NextGen And Community Response
Phoenix. Scottsdale. San Diego. San Francisco. Chicago. Seattle. Long Island. Washington, DC. La Jolla. Orange County. Puget Sound. Los Angeles. Culver City. Studio City. Sherman Oaks. Southern Maryland. Montgomery County. Denver. Burbank. The list goes on.
There are currently almost fifty separate community activist groups across the country at the city, county and regional level trying to get the FAA to work with them to do something about the devastation that NextGen has brought upon their communities.
Families tell stories of no longer being able to open their windows at home due to air and noise pollution. Parents explain how their school-age children are woken up at 5AM every morning with a continuous stream of low-flying airplanes over their homes. Seniors citizens worry that they will not be able to sell their homes to fund their future assisted living and nursing home care. And everyone in NextGen’s wake worries about the long-term health impacts of being exposed to a continuous stream of concentrated toxic airplane emissions.
If NextGen wasn’t able to correctly use computer modeling to predict the noise impacts of NextGen, what assurance does anyone have that they’ve correctly modeled the long-term impacts of continuous exposure to toxic aircraft emission at low altitudes? Should families wait until their loved ones turn up with elevated rates of cancer and respiratory disease in ten years, and then demand the FAA and/or Congress do something? Or should they demand that the FAA and/or Congress act now?
To see the full extent of how the FAA and NextGen is impacting communities:
"The air traffic from departures is unbearable. The morning rush hour starts around 5am with low flying departures appx 90 seconds apart during peak times. Early evening rush hour and the late-night departures means we are inundated with plane noise non-stop. We cannot open windows because of the plane noise. I cannot carry on a conversation with someone outside or inside sometimes. The air traffic disturbs our sleep and negatively impacts our overall well-being. NextGen was implemented three months after we moved into our house: We had no idea it was coming. Had we known, we would have selected a different place to live. I understand the airport brings revenue to Anne Arundel County. But when will the health and well-being of residents be considered and favored over revenue and profits of multi-billion multi-national corporations. It’s time for a change. Life near BWI is unbearable."
Severn, MD
"I have tracked thousands of flights that fly in the same pattern 24 hours a day, mostly 90 seconds apart, with decibels exceeding 70db for months and have experienced them virtually nonstop since the nexgen implementation. I live in what used to be a rural, quiet area but i cannot hear birds, crickets, or my own thoughts over the incessant noise. I can only imagine the pollution that drifts down on my organic fruits, vegetables, and livestock. Tonight is no exception. Runway 01 at DCA...if you land there you are part of the problem. Your carbon footprint is a heavy boot on my peace and quiet."
Accoceek, MD
"The FAA has literally ruined our home for us with the implementation of NextGen. We get over 150 departure planes a day at 8000-11000 feet, which are often times stacked with arrivals at 1500-2500 feet. We live 20 miles from the airport. We’re reasonable people and we know the planes need to fly somewhere, we just ask the entire community shares the noise burden making all of our homes liveable and more importantly, enjoyable."
"Please put an end to this misery."
Dayton, MD
“Over 250-300 low altitude jets, aircraft and helicopters now fly daily over our homes and the protected green space and very high fire hazard zone of the Santa Monica Mountains in CA. This never happened before FAA implemented SoCal Metroplex/Nextgen and decided to destroy our quality of life by increasing the decibels from 45 to over 85DB, minute after minute. By electing to concentrate all aircraft departures from 2 Airports - Burbank and Van Nuys over this same community in a perilous fire zone, our own healthy and safety is jeopardized. Reverse Nextgen now."
Sherman Oaks, CA
"This used to be a quiet neighborhood until the FAA opened a flight path that was once closed except for emergencies. Jets are flying over our house every minute now. The noise is such that we cannot open the windows if we are watching TV. In addition to noise pollution, the air pollution must be significant."
Whitestone, NY
"The planes start at 5:00 am loudly and finish with the triweekly flight to India at 1:30 am. They interrupt sleep, are too loud to hear normal conversation over, and a constant nuisance. All since the NEXTGEN system went in. I've lived here 30 years and this nuisance is only in the last 5-6 years. I am very tired of business's gaining while individuals lose, increasing their profits at the cost of my sleep."
Brisbane, CA
"We sacrificed & saved our whole lives to be able to buy our home on the water. The planes are SO low and SO loud that we are forced inside! When we bought our home this was NOT an issue. I have a right to enjoy my home and not lose value in my property . Please help, the whole plan is absurd!"
Crownsville, MD
"Noise level is unbearable and consistent In disturbing sleep hours daily ! Between th3 hours of 9-pm and 2 am is the worst. I’ve reported this several times to 311..."
Rosedale, NY
"Constant extremely loud noise from overhead planes is disrupting sleep even with all windows closed and making it impossible to go about daily activities without stressful noise. Sometimes sounds as though we are being bombed. Planes should be dispersed over a much wider area so the noise level is less noticeable. We should not have to keep the windows and doors shut at all times!!"
Newton Centre, MA
"We feel almost completely ignored on this subject. We are often told that "there have been "no changes" to flight paths - when those of us living under those flight paths KNOW there have been changes. If a freeway was expanded/re-routed, there would be years long studies as to the community impacts. But the FAA have just chosen to ride roughshod over the communities living under the flight paths. In addition, they sold everyone a bill of goods about the benefits (to airlines etc) which have proven to be ALMOST COMPLETELY FALSE -ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHERN CA METROPLEX! This is OUR government and we DEMAND that they REVERT to the original flight paths so we can have our quality of life (and our health) back."
San Mateo, CA
"The FAA is destroying our lives. The constant low flights over my home due to RNAV is terrorism and torture. These flights are a criminal assault on my community. Those in Massport and the FAA who have authorized this terrorism are criminals who should face prosecution for the suffering they have caused on the people they have tortured with anxiety, lack of sleep, and fearful anticipation of constant unending jet noise over our homes so that the airlines can save money on fuel."
Medford, MA
"I am opposed to concentrated flight paths that target certain areas with constant airplane noise 24/7. Flight paths should be justly dispersed so that all share the burden, and there should be more over water flights."
Newton, MA
"We are routinely woken up by loud, international flights that spew jet fuel onto our homes and into our lungs. They are so loud that they shake the house and terrify is awake. We have the right to quiet enjoyment of our home and we would like for there to be a moratorium on takeoffs and landings over residential areas between 10pm and 6am. We are always woken up at 5am on Sundays after losing sleep all week to the overnight flights. A flight is roaring over my head every 30 seconds as I write this comment. We can’t enjoy the weather or each other’s company. This madness is not normal and it needs to stop. Over 400 flights pass directly over my home as a direct result of the next gen flight patterns."
Medford, MA
"Please stop this harrassment by noise bombardment We can no longer sleep Fights go over our residential airspace from 5 am thru 2 am the next day with almost 3 hours of quiet time before the aerial bombardment starts again We are no longer able to enjoy our backyard, hear nature outside in the yard or breath fresh air We are not able to have the house windows open nor have a conversation in the same room or on the telephone The TV needs to be constantly raised and lowered every minute as that is the frequency of the planes We are not able to talk with our neighbors while standing in the street 4 feet apart Our health is affected due to lack of sleep and increased anxiety This is about making our lives better by going back to the way we had the basics of life's enjoyment before NextGen which has made us miserable The skys were safe before NextGen They can be safe without NextGen The aircraft go over my home and are so low that the pilot and I have exchanged eye contact Please get rid of this program and hear what the people are telling you"
Medford, MA
"SFO has recently re-routed aircraft over my house and the noise is disruptive and we were never warned or given a chance to speak out!"
San Francisco, CA
"We’ve been trying to enjoy our backyard on our final vacation weekend but a plane flies over every 60 seconds, one after another. It’s very disruptive and unfair that we cannot enjoy our home."
Flushing, NY
"Stop the FAA from hyperconcentrating noise pollution. The FAA must be bound to the citizens and not the airline industry that has captured it."
Arlington, MA
"Our SeaTac airport plans on increasing our pain by increasing "operations" to the levels of airports with 4 runways, while only having 3 runways. No real solutions over the past 20 years..!! ENOUGH..!"
Burien, WA
"Tens of thousands of us are being subjected to unrelenting air noise following the recent “RNAV” changes. This puts us under cardiac and respiratory stress and prevents our families—especially our children—from getting adequate sleep, creating a ripple effect of public health risks. Please do the right thing and demand that the FAA walk back the concentration of RNAV flights into a distribution pattern that is equitable to all and does not unduly burden some while others are given special protected status."
Cambridge, MA
"NextGen is destroying our neighborhoods around O'Hare Airport. I have lived in my home for 26 years. For 23 years the planes were never a problem. Now it is a nightmare. The efficiency of air travel should not take precedence over the quality of life of individuals on the ground."
Park Ridge, IL
"Jet noise wakes me up EVERY morning at 6:32am. NextGen moved the flight patterns further south towards our house and now interrupts our sleep. The flights are no longer evenly distributed amongst the takeoff routes. One morning I sat out on the deck and counted 16 of 21 flights taking the most southern route. Our side yard smells chemically since the takeoff route was shifted towards our property. Move the patterns back to pre-NextGen patterns. Let us sleep more and breathe cleaner air."
San Diego, CA
"The constant noise from aircrafts above my house starts at 6am and goes in until 12 even 1am. I sit in my house with the windows closed. Can't even sit in the backyard anymore. Our quality of life has gone down. We worked hard to afford our homes and now may be forced to leave because someone decided that airplanes are priority above people. Our children breathe in the toxic emissions from these low flying planes. I hope someone will listen and make a change. Does anyone have a conscience?"
Bayside, NY
"Air traffic noise has increased significantly, lowering our quality of life. FAA must revert back to pre Next Gen flight paths!!"
Federal Way, WA
"Nose and pollution over my house cannot be free to airlines"
Des Moines, WA
"The air traffic over our homes in Bayside is deafening and causes extreme anxiety. Children can’t sleep, you can’t leave windows open you can’t hear the TV or have a normal conversation."
Bayside, NY
"I have filed several hundred noise complaints with the FAA and NYC Port Authority since 2012, when Nextgen was implemented. No response."
Bayside Hills, NY
"The noise is so loud I sometimes think the plane is falling out of the sky. One night while sitting outside I watch a plane pass my home literally every 5 minutes. I lived in the same home over ten years, this started fairly recently"
Bayside, NY
"The noise is relentless. I am awakened by jets roaring overhead at 6AM and they ramp up again around midnight to sometimes 2AM!!!!"
Flushing, NY
"The noise is ridiculous, can't enjoy open windows, at all. Affecting family health. AC needs to be on all the time. Increased electric bills. Bad situation overall."
Bayside, NY
"Noise is constant and now worse with the Tennis Open. We NEVER voted to give us this noise. The paths of flights need to be turned back to before. We can't even talk with our windows closed. When Planes fly overhead ( as they seem to do constantly) the noise is too loud to hear each other."
Bayside Hills, NY:
"Planes are flying overhead at 1-2 min intervals most of the afternoon and evening, you can’t even have a conversation outdoors from 5-7 pm, much less a BBQ or enjoy any outdoor activity."
Flushing, NY
"The noise of the planes starts at about 6 in the morning and continues until late at night. The constant noise permeates through closed windows. With school beginning in one week, my 11 year old son will once again have a hard time finding a quiet place to do his homework. We have to run the air conditioner at night in order to get some sleep. Talk about helping the environment and reducing my carbon footprint."
Bayside, NY
"My neighbors and I have reported this to Port Authority and the FAA numerous times but there is no response. There is no help and no one ever gives a fair solution. We lived in Flushing for over 25 years. It was never this noisy. We cannot just sell the coop. We are senior citizens. Something has changed and for the worse. This is effecting out health and sanity. Every day we pray someone will help us. Our neighborhood sounds like an airport war zone. If you can please help us we would be forever grateful. Please, we need a solution. The planes are mostly flying down our street (Sanford Ave in Flushing) all day and night long. No one can sleep. Many times they fly low and loud at 2am on too!"
Flushing, NY
"The FAA does not work in good faith to communicate nor listen to jet noise affected residents and communities. The FAA seems to be accountable to no one but the airlines and they are a disgrace to the democratic process. MAKE THE FAA ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE NOT SOLELY THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY WHO CARE ZERO FOR PEOPLE. PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS."
Bayside, NY
Please, the noise from departing planes that fly directly over my house repeatedly and at low altitude ruins my ability to enjoy my garden, talk on the phone, and enjoy peaceful time. Also, the air quality has suffered. Please help."
Valley Village, CA
"On behalf of those who live in the neighborhood: no one should be subjected to such torturous and unhealthful noise."
New York, New York:
"The exponential increase in air traffic is destroying our quality of life. Planes even fly low as late as 2AM and as early as 5AM. Please help us and our children."
Floral Park, NY
The NextGen flight patterns are distruptive to our comnunities and families. These flights are so low you can actually read the name of the airline clearly. Additionally the amount of low flying planes coming one after another is alarming. This needs to be fixed"
Syosset, NY
"My once quiet home and neighborhood (15 miles away from SFO) has been turned into the end of a runway strip. Where is the accountability for the capricious and irresponsible implementation of the FAA's NextGen program?!?!"
San Francisco, CA
"Next Gen has made me hate coming home. It makes my neighborhood sound like an airport and it seems like the FAA is also using this as an excuse to fly even lower."
Oakland, CA
"Don’t tell me I should not have bought by an airport!! I bought 31 years ago before this was a problem!!"
Des Moines, WA
"REVERT to pre NextGen flights. The kids in Visitacion Valley in San Francisco are getting bombarded with noise all through their school days. STOP IT NOW. No more studying, JUST DO IT."
San Francisco, CA
✈️ paths since next gen are ruining my neighborhood!"
Des Moines, WA
"New flight paths, planes flying lower and slower - The noise is a health problem for many of us. Help us come up with a solution."
Federal Way, WA
"the rapid expansion of flights is both an environmental and public health emergency"
Princeton, NJ
Horrendous noise FAA should pay my property tax."
New York, New York
"People on the ground must be considered before an industry’s profits."
Milton, MA
"Jet noise has ruined our retirement"
Vashon, WA
"PLEASE fix this."
San Diego, CA
"The noise makes our lives a living hell. Please make it stop!"
Somerville, MA
"Airplane noise too loud, too frequent and is a total assault on our neighborhoods. Right through the nights all night into the wee hours of the morning until daybreak. Nonstop. There has been no response to all the complaints being filed online. This has been worse recently than in years past."
Springfield Gardens, NY
"Basically no break in airplane noise ..every 20 seconds or less going over our house low enough to read which airline ..cool enough to leave windows open but then can’t sleep..."
Lynbrook, NY
"Can not hear my think!! Plane noise is horrible since they changed the flight pattens at BWI I would hate to have to move because of all the deafening noise!!!!!"
Columbia, MD
The amount of planes that fly over head, nonstop all day and night, is ridiculous. There is no way all of these planes are anywhere near full to capacity!! We need a reduction in the amount of planes flying above us, the environment needs it too!!"
Bayside, NY
"The paths need to go back to what they were. Why should a small segment of the population be inundated with air and noise pollution?"
Los Angeles, CA
"The new Burbank/Hollywood airport flight path has created an assault of low flying planes 24/7 over our homes and schools in Studio City and Sherman Oaks."
Studio City, CA
"As I am writing this, at least three low-flying Jets have flown over my house within the last two minutes. The jet noise has woken up my family it has made me want to stay inside and keep windows close to avoid any noise. This needs to stop right now! On top of that there is excessive pollution!"
Flushing, NY
We are living, nearly 24 hours a day, every day, in a Hellscape of Noise!!! It's unconscionable and so very wrong on so many levels. And all in the name of corporate profit and greed (less fuel, lower altitudes, big savings for the airlines). WRONG and DEVASTATING and must be fixed. NOW!"
Studio City, CA
"Plane noise is deafening. Interfere with quality of life!"
Flushing, NY
"Im concerned about my health as well as my families !"
Winthrop, MA
"The often-posted FAA flight path maps bear insufficient resemblance of noise emissions from airplanes. Nuisance noise consists of overflight frequency, airplane location, elevation above land (an important factor in the mountains surrounding Phoenix), thrust levels (for a climb or descent path), ground reflectance, and metrology. Flight paths are essentially unapproved highways over communities. Congress should act."
Scottsdale, AZ
"Everybody should look up the site Noiseandthecity.com: This site will allow you to just point up as the plane is flying over you and read the DNL NOISE LEVEL AT REAL TIME AND WILL ALSO LET YOU TAKE A PICTURE OF THE JET! This would give us the proof that we need to prove our cause is just and is not just our imagination."
Winthrop, MA
"You are destroying our health and our quality of life and our homes! STOP THE PLANES OVER NORTH LYNBROOK!"
I am awakened between midnight and 6:00 AM at least once because of low flying, noisy aircraft. I cannot think in my home because of the constant noise."
"I purchased my house in 2000.. As a home owner you have an expectation that in general, within a fully developed area, your house and its value stays consistent. Over the last few years we have had to deal with very low flying planes with engines that can shake the Windows. We had zero input as a community. The planes should have continued the same traffic patter, switching it drastically was completely unacceptable."
Lynbrook, NY
"The planes shake me out of my slumber during all hours of the night. If I were making as much noise as these planes, I would get fined for breaking the local noise ordinance. When I bought this house, this was a quiet neighborhood. Now, I'm assaulted by constant plane noise every 1-2 minutes due to the RNAV 33L concentrated flight path that stole my serenity via eminent domain. I can't enjoy my home. I can't open my windows to get fresh air. I certainly can't sit outside on my deck. I am a health provider. Children and adults need breaks from this noise for their physical and mental health. I live in Newton on the Waltham line. I have patients who live nearby and they are suffering from anxiety and sleep disorders due to the noise torture. I am requesting that you disperse these flights in a just manner so that all neighborhoods and communities share the noise burden equitably. This was how it was pre-2013, and there were much fewer complaints at that time."
West Newton, MA
I have migraines and the noise as these planes fly lower and lower gives me fits. They fly late into the night and start early in the morning, enough is enough! I am sure that the value of my home is now lower due to the change in the flight pattern! And I don't see that the change in the flight pattern lowers the cost of the tickets that I am paying for. Please fix this!"
Columbia, MD
"The increased numbers of flights, and the lowered height of flying has lowered our property values, and becone a LOUD INTERRUPTION to our prior peaceful life. It also increases the amount of pollution from the fuel! !"
Columbia, MD
"NextGen is a disaster! Like the supersonic jet that was outlawed, NextGen needs to be dumped."
Los Angeles, CA
"My Wife and I live right under a super highway in the sky in the Village of Floral Park. Its usually the same exact flight paths over the same exact houses day and night. The planes are loud , low and are as frequent as around 90 seconds apart. We literally cant stand it anymore!"
Floral Park, NY
"Every 30 seconds. I can’t walk from the front of my house to the back without a plane overhead. I can’t walk from the back of my house to the front without a plane over head. There is alway a plane in the back yard and another in the front yard. Right NOW as I am writing this!"
Williston Park, NY
"On behalf of Quiet Skies Santa Monica Mountains.... The peace and quiet of our rural mountain communities has been destroyed by the FAA's NextGen reconfiguration of IRNMN and LADYJ flight paths to and from LAX. We did not receive adequate notification and now the quality of our lives, our health, and the value of our properties have been severely impacted. The wilderness (State and National Parklands) and wildlife that surround us must also be suffering the consequences. NextGen must be undone!"
Monte Nido, CA
"Hundreds of jets over my house daily in Pinole. Some as low as 3000 feet. NEXTGEN SUCKS!! The noise is unreal 24/7"
Pinole, CA
"This is horrible!!! Got the air noise.io clicker. Documents everything. We need this proof!!"
Mineloa, NY
"We live 21 miles from BWI and freight jets come right over our house at 1,400 feet and many arrivals come right over our rooftop after midnight and we have to endure the noise and air pollution of hundreds of departures everyday in a narrow flight path. No street lights or stop lights or public water. From peace and quiet to being exposed to jets 24/7 365 days a year. We need to stop the weaponizing of the airline industry!"
Maryland
"Hundreds of planes daily flying over house from Burbank Airport. Please make it stop. We are devastated, ruined our family home we worked so hard for. I live over 10 miles from burbank and the planes are less than a mile over my hpuse. There have never been planes over our house and been in the family for 60 years. The reverberation off the slope of mountain is awf. Even new double paned windows not helping."
Sherman Oaks, CA
"Why do the airlines get preferential treatment over residents? Just ridiculous."
Columbia, MD
"I am awakened between midnight and 6:00 AM at least once because of low flying, noisy aircraft. I cannot think in my home because of the constant noise."
Sherman Oaks, CA
"I've lived in the same house in Columbia, MD. The changed flightpaths make it impossible to enjoy dinners on the deck, and spending time with windows open. The worst aspect is the pre-dawn onslaught of jets flying over our house making sleep impossible. We had our windows replaced for energy consolidations about nine years ago. We were amazed at how much quieter it was. Sadly theses windows don't help with the loud and persistent roar of the jet traffic. Please make our neighborhood livable again."
Columbia, MD
"The constant airplane noise has ruined any relaxing outdoor activities we used to enjoy. Being in a flight path is a nightmare. All of our complaints have fallen on deaf ears as the desires airline industry continue to dominate over the concerns, heath, and safety of the population affected by the din and pollution of the new flight paths."
Columbia, MD
