Since last fall, the Fly Quiet Committee has been involved in a series of meetings with the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), discussing criteria for a proposed overnight runway rotation to be used for O’Hare Airport.
The committee was established by the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (ONCC) to develop efforts to reduce nighttime noise for surrounding neighborhoods during takeoffs and landings at the busy airport.
Under the current program, designated runways are predominately utilized for aircraft arrivals and departures. Communities close to the flight paths tied to these runways are the most negatively impacted by aircraft noise at night. Using the proposed rotation plan, the runways that are designated for nighttime arrivals and departures would be rotated on a daily or weekly basis.
During these meetings, the ONCC developed a set of criteria for the runway rotation program. The rotation plan was recently provided as a recommendation to the CDA. These criteria will be used by the CDA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop the final logistics of the rotation plan. The criteria include intermittent use of east and west flowing runways, and alternating arrival, departure and mixed-use runways. The ONCC is asking the FAA to implement a six-month test of the rotation plan to test performance and efficiency.
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