using the leverage of the white house and the pressure tactics that the white house and the faa can bring to bear. and listen, to be very clear, the airlines have decided that they were going to use their leverage and mount a public relations campaign aimed directly at the cell phone industry and the white house. they did that yesterday in an unprecedented letter with every single airline ceo writing to the white house and the transportation secretary and the faa and the fcc saying, you either act immediately or we re going to see chaos, in their words, catastrophic consequences, in their words, as this happens across the country and we have to cancel tens of thousands of flights and impacting hundreds of thousands, millions of passengers. it appears that that pressure tactic may have played at least a role in having at&t decide that they will not go forward with turning on 5g sites around airports. emphasizing, the rest of the country gets 5g, but not around airports, at least not for
majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded. facing cancellations, diversions or delays. this is reckless, it s dangerous and it s got to stop. take a pause. this is not a cellphone signal and we re focused on protecting lives. reporter: the cellphone industry insists there is no 5g risk to planes, recently telling nbc news 5g networks operate safely without interference in nearly 40 countries around the world and it will be no different here. transportation secretary pete buttigieg. look, the wireless carriers are impatient to deploy technology that stands to make a big impact, a positive impact on our economy, but on the aviation side we ve also got to make sure that it s safe. reporter: the airlines this morning are warning that they could be forced to ground large numbers of planes because those planes are not yet certified to operate around 5g sites. government aviation sources say as this system goes live tomorrow, we could see mass
zones around those 5g sites near airports that the airlines are worried about. as you know, the airlines have been suggesting, do not turn on those 5g sites at midnight tonight around airports, because they have the potential to cause interference with critical cockpit technology, the altimeters that the pilots use for approaching runways in bad weather. the faa has said if these 5g sites go live at midnight, then they will have to order pilots, do not use altimeters at more than 80 airports in bad weather. and that would mean these airlines, and they have already warned, the airlines have warned they would have to cancel thousands of flights they were going into airports with potentially bad weather, especially tomorrow on the west coast. now we hear there are late negotiations underway between the airlines and the industry, the cell phone industry, and the government, trying to ensure that the airlines do, in fact, have a buffer zone, a two-mile buffer zone around those cell
interfere with the altimeter just when pilots need it most. with the system going live tomorrow the airline ceos have written this letter asking that the 5g sites within two miles of airports remained turned off for now, warning that immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies. the faa is uncomfortable with the safety risk and as a consequence the impact on our operations to mitigate that would be a significant set back. reporter: concerned about potential interference the faa has already issued a notice to pilots. as 5g goes live wednesday, the faa will prohibit pilots from using altimeters during landing at more than 80 airports near 5g sites, including large airport hubs in dallas, new york, chicago and seattle. if those airports experience bad weather the ceos warn the vast
trump and biden administrations, and competing agendas. but concern, the new fifth generation of cell service, 5g, operates on a radio spectrum that could bleed over and interfere with the plane s altimeter. the altimeters bounce a signal off the ground to give pilots precise distance off the ground. 50, 40, 30. reporter: critical for landing in poor visibility. the faa told pilots they would not be able to use altimeters at more than 80 airports near 5g sites, including large airport hubs in houston, dallas, la, new york, chicago, and seattle. the airlines warned that would lead to massive delays, diversions, and cancellations. faa has to go airport by airport, runway by runway, to do an analysis and clear the runways at airports so we can safely fly. reporter: the cell phone industry, which delayed the rollout twice and says 5g is safe. at&t took aim at the faa, saying, we are frustrated by the