'Save Our Skies Santa Cruz' Fights NextGen Routing Into KSFO

Another local group has launched an effort to force the FAA to revert back to approach and departure routes it used prior to implementing NextGen approaches.

Once again, California is the epicenter of the dispute. The group is called "Save Our Skies Santa Cruz (SOSSC)", and it is opposed to what it says is "the relentless jet noise caused by the Federal Aviation Administration's new NextGen flight program." Santa Cruz is about 40 nautical miles south of San Francisco on Monterey Bay. There is no airport in Santa Cruz. The residents are complaining about traffic in and out of KSFO in San Francisco.

The group has launched an online petition through change.org, which is says supplements a door-to-door campaign urging the FAA to move its NextGen jet flight corridor back to its original path.

The group says no actual data was collected and analyzed by the staff responsible for creating the Environmental Assessment that led to the change. They claim the FAA "had no understanding of the impact that this route change has had on the residents of Santa Cruz County until the group of angry neighbors spoke up," according to a news release.

"The hasty implementation of SERFR One has ruined the peaceful lives of our residents, of the wild life, and clearly has an impact on businesses and visitors," reports Patrick Meyer, spokesperson for the group.

"It upsets me that a profile [arrival path] which worked well for 30 years was disregarded for one causing so much angst," said Dave Austin, a former PSA jet pilot who flew the old route.

Returning to the original path will not create additional disruption to residents within hearing distance due to such factors as altitude, aircraft speed, topography and weather conditions.

Meyer says, "Whether you hear the jets or not please help support your fellow neighbors by signing the petition," Meyer said. "We do not want federal agencies making decisions that affect our lives without due process!"

Recently the office of Congressman Sam Farr announced that they are setting up a meeting between the FAA, local officials and members of the SOSSC group.  Save our Skies hopes to bolster the 2,000 plus signatures with the online effort before this meeting.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.sossantacruz.org/home-1.html