COMMENTARY ON AIRPORT NOISE ABATEMENT : Revised Jet-Takeoff Rules Should Remain Neighbor-Friendly : If departure procedures are to be made uniform nationwide, they still must take into account local sensitivities.

Early in 1990, the Federal Aviation Administration initiated a review of noise abatement departure procedures in response to concerns expressed by the Air Line Pilots’ Assn., a union which represents commercial airline pilots. The association was concerned that airports across the country might begin requiring “unusual” departure procedures for noise abatement purposes and that such “proliferation” could adversely affect pilot training and proficiency.

The union asked the FAA to consider standardizing departure procedures so that pilots would be required to use only a limited number of procedures at all U.S. airports, thus decreasing pilot training burdens.

Orange County officials were surprised when we first heard about the union’s concerns and about the FAA review, largely because the departure procedures now used at John Wayne Airport were developed by the air carriers and aircraft manufacturers--and were approved by FAA.

While the county can and does require that air carriers serving John Wayne meet certain noise standards, it cannot and does not dictate how the carriers comply with those standards. Somehow, John Wayne Airport was being criticized for procedures that we didn’t design, we don’t require and we can’t enforce!

The FAA review has been conducted by two “working groups” formed by the FAA composed almost entirely of air carriers, aircraft manufacturers and pilots. Both groups have recommended that:

1) The FAA adopt and enforce “minimum performance criteria” for noise abatement departure procedures, and

2) The criteria must be used by every air carrier at every airport in the country.

Most important for John Wayne Airport is the working group’s recommendation that the FAA prohibit power cutbacks below 800 feet above ground level. Today at John Wayne, pilots reduce power on certain types of aircraft as low as 500 feet to minimize aircraft noise along the departure path.

If the FAA accepts and implements the recommendations, airplanes leaving John Wayne will be required to use the same noise abatement departure procedures used at every airport in the United States--whether it’s a major international airport or a small community airport--and regardless of the types or locations of land uses found along the departure path.

While the county does not believe this is a good solution from a noise abatement perspective, the FAA, the air carriers, and commercial pilots agree that standardization of procedures and the adoption of the proposed minimum performance criteria are absolutely necessary to ensure safe air travel.

The next step in the process is an FAA review of the working groups’ recommendations. Whether the FAA will accept, modify or reject those recommendations is not yet known. While the FAA reviews the recommendations, a group of air carriers and aircraft manufacturers are working with us at John Wayne Airport to try to identify what the noise impacts of the proposed procedures might be for the residential communities south of the airport.

The county has argued strongly that local authorities have a right--and the federal government has an obligation--to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with a new federally mandated departure procedure policy.

We’ve gained tremendous support for this argument from the cities of Newport Beach and Tustin, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Sen. John Seymour (R-Calif.). I believe the FAA will honor our desire to complete a full environmental review before a new policy is adopted.

Both the county and the city of Newport Beach have expressed a willingness to consider making changes to current practice and policy--if such changes are necessary to accommodate new federally mandated noise abatement departure procedures and to ensure the safety of passengers.

Safety, of course, must come first, but I don’t want to see the FAA issue an advisory circular before doing the environmental studies that will determine what procedures have to be changed to not only ensure the airport’s safety but also its current operating capacity.

Our goals throughout this process have been, and continue to be, the maintenance of the environmental protections provided by the (local) Settlement Agreement and safe air transportation for the Orange County community.

These goals are shared by the communities south of John Wayne Airport. I hope they are also shared by the FAA, the air carriers and the aircraft manufacturers.