Great news from citizens in Phoenix, who have forced the FAA to settle their complaints against the runaway agency, and its arbitrary implementation of new NextGen flight departures out of Sky Harbor airport. 

I had the opportunity to work with the citizen activists in Phoenix as they were just getting started in their quest against the FAA, and I am delighted the rogue agency is being forced to heel to local concerns. 

Again - Government Of, By, For, not TO the People. This is a great victory for citizens against an unaccountable agency, depriving citizens of property rights, and subjecting them to physical and emotional harm.

​Well done, Phoenix!

Janet Moore of the Star Tribune does a nice job today of updating local residents on our efforts at MSP FairSkies Coalition to improve transparency and accountability on the issue of aircraft  noise.

Next steps in our efforts include speaking directly to the MSP airport's Noise Oversight Committee about our specific goals for measuring, communicating and ultimately reducing aircraft noise in the Twin Cities.  Some of that is mentioned in the article, and of course various posts on this blog.

Interestingly this article appears just days after citizens and the city of Phoenix won a great  victory in their court case against Federal Aviation Administration. The central concern in that case  was the imposition of new flight tracks and noise on Phoenix, the lack of transparency in the process, and ultimately the lack of common sense in how the FAA deals with aircraft noise. 

Picture is by Mark VacCleave of the Star Tribune

​On August 29th, 2017 the DC Court of Appeals delivered an eagerly awaited blow against the Federal Aviation Administration when the Court vacated the FAA’s order implementing new flight tracks from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, and remanded the matter to the FAA for further proceedings. The case came about when the FAA implemented new flight tracks as part of its NextGen technology package in Phoenix.
 
Having now read the full ruling, I want to call attention to aspects of it I think have implications far beyond how the FAA implements NextGen. Specifically, the Court recognized a few simple facts that seem obvious to citizens, but have thus far eluded the Courts and the FAA. Those are:

1. A 300% increase in the number of flights over a neighborhood is a lot, regardless of how the FAA measures noise (i.e. the logarithmic measurement known as DNL).
2. Thinking otherwise defies “common sense”, and “could not reflect reasoned decisionmaking (sic).”
3. History, and longstanding flight tracks matter, because they help create “quiet oases” that people value, even in urban areas. Destroying those when the FAA has options is problematic and illegal.

 
A few details from the ruling:

A quick update on our activities at the MSP FairSkies Coalition, and what we see happening in the next year or so.  I'll likely turn this into a short narrated presentation in the next couple of weeks as we finalize some numbers. 

Big takeaway: the number of people impacted by aircraft noise near MSP airport continues to rise. The 55 dB DNL contour population expanded by 9% in Minneapolis, and over 100% in St Louis Park. An open question is how much of that is due to NextGen arrivals going into effect, and how much is due to late night/early morning flights?

The noise exposure map (detail to  your left) is thanks to a data release from the Metropolitan Airports Commission and analysis by our friends at the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.

Quick 2-page PDF here.

A great overview of the impact of NextGen on residents in the SFO Bay Area, produced by fellow citizen activists from Sky Posse Los Altos.

Of course, it's the same story as everywhere else across the country (and the world ) - new flight tracks, nonsensical "logic" from the FAA, and thousands of people with their homes and lives turned upside down. 

8 minutes

The non-stop absurdity of the FAA in its implementation of NextGen flight paths has resulted in three congressional representatives banding together to form a new advisory group to San Francisco's SFO noise roundtable.

This appears to be somewhat similar to the Noise Oversight Committee we have in Minnesota at MSP, which is not a bad thing. Not a panacea, but it potentially offers citizens a more direct path to the FAA on critical issues.

The backstory here is classic FAA - Rep. Eshoo put in place an agreement with the FAA about a decade ago on how planes can enter into the complicated SFO airspace. When implementing NextGen, they just threw that out the window and changed the flight paths to areas that had not had aircraft noise. Defies all logic.

Downstate in San Diego, the FAA has been trying to pull the same thing, with violations of what is known as the "Red Dot" agreement.  That is all about to either get resolved, or turn into yet another lawsuit. Great teams of citizen activists are all over this in both locations.  And of course in between near LAX.

​Other than McCain and Flake, we've seen next to nothing from anyone in the Senate about NextGen and the FAA's indifference to citizen complaints. Despite the fact that there are multiple ongoing lawsuits about the matter, and the FAA reauthorization bill is being actively considered.

A letter from Senators Feinstein and Boxer to Administrator Heurta at least is movement. Of course, what we want is active support for McCain and Flakes bill, and support for Rep. Meng over in the House.