Morristown Municipal Airport

What happens at an airport when Stage 1 or 2 aircraft no longer use it? At a place like Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU), it means quieter skies for the people living and working nearby.

Located in New Jersey, the nation's most densely populated state, Morristown is among the busiest airports catering to corporate and smaller business aircraft in the New York City metropolitan area, logging an average of 210,000 departures and arrivals each year. Operations include those of based corporate tenants, transient business use, flight training and recreational traffic.

Although only one Stage 2 aircraft is based at MMU, more than half of the noise complaints from neighbors are the result of Stage 2 operations—more than half of the complaints stem from some of the approximately 1200 Stage 2 aircraft operating nationally.

In a recent study by MMU management, the sound contour—the noise footprint—of all airplanes and jets departing MMU's Runway 23 was reviewed. They also reviewed what would happen to those contours if only Stage 3 aircraft departed from that runway. The results showed a significant reduction in the noise impact to airport neighbors, as shown on the maps you can click on below.

Phasing out Stage 1 and 2 aircraft isn't a panacea to the noise challenges faced by airports and those around them. But, as evidenced by the study conducted at Morristown, it's an important step toward quieter skies.

Click on link to view:
2003 STAGE 3 LAND USE PICTURE

2003 EXISTING LAND USE

For decades, the Naples Airport Authority has sought ways to manage the challenges of airport use and community growth, particularly as it relates to noise. In the 1980s, it embarked on a process that was designed to provide some relief from aircraft noise to its neighbors, with a series of studies to help determine the noise exposure and develop a noise compatibility program, one that could be reviewed and approved by the FAA. To learn about the Naples experience, and how the FAA process that's intended to allow airports to manage noise in the interests of their neighbors (but doesn't), click on the "Background" button below. Updates about the issue are found in two press releases announcing court decisions related to the issue.

The lesson to be learned from the Naples experience is that expensive studies that follow FAA guidelines can be even more costly in terms of the lawsuits and challenges that follow. The availability of government funding for aviation is limited. It just doesn't make sense to make airports go through a process that reduces the amount of funds available for important measures for safety improvements and upgrades.

If Congress directed a phase-out of Stage 1 and 2 aircraft under 75,000 pounds, it wouldn't be necessary to repeat Naples' experience at any other airport in the country.

Click on link to view
Naples Airport: $3.1 Million Addressing Stage 2 Noise...and still counting.

Court Agrees with NAA

Court Ruling

Nation's airport officials now studying Naples jet ban case

Brent Batten: Odds didn't favor FAA for challenge to jet ban

Airport Authority praises key players in Stage 2 Jet ban victory