Jet Noise
Commission
Recommended Response to
FAA’s Request for Comment of
Aviation Noise Policy
July 18, 2023
Summary of FAA NextGen Impact
on Huntington Beach
• The City has focused on the negative impact of jet noise for more than 5 years; first thru a Jet Noise Working Group than via a Council-appointed Jet Noise Commission (JNC) formed in January 2019.
• The JNC has developed local cooperation including Long Beach Airport & Southwest Airlines (SWA) with no tangible results
• In 2021, the FAA rejected a collaborative and well-designed solution submitted by SWA to alleviate some negative impact for HB.
• There is a Request for Comment on the FAA’s Review of Aviation Noise Policy – in which the JNC has drafted a formal response.
• JNC is requesting Council to approve the comment letter and submit to the FAA.
Background Info
• Huntington Beach is within flight paths for three major airports:
• Long Beach (LGB)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• John Wayne/Santa Ana (SNA)
• Each of these airports have both departures and arrivals that cross the City • FAA implemented ‘NextGen’ in the spring of 2017 and shortly after the NextGen implementation, City residents reported a significant increase in air traffic and related noise • City Council created a task force which later formed a Jet Noise Commission (JNC) • The JNC conducted extensive research for more than a year to identify the root cause of the issue(s)
• Primary issues include increased noise, safety concerns from lower flights & environmental concerns
• JNC identified the most significant impact was a result of LGB arrivals 3° CDA Request to FAA
• In conjunction with Southwest Airlines (SWA) and LGB:
• A proposal for a 3° CDA path for LGB arrivals was developed in 2020 • FAA denied SWA’s initial proposal in Dec 2020 and again in 2021 • HB pursued FAA for 2 years and met with elected officials & City staff on August 25, 2021 • FAA’s denied 3° CDA proposal
• safety and potential “VFR” aircraft traffic
• FAA wanted all LGB approaches at 1600’ over Huntington Beach • FAA outlined difficulties with a CDA mandate
Recommendations
• The most simple & feasible solution is a higher LB approach with a slower descent over HB • This recommendation is consistent with the FAA’s “Continuous Descent Approaches” (CDA) recommendation, which efficiently:
• Minimizes noise
• Minimizes fuel consumption
• Minimizes emissions
• Meetings have been held with stakeholders including:
• Long Beach Airport
• Airlines (mainly Southwest)
• Elected officials
Request for Council Action
• Comments on the FAA’s Review of Aviation Noise Policy due by July 31, 2023. • The FAA’s comment parameters are extremely limited in scope. • Although the JNC does not anticipate any near-term action it is in the best interest of the City to provide a formal written response to the FAA.
• The proposed comments to the FAA provide facts and practical solutions with no cost or negative effects to the City.
• As such, the JNC respectively requests that City Council authorizes the Mayor to execute the attached response letter to the FAA’s Request for Comment.
THANK YOU