Philippine Airlines said Wednesday it expects no cancellation of flights to the United States as American authorities resolved safety questions over the effect of new 5G transmitters on aircraft instruments when in the vicinity of certain airports.
The US Department of Transportation assured the aviation community that aircraft landing in US airports would not encounter interference from 5G radio waves, now that telecommunications companies agreed with the Biden administration to revise the deployment of the upgraded technology around key airports throughout the US.
PAL was preparing to cancel certain US-bound flights on remaining concerns over the 5G effect on flight safety.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority,” said PAL senior vice president for operations Stanley Ng.
“We welcome the intervention of the US government and will continue to engage closely with the authorities, airports, aircraft makers and aviation safety professionals to ensure that every PAL flight is operated according to the highest safety standards,” Ng said.
The flag carrier said that in line with strict safety culture, it would continue to monitor developments and make adjustments if there would be changes that pose any impact on safety.
PAL flies regularly to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, and the continued safe operation of these flights will benefit the thousands of travelers, including US-based Filipinos, who prefer to fly on PAL’s convenient nonstop flights between Manila and the US mainland.
PAL flights to Honolulu and Guam and routes to other overseas destinations in Asia, North America, Australia and the Middle East are not affected by the 5G concerns that involved only specific airports in the US mainland.
