Sounds of quiet relief are not in the near future for South Bay residents plagued with air traffic noise, but rather two years down the road, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Phase Two plan released July 25.

The 52-page report considered recommendations from two air traffic noise committees: the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals and the San Francisco International Airport Community Roundtable. Of the 104 recommendations for the Bay Area in the report, Santa Clara County will see two solutions to major noise concerns.

Saratoga’s Vice Mayor Mary-Lynne Bernald was appointed to the Select Committee in April 2016, just a month after loads of complaints came in from Saratogans.

“I had been active in this issue of airplane noise since March of 2016, when Saratoga residents began to contact me,” Bernald said in an email. “March was when the FAA initiated their new flight procedures under their NextGen program. Within days of the changes, citizens throughout these three districts began to register complaints in overwhelming numbers.”

The FAA began rerouting flight paths in 2015 as part of its NextGen program to free up airspace and fly airplanes along more narrow paths. Some of these reroutes put planes right over Saratoga and other Bay Area residential areas, causing more than 3 million residents to complain to their local elected officials and congressional leaders of rumbling windows, interrupted sleep patterns and conversations, awakened babies and an overall sense of unease.

Three members of Congress who have been instrumental in bringing the issues to the FAA’s attention—Reps. Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Jackie Speier (CA-14), and Jimmy Panetta (CA-20)—commended the FAA’s action on noise reduction in a press statement on the report’s release.

Like the Saratoga News Facebook page for neighborhood news and conversation from Saratoga and beyond.

“As Members of Congress who are also members of the Congressional Quiet Skies Caucus, we will continue to support legislative efforts in Congress to hold airlines and airports accountable to reduce aircraft noise which has impacted so many of our constituents and encourage the airline industry to adopt new technologies that will reduce noise,” the release read.

A big area of concern are two intersecting flight paths known as the SERFR and BRIXX routes.

SERFR route

The SERFR route, which travels over the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Peninsula before arriving into SFO, was the source of many residents’ complaints after NextGen implementation in 2015. Planes currently flying along this route used to fly along a route over Big Sur, known as the BSR route.

The FAA’s solution is to revert the planes to a route similar to BSR the route, but it’ll take 18 to 24 months before noise relief will be felt.

The reroute plan would also incorporate a procedure called Optimized Profile Descent, which would enable aircraft to descend on a quieter, idle-power setting when touching down.

BRIXX route

The BRIXX route is the northern arrival route into Mineta San Jose International Airport. It runs down the Peninsula and over the Santa Cruz Mountains before turning for its final approach, intersecting with the SERFR route right above the Saratoga Hills. To avoid crashing, BRIXX planes fly beneath the SERFR route at or below 4,000 feet altitudes.

As an anecdote for how low airplanes are currently flying, Bernald said in an email, “Residents under both SERFR and BRIXX report being able to read plane identification numbers on the tail fins.”

Complaints are still coming in, especially from hillside areas such as Bohlman, Montalvo, Peach Hill and Mt. Eden.

“I am still receiving complaints from Saratoga citizens due to this situation,” Bernald said in an email. “The areas affected are the same as those listed above and sometimes from a broader area. We are very hopeful this (route) change will be of great benefit to our Saratoga residents, among others.”

A route fix is dependent on an area navigation design and will take additional time after the SERFR reroute is implemented. Which is why the estimate for quieter skies above Saratoga is not expected for two years.

Community feedback

Saratoga resident Charlie Thomson began writing letters to the city after the NextGen implementation began impinging on his quality of life. He wondered why the FAA didn’t consult with neighbors underneath the flight paths before they rerouted planes.

“It looks sort of irresponsible to have the two routes intersecting midair,” Thomson said. “The BRIXX traffic has to fly lower to the mountain communities, and that causes a big problem with noise. I don’t know what they were thinking when they set up the routes too close and intersecting; it didn’t make sense.

“If you’re being awakened by air traffic while you sleep, health consequences can occur,” Thomson added. “For me it’s more of a quality of life issue. I like to to use the reasonable man principle: it’s reasonable to assume that if you live in a quiet neighborhood, anything disruptive in terms of sound, whether it’s barking dog or replacement of a freeway nearby, can destroy the quality of life you once had.”

While Saratogans and other West Valley communities are scheduled for some relief, the FAA is still evaluating many of the Select Committee and SFO Roundtable’s recommendations.

Eshoo, Panetta and Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) are working to establish a committee in Santa Clara County similar to the SFO Roundtable that would provide a body to communicate with the FAA directly on issues concerning SJC, with air traffic controllers and with the SFO Roundtable on overlapping issues.

Phase Three of the “FAA Initiative to Address Noise Concerns in Santa Cruz/Santa Clara/San Mateo/San Francisco Counties” will implement procedures and conduct any required airspace changes and additional negotiated actions. The release date of that plan is unknown.

To view the Phase Two document in its entirety, visit eshoo.house.gov.