South Tampa Residents Upset Over Plane Traffic

Airplane traffic buzzing over John Few's waterfront home in Beach Park has him fuming.



It's not what he paid for more than 20 years ago when he bought his property -- a tranquil setting of tropical foliage and quiet elegance, he said.

South Tampa resident Frank Agliano said he is convinced the daily overhead plane parade is devaluing his property, and if it doesn't stop soon, he plans to sue the county property appraiser because the appraised value is too high.

An online survey taken by thousands of airport visitors shows that few have been negatively impacted by construction at Tampa International Airport over the past year as work continues on a $1 billion upgrade of airport facilities.

The same is not true for those living south of the airport. And their complaints go beyond construction. They say air traffic over their homes has been picking up steadily for five years now. The airport acknowledges an increase over the past year, but denies the residents' allegations that planes flying over their homes have been on a steady increase.

Most days, an average of 10 commercial jets fly over Beach Park and Culbreath Isles, along with dozens of general aviation aircraft.

Tampa International Airport staff say more commercial jets are using the "noise sensitive runway" called "1 Right", due to construction taking place to rebuild a taxiway over George Bean Parkway. They say when construction ends in September, flight patterns will return to normal with only an average of two commercial jets flying over each day. In the normal flight pattern, most commercial airplanes approach over the Gulf.

Complaining South Tampa residents aren't buying it. The neighbors say the recent construction is just the latest excuse for the uptick in overhead traffic. The increased commercial jet traffic began in 2011, about the same time Joe Lopano took the helm at the airport and has since increased five-fold, Few said. He and his neighbors say they don't believe it will stop when construction of the taxiway is complete in September.

Residents surrounding the airport sent more than 700 emails to the airport's noise abatement office in 2015. Most of the emails, airport officials concede, are the result of the construction project. That's more than double the usual number of complaints Tampa International receives.

Still, airport spokeswoman Janet Zink said the numbers from airport operations do not support the claim of a steady uptick in jets flying over South Tampa. She says there was actually a 30 percent drop in the number of commercial jets landing on the noise sensitive 1 Right runway. In 2011 more than 1,900 commercial jets landed on the runway, compared to about 1,300 in 2014.

When they did complain, residents say they received quick and cordial responses from the airport's noise abatement office. When traffic starts getting too congested on the airport's 1 Left runway, the Federal Aviation Administration will divert planes to the noise sensitive runway to keep the planes from having to circle the terminal to get to their gates. Also, when pilots request to land on 1 Right, the FAA usually grants that request in the name of safety.

"The statistics don't show that it's temporary," Few said. "It's a constant barrage. We just want them to operate under their noise abatement program for runway use."

The airport has asked and gotten agreement from the FAA to limit flights on 1 Right to between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, with no weekend or holiday use, Zink said. Cargo jets are also prohibited from using the noise sensitive runway.

Zink says that more than 90 percent of the time, pilots do comply with the voluntary program. When they don't, even if no complaint is filed, the airport sends a letter to the airline reminding them of the voluntary noise abatement program. Still, she said, the airport plans to meet with pilots soon to discuss the concerns raised by South Tampa residents and start a recognition program for pilots who do comply.

Ultimately, she reiterated, it is up to the FAA to determine where planes can land. "The airport doesn't tell planes where to land."

The FAA responded to questions about the use of the noise sensitive runway in an email. "The FAA has published a Letter to Airmen outlining the Voluntary Noise Abatement Procedure for Runway 1Right at Tampa International Airport. The FAA accommodates Voluntary Noise Abatement Procedures as frequently as possible. Sometimes a pilot will request to land on a specific runway and the FAA will accommodate that request if it is possible."

"I don't think they're being dishonest but after awhile you come away with the feeling that they don't have your best interest at heart for protecting property value and protecting this area," said Beach Park resident Joe Finney. "I know they're stuck between a rock and a hard place" having to depend on the FAA to make the final decision on where planes can land, but something needs to be done to require more compliance with noise restrictions, he said.

"A lot of us think it's not going to get resolved" unless the neighbors make some noise, Finney said.

Tom and Barb Couture, who have started attending noise abatement meetings at the airport, say they believe the growing number of pilots using the runway that sends planes over their house are the result of Lopano kowtowing to the airlines. "I think perhaps there is some catering to the airlines because they want to save fuel," Barb Couture said.

"It's not 10 or 12 houses they are affecting," she said. "It's thousands. At the last noise consortium meeting we specifically asked if it would go back to 2010 levels after the construction and Joe Lopano said he cannot guarantee that."

The airport's voluntary noise abatement program, established in 1999, is designed to limit the number of airplanes landing on Runway 1 Right which sends planes flying over neighborhoods with 2,800 houses.

The airport is not doing enough to make the airlines comply, Barb Couture said. "I think they are using this construction as an excuse."

The right thing to do would have been to build another bridge, or taxiway, before tearing down Taxiway J to make room for the new 1.4-mile people mover train going in at the airport, Tom Couture said. "The airport's whole reason for flying the planes where they are has to do with ground traffic because they took out that taxiway."

If the planes were not diverted, they would be required to taxi around the entire terminal to get to their gates which would mean airplanes traveling on the ground in both directions. That would become a safety issue, Zink said.

Each time a pilot chooses to use the noise sensitive runway the airport sends a reminder to the airline about its voluntary noise abatement program, Zink said. But the airlines are not required to respond. The pilots should have to give proof there is an operations or weather issue or use the other runway, Agliano said. "I don't think most of the pilots give a damn. They're just going to blast out of there at a low altitude because it saves them fuel, rather than just climbing quickly. I use the term low and loud."

If its a safety issue, he said, the pilots should have to name the issue.

Few said he is all too familiar with low and loud, citing two cases recently where jets flew over his roof at 1:30 a.m. and at 4:20 a.m., even though the airport has requested and been granted restricted times for flights on the noise sensitive runway.

When the option is available to take the more western runway, where airplanes approach over the Gulf, that's the one they should use, Agliano said. "It's irritating and kind of abusive to the residents of Beach Park and Culbreath Isles."

(Culled from aviationpros.com)