WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Major U.S. air carriers on Wednesday warned that AT&T and Verizon's planned use of spectrum for 5G wireless services could be highly disruptive to U.S. air travel and cost air passengers $1.6 billion annually in delays.

Trade group Airlines for America said if a new Federal Aviation Administration directive for adressing potential interference from wireless transmissions had been in effect in 2019 "approximately 345,000 passenger flights, 32 million passengers, and 5,400 cargo flights would have been impacted in the form of delayed flights, diversions, or cancellations." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter)