Airplane Noise: No changes any time soon

Patty Fong is fed up with flight noise from SeaTac. Living on the western edge of the Central District near Yesler, she noticed a big increase in jet noise over the summer that kept her from being able to enjoy her back yard due to the roar of jets overhead. At Saturday's Squire Park Community Meeting, she sought the community's support for a resolution that would demand that the port of Seattle and the FAA change flight operations to distribute jet noise more equitably over the area.

But according to Stan Shepherd from the Port of Seattle, which runs SeaTac, there's not a lot of options. He pointed out that the Central District is due north of the airport's three runways, with arriving planes flying above us as they line up on a three degree descent into the airport. Plus, the port doesn't have any control over flight paths anyway; that belongs to the FAA, and their old systems and rigid procedures don't allow for a lot of operational flexibility.

Residents closer to 23rd Avenue noted that the noise has actually decreased in the last twelve months. But Shepherd said that is unlikely to last. The airport's eastern most runway was out of commission for much of the year as the port rebuilt it from the ground up. That had the effect of moving the traffic to the west to line up with the center runway and the new third runway, accounting for Patty Fong's increase. But the easternmost runway is now open again, and arriving planes will be using it as their primary option during high-demand and low-visibility periods.

As we've talked about before, there is long-term hope for less noise. Stan Shepherd pointed out that the loudest planes are leaving the fleet much more rapidly than the port predicted ten years ago. And new technology will some day allow the FAA to bring some planes in over Elliot Bay and descend with engines at idle. But the required changes to the air-traffic control system and upgrades to aircraft are pushing the implementation of that out for at least three years.

In the meantime, there will be a public process starting early next year to address airport noise. There will be public meetings around the area to discuss the impact on various communities, and it will allow the port to apply for federal funds for mitigation and for installing new noise monitors in areas that need them (we only have one, on the Central Area Senior Center in Leschi).

For more info:

• Report aircraft noise to the port on their website
• Identify loud planes on the port's flight tracker
• Join the Under the Flightpath Facebook Group
• View Stan Shepherd's noise presentation