War Against Airport Noise Could Backfire Noisily

Soon the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport will be the first medium- or greater-activity airport in the world to have 100% of its airline fleet operating in quiet-technology aircraft, even though the national fleet average is only about 20%. Most other airports are green with envy.

Despite that, homeowners are seriously advocating more limitations on flights, and other airports find themselves in the same boat. Nearly 1,000 lawsuits have been filed at Long Beach over its 18 flights per day, and other airports are experiencing similar legal problems. Federal Aviation Administration bureaucrats in Washington are losing patience.

The straw that could break the camel’s back is a determination that too many airports are imposing restrictions that are unwarranted or unreasonable.

There are scores of “Burbank airports,” and thousands of residents near each, and the tension between the need to maintain an efficient national air-transportation system and the need to preserve the local environment has reached a near-crisis.

Homeowners, through their legitimate complaints about noise levels, have exercised far more influence than they might believe. Unfortunately, their continued agitation, rather than serving their best interests, may ultimately diminish their power.

Congress exercises its constitutional power to regulate interstate air commerce through the FAA. That agency is the premier force in aviation, and its regulations preempt state and local laws.

In addition, under deregulation Congress decreed that the airlines, not the government, are best able to make the economic decisions affecting which airports are served, how often and at what price. Congress did recognize that airports retain some ability to control noise, since under legal precedents they are solely liable for any noise damages. Neither the airlines nor the government can be sued.

Local concerns about aircraft noise, usually expressed politically, have led to myriad access restrictions at the nation’s commercial airports. Each airport has acted individually, and the resulting patchwork of rules does not make for a workable national air-transportation system.

Southern California is a prime example. Burbank Airport requires airlines to fly the quietest aircraft available. At Long Beach the City Council has attempted to put a “cap” on the number of flights. Orange County’s John Wayne Airport governs classes of aircraft and sets limits on flights, parking positions and passengers.

Multiply this phenomenon by hundreds of airports, and you can see the airlines’ problem. It may be all right to take off from Airport A but impossible to land at Airport B, and the situation grows more complex as local rules proliferate. The FAA and the airlines, with their national perspective, find these restrictions an anathema to a smooth and efficient system.

FAA Administrator Donald D. Engen says that Southern California needs 17 new airports by the year 2000, three of them able to accommodate air-carrier traffic. None are on the drawing boards, so existing airports will have to serve the demand. How will this be possible if homeowners force airports to add even more restrictions?

That is the dilemma. The only reason the FAA has not sought total preemption of noise control is that it is unwilling to take on the financial noise liability that is currently on the airports’ shoulders. This situation may change.

The airlines are increasing pressure to prevent new controls. They are seeking FAA preemption of noise control, or at least FAA review of local rules before implementation. The agency is taking their demand seriously, and a less restrictive policy is expected shortly. Meanwhile, new local constraints are meeting vigorous resistance in Washington.

Quieter aircraft did not come about by accident--homeowner complaints forced the technology. Flight paths and procedures have been changed. Curfews have been imposed. Shrinking noise-impact areas have resulted. There is no doubt that homeowners have spurred needed improvements in the system, but many still insist that there is a long way to go.

Before they push the issue further, however, they should keep in mind that local airports are not really local but are an integral part of a federally controlled national system. Failure to recognize this fact, if combined with unrealistic demands, will eventually force federal preemption.

If that happens, any federal standard will be less restrictive than what we have today. After all, there are only so many of the quieter aircraft to go around. At Burbank, a loss of local control would bring back the really noisy airplanes such as the Boeing 727s, and no one wants that.

What all this adds up to is that when it comes to aircraft noise this probably is as quiet as it’s going to get.