Category : Correspondence(195)

Currently, FAA law has extremely complicated rules for establishing a noise boundary around airports. (A noise boundary is a geographic area inside which there is a certain acceptable noise level.) This is referred to as the DNL65. and it has several major flaws. The FAA Reauthorization Act Of 2018 attempted to address these flaws in several ways. This letter, from a caucus of Congressmen engaged on airport community issues complains to the Administrator that the spirit of the law is not being adhered to and demands that he make attempts to put his agency into compliance. The language is fairly technical, however there are a couple of basic points they raise: First, that the noise boundary be determined by actual noise measurements (currently the noise boundaries are 'modeled' and those calculations often do not reflect in any way the lived experience for residents.) Second, that the 'acceptable' noise level of sixty five decibels (hence DNL65) has been determined to be far too high to conform with current understandings of healthy living.

Vashon Island Fair Skies, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, wrote to the SeaTac City Council in July 2020 requesting help pressuring the Port of Seattle to retain raw second-by-second data from its 24 airport noise monitors, which vendor L3Harris currently purges after processing. The letter argues this raw data is essential for accurate noise analysis, demonstrating with December 2019 monitor data that high background noise at some sites causes the processing software to miss many actual aircraft overflight events. The group asks the city to urge the Port to make a simple procedural change — either downloading the data itself or requiring L3Harris to deliver it — noting the storage requirement is a modest ~62 MB per monitor per month.

Two members of the Des Moines Ad Hoc Aviation Advisory Committee (DMAAC) resigned in July 2020, citing frustration that the Des Moines City Council voted to rejoin the SeaTac Airport Round Table (StART) without meeting any of the 13 reform criteria the committee had jointly developed with Burien. The resignees argued that rejoining StART without securing meaningful reforms was a strategic mistake, as prior participation in the forum had proven ineffective and potentially harmful to the city's long-term interests. Despite their resignations, they pledged to continue advocating for reduced airport noise and environmental protections through other organizations and legislative channels.

Two local citizen coalitions — the Burien Quiet Skies Coalition and Quiet Skies Puget Sound — wrote to Port of Seattle leadership in May 2020, urging them to pause and reassess the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic's dramatic reduction in air travel demand. The letter argues that the Port's planned $3.4 billion capital investment program relies on outdated pre-pandemic assumptions, and cites concerns raised as early as 2019 by Alaska Airlines about the SAMP's oversized gate count, disconnected north terminal design, and excessive costs. The signatories call on Port Commissioners to revise all passenger and revenue projections before committing public and airline funds to infrastructure that may no longer be justified.

In May 2020, Sharyn Parker of the Quiet Skies Coalition emailed Burien city staff requesting email addresses for local elected officials in DesMoines, Sea-Tac, Normandy Park, and Federal Way, in order to distribute a letter to Port of Seattle Commissioners regarding airport noise. Burien Management Analyst Lori Fleming responded with contact information for city managers, administrators, and mayors of several South King County cities, including SeaTac, Tukwila, Normandy Park, Des Moines, and Federal Way. The exchange was flagged as a public record subject to disclosure under Washington State's public records law, RCW 42.56.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue, Spirit, and Delta Airlines submitted requests to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking permission to suspend flights to dozens of airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The airlines cited historically low passenger demand, with some flights carrying as few as two passengers on 162-seat aircraft, making continued service financially unsustainable. The requests were part of a broader industry effort to reduce operations despite minimum service requirements tied to CARES Act funding.