of 5G mobile network services.” It said that this was based on Federal Aviation Administration advice and guidance from Boeing.

Emirates said Thursday that the FAA and Boeing had changed their guidance and that it would resume the canceled routes Friday and switch the A380s back to 777s Saturday.

Airlines including Air India, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, and British Airways also suspended some flights over the 5G rollout.

Ten major US air carriers had warned federal officials in a letter Monday that the scheduled 5G deployment could “potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas” and grind the nation’s commerce “to a halt.”

This is because it could affect the aircraft’s radio altimeter, which is used to determine a plane’s altitude above ground level when landing or flying above mountainous terrain.

Verizon and AT&T said Tuesday they would continue with the rollout on Wednesday as planned but would voluntarily delay deploying the technology near airports. Both criticized the FAA, with an AT&T spokesperson telling Insider that the company was “frustrated by the FAA’s inability to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services.”