"Air Carriers Ok Teterboro Curfew"

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Air carriers OK Teterboro curfew      
By DAVID A. MICHAELS
The North Jersey (NJ) Media Group 


About half of the operators that fly out of Teterboro Airport have agreed to
a voluntary curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
 
Teterboro Airport's major operators have agreed to a nighttime curfew and a
ban on the noisiest jets at the busy airport, a deal public officials hailed
as relief for residents weary of aircraft noise and safety concerns.

The restrictions, to be announced today by Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn,
are voluntary and cover about 50 percent of the operators that fly from
Teterboro.

Rothman and Anthony R. Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey, expect 90 percent of operators to comply with the new rules
by the end of next year.

"We have demonstrated that even if operators at the airport initially
disagreed or the FAA tried to put obstacles in our way, we could achieve
significant victories with regard to a reduction in aircraft noise and
improvements in safety," Rothman said Tuesday.

Officials said a voluntary agreement is necessary because the Federal
Aviation Administration has opposed attempts by the Port Authority, which
owns Teterboro, to restrict flights at the airport, which is surrounded by
residential neighborhoods and businesses on Route 46. The FAA requires
general aviation airports that receive federal grant money to be open to any
pilot who wants to land there.
 
The right direction

Coscia said the voluntary restrictions "do not represent a solution" to the
persistent problem of congested airspace and rising demand for private
aviation. But he called the agreement a step in the right direction.

"We consider it very much to be a work in progress given the FAA's
unwillingness to [permit] restrictions that we would otherwise like to
impose," Coscia said.

James K. Coyne, who represented the aviation industry in talks with Rothman,
said the groups agreed to restrictions because they thought changes were
coming sooner or later to an airport he called "the most important general
aviation airport in the world."

"I hope we can get the same kind of industrywide cooperation at every
airport, but the players were all there at Teterboro," said Coyne, president
of the National Air Transportation Association.

In recent years, as residents protested increasing flights and accidents,
the Port Authority sought to check Teterboro's growth by raising landing
fees and opposing scheduled charter service. Teterboro handled 193,427
takeoffs and landings in 2005, and officials said the number is down about 7
percent this year.

Public meeting set

Carol Skiba, a Hasbrouck Heights councilwoman, said she doubts the new
restrictions will provide much comfort for residents.

"Flights need to be cut," Skiba said. "Seeing is going to be believing, but
I really doubt there is going to be any change."

Rothman said residents, who can comment and make suggestions at a public
meeting at Teterboro on Nov. 9, will be impressed by the rules.

"I expect that within six months they [residents] will notice the operations
at Teterboro are quieter, safer and occur much less often during 11 p.m.
[to] 6 a.m.," he said, adding that legislation to curb flights is possible
if the voluntary restrictions fail.

Owners of stage-2 jets, generally 40 percent to 50 percent louder than newer
aircraft, would likely land at Newark Liberty International Airport instead,
Coyne said. These aircraft have typically made up about 5 percent of
Teterboro's operations, Port Authority officials said.

The Port Authority did not release the number of flights arriving at
Teterboro at night.

Nathan McKelvey, president of a company that handles reservations for
charter flights, said international flights are most likely to arrive
overnight. Teterboro now handles about 10,000 international operations a
year.

McKelvey, president of Jets International, said the new rule amounts to a
sacrifice by Teterboro's fixed-base operators, which sell fuel to charter
companies and other business jets.

"The big fuel sales are to big airplanes coming in from long-haul trips," he
said.

Restrictions

The new rules include:

   . A pledge to avoid takeoffs and landings between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

   . The exclusion of stage 2 aircraft, noisier jets that were built between
the early 1960s and 1980s.

   . The development of a safety management system that would require pilots
to familiarize themselves with the airport's runways, overrun areas and wind
patterns.

   . An agreement to work with the federal Transportation Security
Administration to develop best practices for security and screening of
passengers.

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