Composite image by Plane & Pilot.
Compared to the early days of those screaming turbine engines, thanks to continuous advancements in design, airplane noise over the past 60 years or so has been reduced to a mere whisper compared to its former self. However, a recently published FAA Neighborhood Environmental Survey, the first since 1992, reveals that a vast majority of people residing near airports are highly annoyed by aircraft flying overhead. And although the survey focused on neighborhoods surrounding 20 major airports, the results indicate that the public sentiment is largely opposed to anything that takes to the skies.
The survey encompassed 10,000 respondents and was filtered based on noise levels. The level of animosity people have towards airplane noise is nothing new in itself. But the most intriguing takeaway is that quieter airplanes haven’t made airport-adjacent residents any happier. Instead, it has had the opposite effect.
They were even more annoyed by aircraft noise compared to other types of noise, such as loud traffic. The so-called Schultz Curve from previous surveys shows that at noise levels of around 50 decibels, seemingly no one was perturbed. Around 10% of respondents were highly annoyed at 65 decibels, and less than 40% got that angry at 75 dB.
In the new “National” Curve from this survey, however, almost 20% were highly annoyed at 50 dB, around 66% at 65 dB, and close to 90% at 75 dB.
So, less noise is now causing more anger. And this is at a time when the windows in houses are far better insulated from outside sound than in decades past, suggesting that the issue might lie with people’s attitudes towards noise rather than the actual noise itself.
And that perception certainly extends to general aviation aircraft. In fact, that animosity is likely to increase around smaller general aviation airports, where a large portion of the population views personal flying as a luxury reserved for the elite.
One reason for the increase in negative sentiment could be that GPS-derived routing now has aircraft flying over new areas. Going from zero traffic to even a little bit is likely to give rise to a whole new wave of noise complaints. And it can be safely assumed that the people who have less traffic overhead are not contacting the FAA to express their gratitude.
General aviation pilots are usually well-versed in noise abatement practices. “Flying neighborly” has been a common practice for decades. However, zoning policies that allow residential buildings to be constructed closer and closer to runways have exacerbated the old problem of people moving to a neighborhood near an airport and then complaining about the airplanes flying over their houses. In some cases, they even exert political pressure to limit traffic or shut down the airport altogether.
So, while the FAA study primarily focused on jet traffic, it adds weight to similar efforts around general aviation airports as well, even though the real motives for the anti-airport sentiment often seem to be more related to real estate than to the quality of life.
