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BWI roundtable urges FAA to speed fixes after satellite navigation concentrates flight paths
Summary
BWI roundtable members told the Anne Arundel County Council that FAA’s shift to satellite‑based navigation concentrated flight paths over neighborhoods and that the FAA’s projected 3–5 year timeline to resolve a problematic departure procedure is ‘‘unacceptable.’’ The roundtable asked the council to back outreach to Sen. Van Hollen and to monitor Part 150 mitigation progress.
Susie Schuyler, the DC Metroplex representative, introduced members of the BWI community roundtable and asked the council to support the group’s effort to press the Federal Aviation Administration for faster action on concentrated flight tracks.
Paul Schenck, chief engineer for the Maryland Aviation Administration, told the council that the federal shift from ground‑based navigation to satellite‑based procedures (NextGen) narrowed previously dispersed flight paths into concentrated ‘‘interstates in the sky.’’ He said that change produced a sharp rise in noise complaints and, in some cases, aircraft flying closer to homes than before. Schenck said the roundtable has repeatedly shown FAA different mitigation options and asked the agency to ‘‘go back to the drawing board’’ on one departure procedure that has proved especially disruptive.
Howard Johnson, chair of the BWI roundtable, said the group was formed in 2017 after communities reported a marked increase in noise and concentrated tracks. Johnson described outreach through Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office and said the roundtable has asked the FAA for a clear timeline under FAA order 8200 and for publication of proposed changes in the IFP Gateway so stakeholders can track progress.
‘‘We don’t think it should take five years,’’ Schenck said of the FAA’s publicly stated 3–5 year assessment window for implementing procedural fixes. He and other roundtable members asked the council to contact Van Hollen’s office and to use the county’s voice with congressional appropriators who oversee FAA funding.
Council members raised local impacts and asked for the roundtable’s materials. Councilmember Ms. Fiedler said she had experienced repeated interruptions while campaigning in Severn and asked what the county could do to accelerate the timeline; Schenck and Johnson pointed to the letters and technical supplements included in the meeting packet and urged members to weigh in with the senator’s office.
The roundtable also discussed the county’s Part 150 noise study and COMAR updates. Schenck said the airport is preparing an updated Part 150 study the FAA must accept before federal mitigation grants (for windows, doors, roofing and eligible public buildings such as schools and churches) can be awarded to affected properties.
The presenters emphasized two limits: the airport controls property and mitigation programs, while the FAA is the empowered authority over navigable airspace and route design. The roundtable urged the council to support a coordinated approach that pairs airspace changes and the Part 150 update rather than sequencing them years apart.
The council thanked the roundtable for the briefing, requested copies of Sen. Van Hollen’s letters and related supplements (presenters confirmed those were provided in the packet), and signaled willingness to follow up with federal lawmakers and appropriation contacts.
