Planes using airport already meet new noise standards

Mark R. Madler

Commercial aircraft using Bob Hope Airport already meet new federal

rules for noise reduction enacted last week by the Federal Aviation

Administration, airport officials said.

The rule, issued on July 5, requires aircraft built after Jan. 1,

2006, to be 10 decibels quieter than many commercial aircraft now in

use, Airport Executive Director Dios Marrero told the

Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority’s Legal, Government and

Environmental Affairs Committee.

With current aircraft already in compliance, airlines won’t be

forced into prematurely retiring their fleets, Marrero said.

“Chances are none of the existing fleet will have to be

retrofitted or replaced,” Marrero said.

Current federal standards limit jet aircraft noise to between 89

decibels and 106 decibels based on the number of engines and weight

of the aircraft.

New standards limit jet noise to between 70 and 96 decibels.

The decibel range for jets arriving and departing from the airport

is in the 90 decibel range, said airport spokesman Victor Gill.

Glendale Commissioner Bob Yousefian raised the issue at the

committee meeting because he had heard rumors about new federal

standards.

American Airlines and Alaska Airlines use older McDonnell-Douglas

jets but most of the commercial traffic at Bob Hope is Boeing 737

jets, which meet current federal standards, Gill said.

JetBlue, which began service from Burbank to New York City in May,

uses Boeing 757 jets, which also meet standards, he added.

Yousefian, a new commissioner who also serves on the Glendale City

Council, also inquired about the airport efforts to reduce aircraft

noise.

All airports are required to meet standards of the state Division

of Aeronautics to reduce its noise impact areas so that a person

inside a building wouldn’t be able to hear jet noise greater than 65

decibels.

Bob Hope is reviewed by the division every three years for what

steps have been taken to meet the standard, Marrero explained.

The airport will be reviewed again this year and must file an

application with the state showing what steps it has taken to reduce

noise impacts, Gill said.

Bob Hope strives to meet thestandard by requiring airlines to use

quieter aircraft, and through a program in which nearly half of the

2,200 structures falling within its noise impact area have been

insulated for noise or are scheduled to receive insulation, Gill

said.

QUESTION

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