Aviation Industry Speeds Up Estimated Gear Replacement Timeline
Airplane components will need to be replaced to accommodate mobile carriers in the upper C-band.
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2026 – The aviation industry can replace critical airplane components faster than previously anticipated, companies and industry groups told the Federal Communications Commission Thursday.
Airplane altimeters, critical components that measure a plane’s altitude, need to be swapped out for next-generation gear before mobile carriers can use upper C-band spectrum, which Congress directed the FCC to auction before July 2027. The upper C-band sits at 3.98-4.2 GigaHertz (GHz), and the current altimeters that operate just above that band can't accommodate any adjacent mobile operations.
Once new altimeter standards are finalized, the airline industry now estimates it can retrofit many of the most essential aircraft by the end of 2029, and finish those by the end of 2030. Lower priority business and government aircraft would take at least two years longer under the plan.
