To address San Carlos Airport noise issues ONLY.

The first Town Hall meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 6:00 PM at:

Holbrook Palmer Park,
Jennings Pavilion,
150 Watkins Avenue,
Atherton, CA 94027

County Staff will not be prepared to address aircraft noise from other Bay Area airports at the meeting on August 16th.

A second Town Hall meeting, hosted by Supervisor Slocum, is being scheduled at the Fair Oaks Community Center in mid-September. I will send the exact date and time when confirmed with the Center.

The community is invited to attend one or both meetings to discuss San Carlos Airport noise disturbance issues.

Beginning July 5, 2016 Surf Air will be allowed to fly a new approach into KSQL that will take them over the Bay. The approach which was approved by the FAA, will result in a six month test to determine if it will be a permanent option. The test period will start in early July.
It’s important to understand what this means:
* The new approach will only be used on fair weather days (VFR conditions).
* Use of the approach is at the pilot’s discretion.
* If the pilot makes the request, Air Traffic Control may or may not allow inbound Surf Air flights to use the approach
* SQL departures see no benefits
* The FAA may cancel the approach after six months.
* This is not a final or permanent solution for the Surf Air noise problem over our homes

Why You Should be Cautious About This New Visual Approach
Let’s look at each of the points above to better understand how they may impact the noise over our homes.

Weather
Poor weather or visibility will force pilots to use the current published approaches that take Surf’s aircraft over our neighborhoods. Cloudy, foggy, rainy days, or days where the pilot can’t see the airport from just south of Moffet means they will use the current approach over our homes. We know that Surf Air ‘clumps’ their flights into early morning and after 6 pm. This coincides with when it is most likely to be foggy or low visibility conditions.

Pilot’s Discretion
It’s voluntary and the pilot will make the decision. A pilot must manage a lot of details during final approach, and adding this new, more complex approach to their flights may create situations where they just don’t want to do it. This means they may choose to use it or they can continue to fly the current approach, it’s their choice to make the request to use it (or not). It’s not clear how many pilots will choose not to use the new approach option.

Air Traffic Control (ATC)
ATC will make the decision to grant a pilot the option to use the new approach should the pilot request it. We live in a crowded airspace and ATC may simply deny the request because of high traffic in the area (for example). High traffic periods include early morning and later afternoon/early evening. But with three major airports, all times of the day are generally considered busy over the Bay.

Departures
There are 22 departures. The Surf Air flights will continue to depart over the homes on the departure flight path. Most of these Surf Air flights turn south after departure, which means they are again flying over Redwood City, Menlo Park, Atherton and other neighborhoods.

Test Period
This is a six month test, during which time ATC and the FAA will be gathering data. It is possible that the new flight path could be canceled after 6 months.

Permanent Solution
The FAA may choose to rescind the approach after the six month test – and if they do, we are back to current noise conditions at all times of the day. It’s pretty obvious that at best, this is a welcome but limited option for solving the KSQL noise problem.

This new approach can reduce noise over our homes – if it is used. But we need a lot of varying weather conditions, and solid reporting from KSQL on what percentage of flights are actually using the approach.

Considering we are in our dry season, the initial stats could be skewed suggesting that it is working (if they choose to use the approach). Remember that during the winter months, the usage stats will be much different and the noise will be back over our neighborhoods.

Noise Problem
The new approach is a good step in the right direction. In fact, it clearly acknowledges that there is a serious noise problem that Surf Air and the FAA are finally addressing. It’s taken over 3 years to get this far and we applaud the efforts of our community leaders in supporting this noise problem.

However, we are adamant that we need permanent solutions, and that will require that our County Supervisors support efforts to implement changes at KSQL that enforce limits on high volume commercial flights from operators like Surf Air.

Surf Air Expansion
Twenty two daily inbound Surf Air flights and twenty two departures are only the beginning. When CEO Jeff Potter was recently asked how many additional flights would be added, he avoided the question and reinforced that SQL in San Carlos is a popular destination for their customers.

See the attached promotional piece that was sent to Surf Air members recently:
* 12 planes currently flying, 53 more on the way
* 209 employees, 75 pilots

Are you ready for 25, 30, 40 or even more inbound flights per day? It could happen. And it’s just a matter of time before another operator like Surf Air arrives at the Airport adding even more noise to our skies.

Please continue to encourage the County Supervisors to implement changes at KSQL that gives all of us confidence that the next 10+ years will have sufficient controls in place to reduce noise over our homes. Your past support in this effort got us this far, now we need to complete the effort to ensure we will have a permanent reduction in noise.

Contact the Supervisors today and let them understand your concerns and desire for a permanent solution.

Starting Tuesday, July 5, 2016, Surf Air has received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to start flying a new approach to the San Carlos Airport, sending its planes over the Bay from Moffett Field past the Dumbarton Bridge whenever conditions allow.

Read more >> Palo Alto Online article

April 27, 2016
The Mercury News Peninsula
Complaints of airplane noise are being addressed, but remain unresolved
REDWOOD CITY — Residents seeking relief from airplane noise could find solace in the fact that steps are being taken, and more efforts are afoot.
More info >>

Complaints of airplane noise are being addressed, but remain unresolved.

Residents seeking relief from airplane noise could find solace in the fact that steps are being taken, and more efforts are afoot.

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_29823199/atherton-vice-mayor-tells-county-board-work-is

There is a new online form as well:

http://www.planenoise.com/sanmateo/tY5Ru4wa/

It requires a bit more information to lodge a complaint, but please do not let it prevent you from filing a complaint!

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo has asked for the community to voice their concerns by filling out the form: https://iqconnect.lmhostediq.com/iqextranet/view_newsletter.aspx?id=168244&c=CA18AE.

In the additional comments box, call out Surf Air’s impact on our neighborhoods. 

This is a rare opportunity to have our concerns heard.

On April 13, 2015, Surf Air announced it will add 31 more flights without informing Atherton officials despite promising they would inform the community first.

Increased aircraft noise and flawed federal laws prevent communities from managing aircraft noise