As 2026 dawns, the US aviation industry finds itself again staring down a very big problem involving radio altimeters.
On 5 January, the Federal Aviation Administration released a proposed rule to require all operators to replace or upgrade all radio altimeters on all their aircraft in the coming years, to ensure the units are not subject to interference from new 5G cellular transmissions.
The operative word in the above sentence is all; the FAA’s proposal would be sweeping, requiring airlines and other operators to update or swap out perhaps close to 60,000 of the units, costing at least $4.5 billion.
“These new regulations would require the installation of new or upgraded [radio altimeters] for all aircraft currently… operating under part 121,” the proposal says. Same goes for other operators.
That all might sound familiar, and for good reason.
The US aviation industry faced a similar, though seemingly less acute, headache around 2021, when wireless companies prepared to begin using a sliver of radio bandwidth close to that used by radio altimeters, prompting the FAA to issue several airworthiness directives, including a 2023 order requiring that some 1,000 altimeters be updated.
Now, the wireless industry is preparing to use another slice of bandwidth – one even closer to the altimeter band – and this time around the FAA is saying all altimeters will need updates, even those updated last time around.
The good news, you could say, is that the agency is giving airlines more time to prepare than in 2023. While the FAA’s proposal does not provide a compliance date, it says the final rule will likely become effective for airlines sometime between 2029 and 2032, and for all other operators two years later.
US airline trade group Airlines for America says it is reviewing the FAA’s proposed rule and working with the cellular industry to find solutions.
The last several weeks brought news on other fronts. Notably, Beta Technologies chief executive Kyle Clark described his company’s progress toward certificating its electric aircraft.
Also, an investigation has kicked off into why an Airbus Helicopters H160 – the manufacturer’s newest model, having entered service in 2022 – ditched off the coast of Brazil on 2 January. Elsewhere on the safety front, documents show that an air traffic controller said “keep your speed up” to pilots of a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 that suffered a runway overrun at Houston in 2024.
Meanwhile, FlightGlobal reported that Russia’s United Aircraft is considering developing a stretched version of the Yakovlev SJ-100. And news broke that Biman Bangladesh Airlines may have opted to acquire new Boeing aircraft, after having previously indicated an intention to order from competitor Airbus.