Phoenix neighbors protest Sky Harbor flight-path change

• On Sept. 18, the FAA implemented arrival and departure procedure changes at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, including a new flight path.
• The new flight path is bringing low-flying planes over historic residential neighborhoods and causing noise blight, residents say.
• In the 12 days since the change, Sky Harbor has received 229 noise questions/complaints from 202 households. In comparison, the airport received 221 noise questions/complaints from 45 households in all of 2013.
• A community meeting about the changes, including representatives from the FAA and Sky Harbor, elected officials and residents, is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 16.

Neighbors say it's like living in a war zone.

"There was a day last week, about 7:40 a.m., when it was like there was a bombing run over my house," said Rick Giase, who lives in central Phoenix's historic F.Q. Story neighborhood. "I felt things in the house rattling. Doors. Windows."

Hundreds — possibly thousands — of Phoenix residents took notice when the Federal Aviation Administration changed a flight path last month for some planes departing from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Those central Phoenix residents in the new path can hear (and feel) more than a hundred planes at all hours of the day and night.

And now those residents are making their own noise.

In the nearly two weeks since the change, Sky Harbor has received more than 240 noise questions or complaints, said Julie Rodriguez, a Sky Harbor spokeswoman. In comparison, the airport received 221 such complaints in all of 2013.

Although Phoenix officials plan to meet with residents later this month, city leaders said the flight paths are really the FAA's call. And it's unclear what the FAA will do.

The FAA conducted safety and environmental analyses prior to the change, but the pushback came as a surprise, spokesman Ian Gregor said.

"We did not anticipate the new procedures would create noise concerns in residential neighborhoods," he said.

Phoenix's Aviation Department initially learned about the changes in late 2013, Rodriguez said. However, Sky Harbor does not have decision-making power or veto authority over flight paths, she said.

FAA changes

On Sept. 18, the FAA made the change as part of its NextGen plan, which implements satellite-based navigation.

Planes heading to destinations north and east of Phoenix use the new flight path, Gregor said.

Both the old and new flight paths require planes to fly west before turning north. With the old flight path, planes began northbound turns about nine miles west of the airport, Gregor said. With the new flight path, planes turn north about three miles west of the airport.

The new flight path roughly follows central Phoenix's Grand Avenue. Grand is straddled by historic residential neighborhoods.

Most noise questions and complaints since the change come from the 85007 ZIP code in central Phoenix, Rodriguez said. She could not immediately provide more specific parameters on the effected area.

Residents, who have communicated through the neighborhood social-networking app Nextdoor, have tracked complaints about the noise on their own. They say the new flight patterns have affected neighborhoods generally between Van Buren Street and Osborn Road, and Central Avenue and Interstate 17.

The FAA implemented the new procedures to improve safety and efficiency, Gregor said.

The new departure routes are automatically separated from arrival routes, he said. Airlines program the procedures into their flight computers and planes fly the routes automatically, improving flight-route predictability, decreasing communications between controllers and pilots and providing more direct routes.

The new system also reduces fuel emissions and associated carbon dioxide emissions through shorter routes, Gregor said.

The response

Neighbors said they never received notification about the change.

It's often impossible to escape the noise, they said.

"Outside, the noise is louder than conversational talk, so you definitely have to stop your conversation or raise your voice when a plane is overhead," said Jonathan Mann, who lives in F.Q. Story. "Inside, it can sound like a blender or something going off."

Jennifer Longdon, an F.Q. Story resident with a spinal-cord injury, said the noise affects her ability to work from home during the day, and the night brings little reprieve.

"This new noise is really punctuating and continually startling," she said. "I have trouble sleeping because of the sound, and that increases my pain level and affects my quality of life."

Planes seem to fly directly above homes every day between noon and 2 a.m., neighbors said.

"It varies how often, but sometimes it's as often as a plane going over every minute," Mann said.

The affected neighborhoods already deal with urban noise from nearby freeways, helicopters and the railroad, but residents said airplanes make transportation noise much worse.

"This is absolutely going to decrease property values," said Beth Malapanes, who moved into her Fairview Place home in April. "I have put a lot of money into this house recently, and I may not even be able to get out of it what I put into it."

For neighbors, the ideal outcome is obvious.

"If I could wave the magic wand, I'd like to change this back to the old flight path," said Steve Dreiseszun, an F.Q. Story resident. "There's an old saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' This may have been an unintended consequence, but somebody wasn't really paying attention. I have the sense this decision was made without good local input."

The FAA is working with Sky Harbor to understand and analyze complaints, Gregor said.

"I can't comment or speculate on any possible actions," he said.

The furor has persuaded officials to hold a community meeting about the new route at 6 p.m. on Oct. 16 in the Phoenix City Council chambers. FAA and Sky Harbor representatives are expected to attend, as well as elected officials, city staff and residents.

Some neighbors said they will move if the route doesn't change or officials can't figure out how to dramatically mitigate the noise. Others said they'll stick it out even if the noise continues.

All said they'll keep fighting.

"I don't think myself or any of my neighbors plan on going away," Longdon said. "We will be heard."