This needs further consideration...
These are all valid points. However, asking owners of the ~30,000 airplanes that are affected by this to upgrade their avionics or install some kind of filter is a bigger ask than it seems. It will certainly be a more expensive fix than to avoid the interference in the first place. 5G is great and there are too many unfounded claims against it, but this isn't one of them. I have a few friends that are pilots that have experienced interference. These airplanes are of course older models and have old avionics to go with them. There was a whole lot less RF interference to deal with when they were designed. Swapping out equipment in airplanes is much easier said than done. You can't simply take out one part and swap in another that works better. It's not allowed by the FAA, for good reason. Kinda like how the 737 and 737 Max really aren't that different so let skip the recertification process. Even on a smaller aircraft like Cessnas, you can't just change out one part with a newer equivalent. Even though in most cases, a modern replacement would almost always be a better choice. Edge cases can and do happen. Removing and replacing equipment with something else can require special exemption certifications from the FAA. This is usually a costly endeavor. You would need to design, retrofit, test and upgrade all affected aircraft of every affected make and model that has been produced and are still cleared for flight. Then the FAA needs to sign off that these modifications should never be a contributing factor in any future accidents. I don't think the FAA would like to test these waters again. There are other bands that carriers can operate in that are not a problem. I think most of us can deal with not having a gigabit internet connection on our cell phones while at the airport if it means there won't be a chance of an accident. I can deal with not having 5G at the airport in the near term. If that's an issue for you, leave AT&T or Verizon and switch to T-Mobile.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
