Noise working group recommends pausing Part 150 study; airport staff to pursue new approaches and departure changes

Airport staff updated the commission on the noise working group’s progress and the group’s unanimous recommendation to postpone the formal FAA Part 150 noise study and pursue an alternative path: contracting a consultant to design and maintain tailored instrument approaches and to examine departure procedures that could reduce overflight of neighborhoods.

Director Haster summarized the group’s work: four meetings that included community representatives, pilots, airline and tenant stakeholders, and commission members. The group reviewed how current instrument departures and arrivals route traffic and identified that instrument procedures—particularly departures that initially route aircraft over Goleta—are the primary driver of many community noise complaints.

Given funding priorities and the FAA’s reliance on the 65-decibel contour for noise mitigation funding, the working group concluded a Part 150 study (a public process costing roughly $1 million and taking more than a year) was unlikely to produce FAA-funded mitigation that benefits the affected neighborhoods. Instead, the group recommended procuring a consultant with retired FAA personnel and FAA-compatible modeling tools to design proprietary approaches or other routings that can be handed to the FAA for publication and maintenance.

Director Haster said staff will begin focused discussions with the air traffic control tower and the airlines and aims to promote departures that turn aircraft out over the ocean earlier in the morning when traffic volume is low. He told commissioners the quickest change would be to encourage use of certain instrument departures before the tower opens and that staff expected to begin that outreach “by the end of this month, beginning of next month.”

The working group also discussed outreach to business jet, charter and general aviation operators, and to elected representatives. A subgroup met with U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal and brought back his letter of support for noise mitigation efforts. The group flagged that some aircraft lack the avionics to fly more complex approaches and that airline operational constraints might limit immediate changes.

No formal binding action was taken; the commission was asked for concurrence and direction to proceed with procuring a consultant to develop approaches and to continue negotiating departure routings with the tower and airlines.