McDonnell Douglas and Airport Noise

I refer to the McDonnell Douglas advertisement pushing expanded use of its MD-80 jet at John Wayne Airport (Aug. 18). The ignorance shown by McDonnell Douglas and its utter contempt for the about 60,000 residents impacted by the noise from the airport makes my blood boil. We are being driven crazy by the noise, mainly from the MD-80 jet, and are seeing our property values go down the drain.

McDonnell Douglas has worldwide sales in the multibillion-dollar range. What makes its stated position particularly reprehensible is the fact that airline activity at John Wayne Airport is only a tiny factor in the financial success of McDonnell Douglas and in the continued employment of its workers. Yet they would have the residents near the airport sacrifice their sanity and their homes.

I would like to offer a new solution to the airport problem. Have McDonnell Douglas buy all the impacted residential properties, at pre-55-flight market value. Then have the company sell those properties to their MD-80 workers. Better yet, let the company give them the houses and insist that they live in them. Then they can eat, sleep and breathe the MD-80 like we are forced to do now. I wonder how much they will love their airplane then.

As a consultant, I do a considerable amount of business flying. I will never fly in another MD-80 if there is an alternative available. I urge everyone reading this to do the same.

NANCY A. WILCOX

Costa Mesa