Plane Crazy? Local Group Working to Route Planes More Fairly

by Patty Horing from "Quiet Skies"

(June 10, 2003) It’s not your imagination; there definitely are more airplanes flying over Larchmont and Mamaroneck lately. On May 27, members of the WRAIN (Westchester Residents Acting to Improve Neighborhoods) “Quiet Skies Committee” motored to LaGuardia airport in the latest attempt to mitigate the noise and volume of local air traffic. Some headway was made, it's not yet time to declare victory.

A group of Larchmont, Mamaroneck, and New Rochelle residents has been working for the last two years to reduce LaGuardia-bound air traffic over the Sound Shore area. In the past, the group has met with air traffic controllers from TRACON, the regional traffic control center that manages all air traffic around JFK and LaGuardia . The goal is a fair and equitable distribution of air traffic, so that no single area is forced to bear the undue burden of being near one of the busiest airports in the world.

Recently, Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s office arranged a meeting at LaGuardia airport between members of “Quiet Skies” and a large group of Port Authority and FAA representatives responsible for managing the Control Tower at LaGuardia and determining which runways will be used. The runway configuration (along with weather and total volume of planes in the air) plays a huge role in the local air traffic on any given day.

The result: loud, low-flying planes, sometimes just 30-seconds apart, for hours on end. [Editor's Note: Planes have been buzzing overhead all afternoon at this rate while this article was in production.]

Volume slowed considerably after September 11, 2001, but rose again to high levels by the following spring. Last summer was relatively quiet in Larchmont because runway 22 was being repaired. The Sound Shore benefited, but people in Queens were miserable.

Today, despite a flagging economy and numerous lay-offs in the airline industry, LaGuardia is back at peak traffic levels. The change is that the planes are smaller and carry fewer passengers.

Peace & Quiet in Our Time?

Through the various meetings and ongoing communications with decision makers, some headway has been made to raise sensitivity to the environmental impact air traffic has on the people on the ground:

• Controllers at TRACON say they are redoubling efforts to bring planes in over the Sound, instead of over our residential area, when weather permits. (When the weather is bad, planes have to be routed on an “instrument landing system” approach, which is right over Larchmont.)
  
• This spring, Port Authority changed its runway repair program: now they alternate runways by weekend, so that no single community has to bear unmitigated traffic for months on end – a fairer approach.
  
• In this recent meeting, the LGA Tower controller, Leo Prusak, said he would try to be more sensitive to positive weather shifts and change the runways accordingly. That way, when weather clears at midday, air traffic can too.

Additionally, the Quiet Skies Committee is still pursuing legal options, seeking altitude limits, and lobbying to push airlines toward JFK, which is grossly under utilized, and away from beleaguered LaGuardia.

What You Can Do

Anytime (and every time) air traffic is driving you crazy, the Quiet Skies committee recommends, "Please take action!" You can email the FAA Noise Control Hotline at 9-AEA-noise@faa.gov.

Patty Horing is co-president of WRAIN, a grassroots community group that acts to improve neighborhoods, and is active in the Quiet Skies Committee. For more information on the Quiet Skies Committee, email jhoring@aol.com.