Panel Said The FAA's Changes Made In 2014 Were 'Arbitrary And Capricious'

Opponents of a new approach and departure corridors at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport won a legal battle in the U.S. Court of Appeals Tuesday. The court ruled that the FAA must abandon its the NextGen corridors at the airport.

When they were implemented in 2014, the agency said that the new corridors would streamline aircraft routing for both fuel efficiency and safety. But the paths took aircraft over neighborhoods where there had not been air traffic in the past, and residents quickly began to complain.

The Associated Press reports that in its ruling, the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that the FAA was "arbitrary and capricious" in setting the new routes.

Phoenix residents as well as city officials complained that the FAA had not gotten enough input from the public or the city before putting the routes in place. The court said that by "keeping the public in the dark, the agency made it impossible for the public to submit views on the project's potential effects -- views that the FAA is required to consider."

The FAA issued a statement saying that it would "carefully review the decision before deciding on our next steps."

Phoenix Vice Mayor Laura Pastor said the ruling was "great news for the impacted neighborhoods who have been fighting these changes for the past three years."

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report, www.faa.gov