"FAA hold hearings this week on Philly runway extension"

Monday, November 15, 2004

FAA runway expansion hearings this week
The $40 million project would cut delays, but opponents dispute findings
that it would not affect nearby towns.
By Tom Belden
The Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer


The Federal Aviation Administration has scheduled four hearings across the
region this week to learn what residents think of an increasingly
controversial plan to lengthen a runway at Philadelphia International
Airport.

Opposition to the $40 million runway extension has been growing since the
FAA issued a preliminary environmental impact statement last month that
determined the project would not significantly increase jet-noise levels or
have other adverse effects on nearby communities.

Residents of portions of Delaware and Montgomery Counties and the state of
Delaware say they plan to challenge the FAA's finding at the hearings and
through grassroots organizations. Delaware County Council voted last month
to spend $35,000 to hire its own experts to study the FAA's findings.

The opponents say they expect a big increase in air traffic if the
north-south runway is extended from 5,500 to 6,500 or 7,000 feet, which
would allow it to be used by more jets the size of a Boeing 737 or an Airbus
A320. The runway's length now restricts its use largely to turboprop planes
or smaller, 50-seat regional jets, while the larger, noisier jets use the
airport's two longer east-west runways.

"We understand that the airport is important to the region," said Stephen
Donato of Wilmington, who runs a Web site, PHL-Citizens Aviation Watch
(www.phl-caw.org), that opposes the expansion. "We just want them to
understand the impact of their expansion because the consequences could be
terrible, and I think local politicians need to understand that."

The Coalition Against Extension of Runway 17-35, a group formed in the last
six weeks, has found opponents to the project in Haverford, Lower Merion,
Upper Darby and Yeadon, said spokesman Sal Ferraro, a Havertown resident.
"The public doesn't know what's happening," he said. "Delaware County is not
benefiting at all from this."

Airport officials said they agreed with the FAA's determination that areas
near the airport would experience only a small amount of additional aircraft
noise after the extension is completed, in late 2006 or 2007.

The hearings are the third set of public meetings the FAA and airport
officials have conducted since April to provide information about the
project and gather comments, city Aviation Director Charles J. Isdell said.

"We think this has little negative impact on the surrounding communities,"
Isdell said. "Our objective is to reassure them there won't be a noise
impact."

Based on the FAA's findings, residents who live seven to 10 miles from the
end of the proposed extension should expect to hear about the same amount of
jet noise that many residents of communities such as Cherry Hill, Pennsauken
or Tinicum Township do now.

Planes landing on the airport's longer-east-west runways now fly over
southern New Jersey about two-thirds of the time. When they take off from
those runways, they fly over Tinicum and other Delaware County communities.

Philadelphia has one of the busiest and most delay-prone airports in the
country, with an average of almost 1,400 takeoffs and landings a day. The
airport's location, sandwiched between the heavily traveled New York and
Washington air corridors, contributes to the delays.

But the principal cause is the configuration and length of the airport's
three main runways. If the shorter north-sound runway is extended,
air-traffic controllers could allow two planes to take off or land at the
same time, which cannot be done now.

The FAA also is conducting a longer-term study of how to reconfigure all the
airport's runways in the next eight to 12 years to increase the ability to
handle even more traffic.

Turbulence ahead?

The Federal Aviation Administration is holding public hearings on extending
a runway at Philadelphia International Airport. Information sessions run
from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by the hearings from 7 to 9 p.m.

Monday: Ridley Community Center auditorium, 801 Morton Ave., Folsom, Pa.

Tuesday: West Deptford High School auditorium, 1600 Crown Point Rd.,
Westville, N.J.

Wednesday: Brandywine High School auditorium, 1400 Foulk Rd., Wilmington

Thursday: Eastwick at the Meadows conference center, 6630 Lindbergh Blvd.,
Philadelphia


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