Airplane Noise

Reprinted from BHA News, Fall 2002
Airplane Noise Abatement: Nothing Yet After Five Years
"This document has been five years in the making, proposes changes impacting only six percent of the entire Miami Airport operation, and nothing's been achieved," said Task Force member Patrick McCoy.

For two years members of the Airplane Noise Abatement Task Force had been waiting patiently for the Federal Aviation Administration to approve a proposal that would make the first inroads -- albeit baby steps -- toward establishing a noise abatement program at MIA. The big answer everyone was waiting for would impose noise abatement measures on about six percent of total airplane traffic: flights between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., roughly around 40 a night, give or take a few. For the only major city in the entire United States without a noise abatement program, this seemed a small, reasonable way to begin.

Imagine the dismay of Task Force volunteers when they learned that all the while they were awaiting a "decision" by the FAA, that decision had been long-ago pre-empted by airport officials. It turns out that back in April 2000, according to what members of the Task Force recently learned, the Miami Airport Tower Chief had officially filed a letter to the FAA stating the airport's objections to the steps that were to going to be proposed in the Environmental Assessment. That meant that the FAA wouldn't even consider the proposal when they received it: there has to be local agreement between the airport and the local FAA chief before the FAA will make a ruling. So, when the Task Force's Environmental Assessment was delivered to the FAA in Atlanta in December 2000, it was a useless submission. But members of the Task Force didn't know that, and instead worked with airport officials for months preparing the document and then waited expectantly for something that wasn't ever going to come. Waited two years.

Task Force members feel duped, to say the least. Afterall, Jeff Bunting, Bruce Drum and other senior officials "in the know" from Miami-Dade Aviation serve on the Task Force.

At the urging of Task Force members, in August the City of Miami hired noise abatement consultant Ray Nugent who has the background and technical expertise to guide the non-aeronautics professionals through the process and look out for their interests. He is in the process of evaluating the airport's 1,000-page Environmental Impact Statement from which the Environmental Assessment document was created.

Since Nugent's arrival a few real positive steps have taken place. In September, the local Tower Chief and MIA wrote a letter to the FAA stating that now the noise abatement steps proposed two years ago would be acceptable with a few modifications. The problem is that a lot has happened in the past two years and the assessment might not be current enough for the FAA. Representatives of Miami-Dade Aviation and Patrick McCoy, a 25-year pilot and community activist on the Task Force are going to Atlanta to discuss this with the FAA at the end of October.

"Now that it's two years old, we really have to figure out where the FAA stands." McCoy said.

Despite the disappointing delays, the Task Force remains on task, hoping this meeting with the FAA is the beginning of real progress.

Deafening sound overhead? Let Miami Airport Officials hear from you. Note what you know about the incident, including the date, time, airline, type of airplane, and whether arrival or departure.
Send an Airplane Noise Complaint Form Online

Reprinted from BHA News, Fall Elections Issue 2001

Airport Official Updates BHA on Security, Noise Issues

While always her top concern, safety and security now overshadow all other priorities for Miami International Airport Director Angela Gittens, senior staffer Miguel Southwell reported to BHA Directors at their October meeting.

"The public has to have the confidence to travel," Mr. Southwell said, "We have to provide that confidence."

Mr. Southwell, who worked with Director Gittens at the Atlanta airport before she recruited him to follow her to Miami as Assistant Director in charge of Business Development, substituted for his boss to appear before Brickell Homeowners' montly meeting. The long-awaited presentation was going to be all about airport noise abatement, which understandably took a back seat to security concerns after September 11th.

"We don't know if people will tolerate these long security waits," Mr. Southwell said, "but right now we don't care as we have to be secure."
Other governing principles under which Ms. Gittens operates the airport, he said, include economic vitality, customer service and the final one that's been the contentious issue in Miami for so many years, environmental responsibility.

Economic Engine
"The airport has to be self-sustaining," he said. "When you consider that the parking fees alone generated in one year in Atlanta, for example, are $100,000,000, you're talking a lot of cash."

Indeed, airports are the economic engines of a community, and the new leadership at MIA is intent on marketing the airport to new international airlines. They've identified roughly two dozen nations around the world that could link to MIA, with each new linkage worth about $2 million a year for the Miami community in terms of new business generated.

For instance, if Miami is linked to Hong Kong, Mr. Southwell explained, in just nine months' time that level of economic impact is achieved with business between the two cities greatly facilitated by the airport connection.

Even in our global economy, there's nothing like really being there, apparently.

Friendly Skies?
And then, once those international flyers are here, the next critical component of a successful airport operation is tested: customer service.

"We believe that the airport makes the first impression of the city," Mr. Southwell said. "The immigration officer is the first line of defense - and hospitality - for the City."

The challenge is how to balance policing with hospitality. Volunteers are under consideration as customer service reps, as well as logical improvements to the environment of the airport to make it more customer-friendly.

We don't want to hear it
Economic vitality and courtesy to support South Florida's vital tourism industry are important to Brickell neighbors, but perhaps hard to appreciate with the airplane noise overhead throughout the day. Aside from the disturbance of noise pollution, President Jacobs explained, people have to literally stop business as planes pass overhead. It's more than annoying, it's unprofitable.

It's hard to fathom that MIA doesn't have a noise abatement program in place, especially when one learns that other communities have successfully addressed the issue. When residents hear that the Atlanta airport spent $326 million on their noise program, it becomes even harder to understand what's wrong in here. No noise abatement program in Miami seemed a surprise to Mr. Southwell as well, who is trying to identify what the problem is that has kept us lagging behind.

In communities where airport building expansions have been delayed, it has been because of public outcry against airports' lack of responsiveness to the concerns of the community around and below, he said.

"If airport authorities and communities band together, the FAA has go along," Mr. Southwell said.

Many BHA Directors who have been in numerous meetings with airport staffers, local elected officials and hoards of dissatisfied citizens say that they believe the problem is with airport management and foreign airline company pilots who don't want to do what it takes, and usually costs more, to be responsive to the community.

They have to achieve steeper altitudes faster, which takes more fuel, and they have to adhere to take-off and landing tracks rather than the "spaghetti" patterns they are currently allowed to follow, BHA Director Mel Frankel said.

Until that happens among those in charge at MIA, the FAA won't solve our problems, it seems. With the new leadership here in Miami with Angela Gittens and her staff, BHA officials have some new hope.
Naturally, you'll be hearing more on this...

Reprinted from BHA News, Spring 2001
Airplane Noise Abatement: East Flow Test Underway During Night Hours
An issue that requires heroic patience on the part of homeowners is the matter of airplane noise abatement. BHA continues to represent the neighborhood's concerns on the county-wide Noise Abatement Task Force, as well as meet with airport officials and specialists about what can and is being done for relief.

As Brickell residents know all too well, east flow departures from Miami International Airport are the biggest noise problem for the neighborhood.

Currently a test, for which the Federal Aviation Administration's approval was needed, is underway from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. in which east flow traffic is channeled over commercial areas and water rather than residential areas. The six-month test started in December and preliminary results should be known by the end of May 2001. (Have you been awakened less by airplanes at night?)

At the BHA's February Board meeting two Miami Airport officials, Bruce Drum, Assistant Aviation Director/Airside Operations, and Jeffrey Bunting, Noise Abatement Officer, met with the BHA to explain the complexities of noise abatement and potential relief measures.

For the most part, "hush-kitting," the process of quieting an older model plane, has not been very effective for reducing noise in the Stage II aircraft. Replacement with Stage III aircraft is the preferred way to lower the din. American Airlines, Miami's largest carrier, is committed to replacing its entire fleet by 2003; other airlines have said by 2004.

Many have suggested Miami look to the experience of other large cities that have undergone similar difficulties with a fast-growing population and an equally fast-growing airport in the center of it all. BHA Directors are meeting in March with Klaskin, Kushner & Company, an aviation consulting firm that has investigated noise mitigation throughout the country.

In the meantime, airport officials say to keep those complaint calls coming. Overall, the airport receives some 800 to 900 complaints a month. Officials evaluate these calls and watch for trends in who is causing the noise, when and where.

The number for complaints is still (305) 876-plane and Mr. Bunting's email address is: jbunting@miami-airport.com. Or you can send a complaint directly by clicking here.

Airplane Noise Abatement News 2000 and Prior