‘It might sound like a conspiracy theory, but my flight was cancelled by 5G’

At 8.45pm last night, I decided to have an early one. After all, I was getting up at five this morning for my much-looked-forward-to flight to New York.

I’d passed my nail-biting Fit to Fly Covid test late that afternoon, and had finally been able to pack my bags with confidence. Exhausted by the uncertainty that is modern-day travelling, I settled down under the covers. 

I was just dropping off, when: bzzzzz. My mobile vibrated with an alert from BA. 

“IMPORTANT INFORMATION.” It shouted. “Your flight has been cancelled”. What?? 

My heart plummeted and my stress levels soared. This was merely nine hours before I was due to leave for Heathrow. Talk about last minute! I was furious. But then I scrolled down the page to find a silver lining of sorts: I’d been booked onto the 2pm flight, two-and-a-half hours later.

This, at least, was something, but my mind was now whirring. I would have to rearrange my transit to the airport (friends had been giving me a lift, now I’d have to slog my way on the Underground.) My boyfriend would have to change his plans when picking me up at the other end.

Furthermore, the flight change wasn’t automatic. I almost missed the instructions: it was incumbent on me to ‘accept the flight’, which meant digging out my booking reference and jumping through several more hoops. I was annoyed, because I’d paid to reserve an aisle seat on my original flight, but there was no option to do this here.

Oh well, I thought, it’s that usual story: Covid. Maybe the pilot has been taken ill, or the plane was nearly empty and they had to consolidate the flights at the last minute. Nothing new to see here.

But then I received another missive from BA: ‘Like other airlines, we are currently experiencing disruption to our schedule as a result of guidance issued to airlines around 5G restrictions which could affect certain types of aircraft.”

5G??? Pardon? This sounded like the stuff of conspiracy theories!

A dozen questions raced around my head. Which types of aircraft, exactly? How exactly does it ‘affect’ your planes? Why are you telling me any of this, BA?! 

If before I was feeling irritated, now I was actually a bit freaked out.

So I hit Google, and found a Telegraph article warning of “looming travel chaos”.

It said: “Mobile giants Verizon and AT&T are poised to press the button [for 5G] after a series of delays due to fears the C-Band wireless spectrum could interfere with aircraft equipment,” it said. 

“Because the frequencies are close to those used by altimeters, there are fears it could make readings unreliable at a time when precise data is needed by pilots to land planes in bad weather.”

Oh, terrific. That’s just what you want to read before you board a flight. I imagine BA planes are one of “certain types of aircraft that could be affected” or they wouldn’t be writing to me and cancelling. And if this could affect the 11.25 flight, why not the 2pm one?

Even if all this wasn’t upsetting enough, it seems like BA have known about this ‘looming travel chaos’ for ages: the 5G situation has been rumbling on for months and January 19th was firmly in the diary as 5G-day. But did BA mention this when I booked, or at any opportunity since? Did they, heck! Why wait til mere hours before the flight to let us know?

It’s not as if this whole process hadn’t been difficult enough anyway, what with a lateral flow test and wrangling with the various apps and paperwork which a ‘holiday’ requires these days.

Nevertheless, I’ll be getting on my flight later today. I’m historically a relaxed flyer, but even I’ll have some trepidation as we approach the control towers of JFK, especially if it’s a bit rainy. So just imagine what it must be like for someone already afraid of flying.

Is 5G a threat to air safety? Read more here.