HERE IS YOUR MARCH 2019 SCANA UPDATE
Scottsdale Coalition for Airplane Noise Abatement
FAA ANNOUNCES COURT MANDATED STEP TWO
SKY HARBOR WORKSHOP MEETINGS
On March 26th the FAA released the dates and locations of public workshop meetings ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The purpose of the meetings is to review the Step One changes implemented at Sky Harbor Airport that returned the westbound departing flight paths to their original locations after the FAA arbitrarily moved them over heavily populated residential communities. The meetings will also be a forum for residents to discuss and submit comments to the FAA about the new eastbound departing flight path changes that were not addressed in that lawsuit but were implemented in the same illegal manner as the westbound paths. Those new eastbound routes were placed over schools and heavily populated residential communities that had never before had such air traffic. It is urgent that impacted residents use these meetings to meet with and respectfully discuss the impacts these new flight routes have had on their daily lives.
The meetings will be held on April 22nd, 23rd and 24th at area high schools. Here is part of the announcement: “Additionally, the FAA will review and analyze comments received at the April workshops and during the comment period, as well as those previously received. Based on the comments and other factors such as operational safety and efficiency, the FAA may initiate new airspace changes and complete an environmental review in accordance with applicable federal laws and FAA orders. The FAA recognizes the importance and value of public input and will consider comments received. However, the FAA is not committing to make changes as a result of this input. The decision to implement potential airspace or route changes during Step Two will be at the FAA's sole discretion.” Here is a link to the FAA website for the announcement: https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/nextgen_near_you/community_involvement/phx/
Since the FAA is not inclined to graciously make route changes, it is imperative that concerned residents attend a meeting to voice their concerns and submit comments so that the FAA knows this issue is not going away. Residents also need to submit online comments to the FAA during the April 24th to May 23rd comment period. That web address will be released at that time. This will be the last chance for residents to weigh in and have a chance to voice their concerns directly to the FAA. The City of Scottsdale is expected to present the FAA with flight path alternatives that would provide relief to its residents. The City has hired JDA Aviation, an aviation consulting firm, to develop the alternative paths.
Here is what SCANA recommends concerned residents do:
1. Get informed. Go to the SCANA website and read all the content on the various
pages so you are aware of all the issues. Specifically, the departure flight routes of ZEPER (formerly MAYSA), QUAKY (formerly SNOBL) and MRBIL (formerly YOTES) must be moved to unpopulated terrain. These three routes fly northeast out of Sky Harbor on a highway in the sky through the middle of Scottsdale and the northeast valley.
2. Attend one or more of the scheduled meetings. Chat with the FAA representatives and voice your concern and the impact the new flight paths have had on your life. Primary concerns should be A) safety; in the event of an aviation mishap flight routes over the mountains would be far less catastrophic than over heavily populated residential communities. B) environment; the noise and pollution destroyed the culture and lifestyle that the northeast valley is known for and that people moved here for. The NextGen routes destroyed what residents purposely acquired when they purchased their homes. C) Residents were here first. The FAA moved the flight paths from primarily unpopulated terrain to populated residential communities. The FAA staunchly maintains that it does not move noise from one community to another. Yet they did exactly that with NextGen.
3. Submit written comments. This should be done at the meetings themselves and on the FAA website during the comment period. The comments should be of the same nature as the verbal discussions mentioned above. Submit comments on the FAA website multiple times. SCANA will post suggested comment text on the website in the near future.
4. Keep verbal and written comments respectful. Don’t complain but rather articulate a reasoned, common sense objective approach to why the NextGen flight paths are ill advised and must be moved.
SCANA will post more information and suggestions on it’s website at airplanenoise.org. Please check it frequently to keep up with the latest news.
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Who Was First?
One of the retorts we hear from folks who disagree with SCANA’s efforts to reduce air traffic noise is that the airports were here first. So northeast valley residents shouldn’t have moved where they did and not expect aircraft noise. As it pertains to Sky Harbor International Airport air traffic, SCANA disagrees with this view. Here’s why:
- Northeast valley residents don’t live close to Sky Harbor Airport
- When homeowners moved to these communities there were no flight routes overhead.
- The FAA then changed the game by moving decades old flight routes to new paths over these heavily populated residential communities.
The Sky Harbor air traffic over the northeast valley is miles away from the airport. No one purchased homes next to Sky Harbor where you might expect air traffic. While being miles away, one would think air traffic would not be an issue. But due to rising elevation as you go north, having little or no ambient noise to overlay the aircraft noise, and having nearby mountainous and desert terrain that reflects overhead noise, the passing of lower, climbing aircraft at full thrust does indeed blanket the area with significant noise patterns. And while occasional air traffic would be much less noticeable, the new NextGen routes direct air traffic on a precise satellite guided path over the exact same route, plane after plane. The frequency of the overhead traffic is as much of an issue as the noise itself. Having planes overhead at full thrust every two minutes during busy times becomes a serious environmental disruption.
Homeowners in the northeast valley purchased their homes knowing full well they were moving into a peaceful desert environment where they could enjoy quiet days and evenings out on their patios and back yards. Nature was close by; homes were designed to take advantage of outdoor living and these communities were “quiet oasis’s” as the Court defines them. Many did research and learned that decades old flight routes were not near these communities. As a result, they enjoyed many years of the quiet desert in the homes they chose to invest in.
When the FAA moved flight paths via NextGen, they abandoned decades long historical flight paths across the metro area that were placed over river beds and/or unpopulated terrain. The metro area developed around those flight paths, with zoning requirements, residential developments, industrial and commercial developments all taking into consideration where the flight paths were located. This was common sense. It was normal for industrial and commercial development to take place below overhead flight routes. Few residential developments were placed under the flight paths for obvious reasons: people do not want to live underneath air traffic. But the FAA ignored years of common sense and metropolitan development history and arbitrarily moved flight paths from these traditional locations and moved them to residents’ homes in the peaceful, quiet desert.
Consequently, SCANA rejects the argument that the airports were here first as being relative to this issue. It has nothing to do with the airport. It has everything to do with the flight paths. Residents and their homes were here long before the NextGen flight paths. The FAA moved the flight paths to their communities arbitrarily, capriciously and without input or knowledge. The Court said so*. That is why SCANA will continue to declare:
WE DID NOT MOVE TO THE FAA, THE FAA MOVED TO US!
*The U.S District Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit declared that the FAA’s NextGen implementation at Sky Harbor Airport was implemented illegally in a lawsuit the City of Phoenix and the Historic Districts filed in 2017. The parties arrived at a settlement that moved the new NextGen westbound departures out of Sky Harbor back to or near their original locations. The settlement did not include the eastbound departures which were implemented in the same illegal manner.
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WHAT DOES SAFER AND MORE EFFICIENT MEAN?
The FAA claims that its new NextGen System is safer and more efficient. This is what the FAA told SCANA in a letter dated October 23rd, 2018:
"NextGen transforms air traffic control technologies and procedures by using satellite navigation to move traffic more safely and efficiently through the NAS (National Airspace System). Satellite technology enables the creation of more direct air routes resulting in greater efficiency , as well as routes that are automatically separated from each other."
So what does this statement really mean? SCANA agrees that the NextGen technology itself is an improvement in directing and managing air traffic. Satellite navigation would seem to be more reliable, more precise and more dependable than radar navigation. As a result, it makes sense that the technology itself, but only the technology, can be claimed to be "safer".
More efficient has been defined and stated by the FAA as "fewer travel delays and flight cancellations, reduced passenger travel time, additional flight capacity, reduced fuel consumption and aircraft exhaust emissions, and decreased air carrier and FAA operating costs." What this really translates into is that the FAA moved the flight paths to cut corners and shorten the routes. This moved them from historical paths that were established over available unpopulated terrain and industrial and commercial developments to now directly over schools, residential communities and public spaces. All just to save the airlines a few miles and a few bucks. But at what risk? While airline tragedies are thankfully rare, they can, and still, happen. The recent crashes of two Boeing 737's and a 767 prove that. SCANA is calling the FAA out on their claim that NextGen routes are safer. While the technology may be better, the physical and geographically aspects of moving planes that are taking off at full thrust over sparsely populated terrain to over heavily populated residential communities is inherently much more dangerous, even negligent. Potentially catastrophic ground casualties versus none or few. Lives versus dollars. Common sense. But the FAA has prioritized dollars over lives. Join the effort to hold the FAA accountable.
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FILE A NOISE COMPLAINT AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!
While it may feel mundane to continue to file noise complaints, it is important that complaint statistics show continued resident opposition to the NextGen flight paths. Complaints should be filed with both the FAA and Sky Harbor Airport. For the FAA, CLICK HERE FAA to go to their complaint form and CLICK HERE SKY to go to the Sky Harbor compliant form to log a complaint. No log in is required and it only takes a minute!
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Please take a few moments to do the following:
1. If you haven't already, please go to the SCANA website at airplanenoise.org and vote YES to support SCANA's efforts to restore Scottsdale's quiet skies.
2. Go to the SCANA Facebook page at Scottsdale Coalition for Airport Noise Abatement
https://www.facebook.com/airplanenoise and "Like" the page and "Follow" it.
3. Contact our elected representatives often to voice your concerns over the FAA's arbitrary actions in the implementation of these flight paths. Go to the Complaint page on our website to click on the parties you wish to contact. Contact the Scottsdale City Council members via email here: citycouncil@scottsdaleaz.gov
4. Spread the word about SCANA and our website to neighbors and friends who are also concerned about the loss of their safety and the loss of the enjoyment of their outdoor activities. Ask them to sign up on our website to receive our updates.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE EFFORTS TO RESTORE THE QUIET AND SAFE SKIES SCOTTSDALE ENJOYED BEFORE THEY WERE STOLEN BY THE FAA
WE DID NOT MOVE TO THE FAA, THE FAA MOVED TO US!
Thousands of homeowners in Scottsdale and across the Country purchased their homes before an airplane superhighway was "arbitrarily and capriciously" placed over their neighborhoods without their knowledge or input.
