Pilot’s Commentary on Airport Was Misleading, Manager Says

The Commentary by Richard Deeds (“One-of-a-Kind Noise-Abatement Policy Flies in Face of Safety,” April 14) was very misleading.

First, and most important, the departure procedures used by airlines serving John Wayne Airport have been determined by the Federal Aviation Administration to be safe for scheduled passenger service. The county’s concern regarding FAA’s current departure procedures stems from a desire to identify and plan for any environmental impacts which may result from changes to those procedures, not from any desire to usurp the FAA’s exclusive regulatory and federally mandated responsibility to ensure the safety of this nation’s air transportation system.

Mr. Deeds implies that the departure procedures used by various airlines at JWA were developed by John Wayne Airport staff. In fact, these procedures were developed by the airlines, in cooperation with FAA and aircraft manufacturers, without any involvement by county staff.

The extent of John Wayne Airport’s involvement in flight procedures is limited to its longstanding rule which requires that, prior to initiating service at JWA, each airline must submit written documentation from appropriate FAA flight standards officials verifying that the proposed procedure is safe, legal, and that it complies with all FAA regulations.

To argue that departure procedures developed by the air carriers and expressly approved by FAA on a carrier-by-carrier basis are unsafe suggests that the carriers have been negligent in developing those procedures and that FAA has been negligent in approving them for use at JWA. I do not believe this to be the case.

FAA has initiated a review of its current policies regarding development and approval of departure procedures. Contrary to Mr. Deeds’ contention, the safety concerns that have emerged suggest that it is the proliferation of unique departure procedures at many airports that may pose difficulties for pilots, not the safety of any currently approved procedure in use at JWA.

Mr. Deeds closes his Commentary by stating that “safe flying is not a matter of political compromise. It must be based on solid knowledge, such as pilots have acquired from thousands of hours of flying experience.” I agree. Politics has no place in the process by which safety-related policy is crafted, and it is for that very reason that the FAA, the airlines and the manufacturers--not John Wayne Airport--have been responsible for the development and approval of departure procedures currently used at JWA.

Unfortunately, Mr. Deeds and the Air Line Pilots Assn., of which he is a member, are themselves responsible for politicizing the current discussion regarding noise abatement departure procedures. ALPA is actively lobbying members of Congress for support of the proposed changes to the FAA’s policies, while simultaneously arguing that it is the FAA’s responsibility to review and adjust the policies without undue influence from political interests.

The principal concern we have with Mr. Deeds’ approach to this issue is not that he wants to ensure safe aircraft operations; so do we. Our concern is that Mr. Deeds, and ALPA, appear to be approaching this issue as if there were no legitimate noise-related concerns at JWA, and that ALPA should be free to use unnecessarily noisy procedures as if the communities surrounding JWA did not exist.

JANICE M. MITTERMEIER, Manager, John Wayne Airport