As
Bill Sees It (Editorial):
FAA Releases "Record Of
Decision" For Airspace Redesign Plan!!! The masterpiece of FAA lies
and distortions can be found at 
politically
weak communities. This illegal, unjust and racist policy is the way
the FAA keeps the "numbers" of people impacted down. The real reason,
of course, has to do with protecting the wealthy, privileged, and above all,
politically connected. Airspace Redesign Plan Generates
Lawsuits In New York And New Jersey!!!
It was interesting to read the Elisabeth,
New Jersey's Mayor's comments in a N.Y. Times 
noise
impacts; that would go against FAA policy of protecting the politically
powerful communities by concentrating and dumping flights on the poor, minority and politically
weak (which I'd bet
describes the old overflight path) ones. Instead they say they are doing so to
"reduce delays." Interesting how the FAA didn't find it
necessary to reduce delays by fanning planes over protected JFK Airport communities. I guess they were afraid
of incurring the wrath of Senator "Chuck" Schumer, who has been very
active with many FAA issues. If communities are going to fight the Airspace
Redesign
Plan they should join forces and look at EVERY part of the plan that violates
federal and state laws, not just their own narrow interests. Thailand Community Gets
Government To Negotiate With Balloon Release Threat!!!
It seems that the threat to release balloons
by a noise impacted community in Thailand got the attention of government
officials and has brought them back to bargaining table. The
community said they
didn't release the balloons because they changed their minds because "they
didn't want to endanger air traffic." I think the balloon idea could be
used by other communities fighting the plane noise menace. 
Elizabeth, New Jersey Files
Suit Against FAA "Fanning" Plan!!! Officials in Elizabeth,
N.J., said the city had filed suit in federal court to block the F.A
.A. plan.
Elizabeth residents in the current flight path are accustomed to the noise,
Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said, but the plan would spread the misery across
the city. “That’s the issue — 40 percent to 60 percent have not
experienced airplane noise,” Mr. Bollwage said. “Homes are going to shake.
Backyard barbecues are going to be ruined.” The F.A.A. says that fewer people
will be subjected to noise, in part because planes taking off more steeply will
mean fewer low-flying aircraft near homes. But it is clear that by varying
takeoff routes, people unaccustomed to such noise will be affected. Home values,
among other considerations, could be affected as flight paths shift. “There
are people who will have a different noise experience,” said Steve Kelley,
manager of airspace redesign at the F.A.A. Of opponents, Mr. Kelley said,
“many of them are the same ones who say, ‘Do something about the delays.’
” He said the agency considered towns’ objections, altering the plan in
parts, and chose the best alternative. Read below or at: 
Thailand:
Airport Noise Protestors Won't Release Balloons!!! Residents from 32 housing estates who are being affected from
noise pollution at Suvarnabhumi airport Saturday pledged not to release balloons
to disrupt air traffic at the airport on Sunday. Prasert Boonkaew, leader of
local residents from the 32 housing estates, said leaders of the residents would
hold a meeting, starting from 9.09 am Sunday, to discuss what problems had been
solved by Airports of Thailand (AoT) for the residents during the past 11
months. Residents leaders will also discuss whether the contracts signed earlier
with AoT are fair to the residents, said Mr. Prasert, adding that he could not
say whether the disgruntled residents would move and surround the airport after
the meeting. He said the residents had agreed with the Aeronautical Radio of
Thailand, under the supervision of the Transport Ministry, not to release
balloons as they realised that such action would endanger air traffic. The
local residents want concerned government agencies to honour last year's
November 21 Cabinet resolution and want the AoT to adjust the flight timetable
by having commercial airliners refrain from landing or take-off during
night-time like some countries which would not disturb their sleep. Editor's
Note: I would like to know which countries worry about their citizen's losing
sleep from airplane operations. It certainly isn't the United States!!! Air travelers hoping that a proposed reconfiguration of air traffic in the New York and Philadelphia area will soon reduce chronic flight delays could be in for yet another long wait: some municipalities in New Jersey and New York are suing to stop the plan because it would route noisy jets over areas unaccustomed to such traffic.
The towns and counties are also rallying political power in Washington to oppose the plan.
“Whatever it takes, we’re going to attack this,” Christopher P. St. Lawrence, the town supervisor in Ramapo, N.Y., said of the Federal Aviation Administration’s plan to reroute many flights in the New York area.
The plan would simplify the paths flown by aircraft landing at airports in the New York and Philadelphia areas and provide more varied routes for takeoffs.
The agency expects to begin rolling out the plan this fall and projects that it will reduce delays by 20 percent when it is fully in effect in 2011, compared with the level of delays expected if routes were not changed.
More direct flight paths and steeper takeoffs, which get jetliners into thinner air more rapidly, would also curb fuel use and save airlines $248 million a year, the F.A.A. said.
But the plan would steer hundreds of flights daily over areas that are not part of regular flight paths now, disturbing homes and schools and threatening property values, Mr. St. Lawrence said.
His town, in Rockland County, northwest of New York City, is joining the county in seeking to block the plan in federal court. Ramapo could face as many as 600 flights a day passing over at altitudes of about 6,000 feet, he said. He and other officials have tried for years — the airspace redesign was nearly a decade in the making — to stop the F.A.A. from sending planes over their towns.
“It’s not just that we in Rockland County don’t want airplanes,” said C. Scott Vanderhoef, the county executive. Mr. Vanderhoef said the F.A.A. had failed to abide by federal requirements to mitigate noise when redesigning air space. “The agency arrogantly approached this redesign,” he said.
The opposition shows how difficult it is to alter the country’s antiquated air travel system. In recent years, because of financial, environmental and noise concerns, few new airports have been built and air travel has outgrown the air traffic control system, leading to increasing delays in many areas.
The three big New York-area airports and the Philadelphia airport are regularly at the bottom of on-time rankings. Just 57.2 percent of flights arrived on time in July at Kennedy International Airport, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported; at La Guardia Airport, 60 percent were on time; at Newark, 61.4 percent; and at Philadelphia International Airport, 63.4 percent. Airport delays in the East often ripple across the country.
Officials in Elizabeth, N.J., said the city had filed suit in federal court to block the F.A.A. plan. Elizabeth residents in the current flight path are accustomed to the noise, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said, but the plan would spread the misery across the city.
“That’s the issue — 40 percent to 60 percent have not experienced airplane noise,” Mr. Bollwage said. “Homes are going to shake. Backyard barbecues are going to be ruined.”
The F.A.A. says that fewer people will be subjected to noise, in part because planes taking off more steeply will mean fewer low-flying aircraft near homes. But it is clear that by varying takeoff routes, people unaccustomed to such noise will be affected. Home values, among other considerations, could be affected as flight paths shift.
“There are people who will have a different noise experience,” said Steve Kelley, manager of airspace redesign at the F.A.A. Of opponents, Mr. Kelley said, “many of them are the same ones who say, ‘Do something about the delays.’ ” He said the agency considered towns’ objections, altering the plan in parts, and chose the best alternative.
David Neeleman, chairman of JetBlue Airways, which operates from Kennedy Airport, said neighbors near his Connecticut home are upset about the F.A.A. plan, which they believe would redirect flights over upscale suburbs not used to such noise.
Improving the air traffic system will require compromise and sacrifice, Mr. Neeleman said. “Any improvements from here on out, we’re going to have to change how we do business.”
The F.A.A. plan is not intended to make room for more air traffic, but to handle it more efficiently.