Politics & Government
LA Hires Help To Fight FAA Over Airplane Noise
The city wants expert help in battle over flight paths for planes coming and going out of Hollywood-Burbank and Van Nuys airports.
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday in favor of seeking a consulting expert to address community members' concerns about noise from flight paths at the Hollywood-Burbank and Van Nuys airports.
City Councilman David Ryu filed the motion in May calling for a review of the flight paths, and blamed excessive noise from airplanes on inaction from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees the plane routes.
"Two things are very clear: One, there are obvious environmental impacts that the FAA is ignoring, and two, the FAA has failed to properly communicate with the public on major flight path changes," Ryu said. "This motion calls for an independent consultant because, frankly, we need every option on the table. Our city can't stand in our fight alone against the FAA, and we need someone to take them on."
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The city council voted unanimously, 15-0, in favor of the motion.
In August, the FAA sent a letter to Hollywood-Burbank Airport regarding the noise complaints from residents. Responding to two requests, the FAA said its flight paths are the same prior to its implementation of the Southern California Metroplex, which rerouted planes and was intended to reduce the use of jet fuel and increase the number of flights at airports.
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The FAA also stated in the letter that it could not regulate the time intervals between flights and that scheduling is maintained by the airport owners.
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority officials then sent letters to the CEOs of the seven airlines that utilize the Hollywood-Burbank Airport, requesting that the airlines stick to historical flight paths that "minimize drifting south and optimize aircraft ascent," and they requested the FAA clarify its position on the matter.
Calls to the FAA were not immediately returned.
The next meeting for the Hollywood-Burbank Airport Noise Task Force is at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport-Grand Ballroom, 2500 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a lawsuit in June against the FAA, challenging the changes to LAX flight patters affecting incoming aircraft flying over mid-City and central Los Angeles, and accusing the FAA of persistently failing to address the negative impacts of overflights of aircraft headed to LAX.
City News Service
