Why we are acting to reduce airplane noise, and you can too

On a warm summer evening putting the baby to bed, airplane noise became an issue I could no longer ignore. I’m a Palo Alto native, and the change in traffic overhead over the years was already viscerally disturbing. As we looked into it, the data was worse than what we felt. And we decided to do something about it.

In 10 years SFO traffic increased by 36%. Good natural growth. But traffic over the mid-peninsula increased 360%. The proportion of lower altitude flights has increased. Increasing measurable ground noise and polluting emissions.

The Impact of NextGen

The FAA’s NextGen landing system uses GPS precision routing. A good advancement for safety and the ability to control a greater volume and frequency of paths. Far better than the previous radar-based system.

When NextGen was implemented in the San Francisco Bay Area, it gave the FAA new options for routing traffic. With greater precision, traffic was less dispersed, and at lower altitude. How they decide route paths varies in process, but they are supposed to enable community feedback and perform an Environmental Assessment. There are agreements (like with City of Palo Alto in 2000) and rules (an EA is required, and traffic can’t be shifted from one community to another for noise abatement), but their enforcement is arbitrary.

Since 2015, airplane noise is the most commented and requested to prioritize issue in Palo Alto in the Open City Hall process. Sky Posse Palo Alto is the citizen group that has diligently lobbied representatives and agencies on the issue.

The City Council of Palo Alto pulled back this year from suing the FAA into providing an assessment this year. Why they voted this way wasn’t clear.

The Santa Clara Santa Cruz Roundtable is was established this year as a permanent entity specifically for the issue of airplane noise. It’s voting members are mayors, city council members and designates from all the cities. Representative Anna Eshoo, the FAA and SFO are participants. The purpose of the SCSC Roundtable is a regional approach for our elected representatives to represent us as FAA, SFO and Airlines (United Airlines is 48% of SFO flights, for example) on the public health issue of airplane noise.

In attending the SCSC Roundtable meetings you get the feel of good intent with some progress for the new body. There are of course differences with the representatives and participants. The representatives from some cities seem to prefer a laissez-faire or status quo approach. Others seem to be rightly frustrated by the opacity and variance of the FAA process, and their power to influence it. Almost entirely to date, the Roundtable has been reacting to changes the FAA is making — attempting to enable community participation, following agreements and rules, and not having the next route change or landing system worsen the public health issue.

A call to action for the SCSC Roundtable

We work in tech, like too many people here. So when I look at a system like NextGen, I consider the people, process and technology issues. NextGen is a system implemented without proper consideration and process for stakeholders. It is supposed to be safer and cleaner, but that’s not the result so far.

So what if we reimplemented NextGen to properly account for ground noise and environmental impact upon citizens? A small and focused change, with a more equitable distribution of impact?

The Quiet Skies initiative seeks to do this. To have a Required Navigation Procedure (RNP) for SFO arrivals that routes traffic over the Bay instead of communities in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. At higher altitudes. At night, when the skies are less congested to make implementation even more feasible. And between 7pm and 7am to give citizens peace during quieter hours. With an RNP, exceptions are allowed for weather, safety and other consideration. And implementation changes are a relatively low cost.

Quiet Skies is a practical proposal for one change. It complements the ongoing and broader efforts of Sky Posse and the SCSC Roundtable. And as a single issue is relatively issue-free. I’m looking to understand reasons to oppose this proposal. So far I’ve found one person who lives by the Bay who has concern for what this means to her, and a pilot who wants greater details on the route. Very reasonable, but not as fundamental as other airplane noise issues face.

Until I dug into the issue I personally wasn’t comfortable with it. Sure, my family and I was impacted. But so many of our regional problems (ground transportation, housing) are hurt by NIMBYism. I found it odd that I was taking a conservative position, but realized it was conservation and a public health issue. A solution could be found that didn’t compromise safety and economic growth. And I’ve worked in politics and with large organizations enough to know that poor implementations happen without the right pressure and direction.

It will be interesting to see how our representatives represent us on this issue. We’ve met some and know they are pushing for reform. We’ve seen some in opposition, reasoned and not. It’s hard to picture why your local representative wouldn’t support this proposal, especially if enough of us ask for it.

My parents were Palo Alto civil servants, one grandfather worked for the FAA and the other invented a new process for creating jet fuel. I have a belief in civil organizations being able to do the right thing when solutions emerge, especially when supported by citizens. This is a valid test of the SCSC Roundtable process and how well we are represented.

How you can help

1. Sign the petition
2. Share the petition. Not just on Facebook. Send it as a message to friends. Reach your neighbors and co-workers using NextDoor and mailing lists. You can also follow us on
3. Volunteer. We’re looking for a leader for every SCSC city, and people with specific skills (PR, marketing, design, dev) to help spread the word. We’ll host a web conference call for volunteers soon.
4. Stay informed. Follow us on Twitter @quietnightskies
5. Show Up. The more citizens that can show up at the SCSC Roundtable meeting in support of this initiative and Sky Posse’s ongoing efforts the better.

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