Nine Year FAA Study Nearing End

Opponents to an FAA plan that would potentially redirect aircraft over certain residential areas near the Philadelphia International Airport received a promise this week from the chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the FAA.

Representative Jerry Costello (D-IL) told Delaware County leaders that lawmakers would give "serious consideration" to opponents' concerns, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The politician was invited to the meeting by fellow representative Joe Sestak (D-PA).

The pols heard more than two hours of comments from the county leaders. Sestak had also assembled a panel of experts for the gathering that offered challenges to the current FAA plan to redesign the airspace in the Philadelphia and New York areas.

Costello linked opponent's concerns to current legislation on FAA funding. His subcommittee is going to host a series of five meetings this week for hearings on the proposal, to change the formula the government uses to pay for the air traffic control system. The legislation also includes reauthorizing the FAA for four more years.

How to reduce air traffic delays at PHL and four New York area airports has been a topic closely studied for the past nine years by the FAA. Alternatives explored have included changing takeoff and landing patterns.

The FAA is expected to reveal its recommendations later this month.

One of the alternatives involves fanning departing aircraft in five directions over south Jersey and Delaware County. As Aero-News reported, aircraft departing to the west now fly primarily over the Delaware River until reaching 3,000' MSL, thus reducing ground-level noise.

The expert panel advised that fanning departures "could seriously damage the quality of life in nearby communities."

Temple University research fellow Shirley Loveless analyzes transportation policies and their effect on communities. She contends the FAA study "had failed to look at numerous quality-of-life and transportation-planning issues" such as long-term health effects of increased noise.

"You can't let the quality of life go down," Sestak said.

FMI: www.co.delaware.pa.us, www.faa.gov