Airport Presents Plan for Changing Flight Paths Over Charlotte

Charlotte City Council heard a presentation from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) CEO Haley Gentry on Monday night that showed a proposed plan to lessen the noise impact for some neighbors of the airport by spreading out the flight routes for departing planes, which is sure to spur an outcry from some who currently see no air traffic above their homes. 

The presentation, which followed Monday night’s committee wrap-up discussions, led to a broader debate among council members about transparency and expectations around community engagement. 

Monday night’s presentation involved a federal aviation regulation called Part 150, which guides and controls planning for aviation noise compatibility on and around airports. 

Council approved a contract to conduct a new Part 150 study in January 2022 and the study kicked off in May of that year with a goal to “develop a balanced and cost-effective plan for reducing current noise impacts from the airport’s operations, where practical, and to limit additional impacts in the future.” 

As Gentry explained in Monday’s presentation, the study proposes measures such as shifting late-night operations to utilize runways that impact industrial and transportation land uses rather than residential areas and adding new “run-up locations” where pilots can perform engine checks with less noise impact to the surrounding area.  

But the aspect of the Part 150 study that is sure to draw a reaction from residents is the proposal to implement new “diverging headings” for departures from CLT to disperse aircraft over a wider area, meaning planes leaving the airport will be heading in a wider range of directions, increasing the number of residents who regularly hear overhead airplane noise from planes that just took off rather than concentrating that noise over a limited number of areas. 

Produced by simulations, the plan proposes 27 future potential flight paths, up from the eight that are currently in use. 

If approved by Charlotte City Council on Monday, Dec. 9, when the vote is currently scheduled to take place, the proposal would then be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for approval by September 2025. 

If approved, that would kick off an environmental review and additional public comment period that would take more than two years, according to Gentry, with implementation occurring in 2027.   

If approved, it would be the first significant change to flight paths directly surrounding the airport since 1979, despite the fact that CLT has quadrupled its traffic and passenger numbers since that time, Gentry explained. 

Council member Tariq Bokhari, representative of District 6 in south Charlotte, quickly recognized that the plan, despite being a “no-brainer” for the airport, will draw an outcry from residents who will get more air traffic above their homes as a result of the plan. 

Bokhari pointed out that, during his seven years on council, he has never seen such an intensely dramatic resident response as came from the FAA’s changes to routes 2 miles out from the airport as part of its Metroplex plan, which the agency rolled out in Charlotte in 2017. 

“It was substantial, it was most directly impacting my district, and I was out there firsthand hearing how they felt. So that’s the thing we have to balance,” Bokhari said. “While there are many steps to come and it will take many years to bring this to fruition, there’s only one shot that this council’s going to have at it.” 

He added that the FAA was not responsive to residents’ complaints in 2017 and he doesn’t expect it will be this time around either. 

“The only saving grace, why I didn’t get murdered,” he said with a laugh, “was that I said, ‘I had nothing to do with this, the council had nothing to do with this.’ Now the council does have something to do with this.” 

Council rep Renee Johnson of District 4 in northeast Charlotte said she would not support the plan until she saw more community outreach efforts to inform residents of its effects, a stance that garnered a reaction from Tiawana Brown, who represents District 3 where the airport is located. 

Brown said she has been attending community meetings and discussing the plan with constituents in her district since taking office in January and is impressed and has been pleased with community outreach efforts by the airport. 

Those efforts have included the formation of a Technical Advisory Committee made up of stakeholders including airport officials, aircraft operators/airlines, government officials, land use planners, an airport community roundtable comprising residents, and FAA air traffic controllers. They have held public information sessions, public hearings, and launched a website to solicit feedback. 

Read more: CLT Airport Releases Overlook Renderings, Details on Expansion Projects (2023)

Brown said the community meetings she has attended thus far have taken care of any concerns she had. 

“With the information that you’ve presented to me, Haley, and hearing my colleagues because they’re very important, I stand with supporting this because of the information and how I dug deep,” Brown said. “I also don’t want to excuse the fact that there are some very valuable questions and concerns out there.” 

Charlotte City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to send the proposed plan to the FAA at its next meeting on Dec. 9. 

Despite Bokhari’s skepticism that many more people still can be reached in the week between Monday night’s presentation, he recommended city staff reach out to neighborhood associations with information about the plan and add a public forum to solicit feedback from residents to the Dec. 9 agenda before the vote is held. 

Learn more about Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s Part 150 Study at the website.