Stories

When Earth Day began in 1970 the problems of environmental damage were obvious to everyone. There was almost complete bipartisan support for major legislation to improve the quality of life for everyone in America — including airports. Even President Nixon was on board, signing into law every piece of environmental legislation that still matters. We

Level Up: April 17th Historically, the FAA’s approach to recruiting and retaining Air Traffic Controllers has been to say the least, a slightly schizophrenic. On the one hand, the physical and mental requirements are more challenging than most government or military positions. By government standards, the compensation, and particularly the retirement benefits are very good.

**Discover why environmental progress stalled for airport communities while cars got cleaner** Ever wonder why your car's emissions have dramatically improved over decades, but aviation seems stuck in the past? In this eye-opening episode of The Airport Communities Podcast, we explore the fascinating tale of two environmental paths that diverged after 1970. While Washington Senator Scoop Jackson spearheaded NEPA—one of the largest expansions of environmental policy in American history—and California secured game-changing carve-outs in the Clean Air Act that led to massive air quality improvements, aviation somehow got left behind. Despite Boeing being headquartered in Washington, aviation environmental standards never caught up. UW Meteorologist Cliff Mass delivers some stark perspective: those two annual flights to Europe generate more greenhouse gases than most people produce in their entire homes over a year. Meanwhile, Boeing's monopoly status has eliminated market incentives for cleaner technology. This wasn't an oversight—it was intentional. Today, every airport community continues paying the price for decisions made decades ago that exempted aviation from automotive-level engineering standards.

SAMP Update: NEPA Following the FAA decision to permit the Sustainable Airport Master Plan, the Three City ILA  (Burien, Des Moines, and SeaTac) filed a shared appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court, using an attorney identified and hired by the City of SeaTac. Apparently, the attorney was also hired, in a shared decision the non-profit

After 50 years of community engagement and millions spent on advocacy, why do airport communities continue to lose battles over noise, air quality, and expansion? The uncomfortable truth is that the Casino rewards community engagement—an approach that never works--over developing one that does.

After 50 years of community engagement and millions spent on advocacy, why do airport communities continue to lose battles over noise, air quality, and expansion? The uncomfortable truth is that the Casino rewards community engagement—an approach that never works--over developing one that does.

The benefits and consequences for airport communities In January 2025, the Trump administration began removing content from federal websites following Executive Order 14151. The order directed all government agencies to terminate DEI and environmental justice–related programs. These include environmental justice and climate mapping using a nationally consistent dataset for evaluating the socioeconomic impacts of airports.