TagStART(441)

The Highline Forum held a virtual meeting on May 26, 2021, hosted by the City of Federal Way, focusing on a recap of the 2021 Washington State Legislative Session and non-SAMP (Sustainable Airport Master Plan) airport improvement projects at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The meeting, conducted via Microsoft Teams due to the Governor's Stay at Home Order, also included updates on the StART (Sea-Tac Airport Roundtable) program presented by Port of Seattle Aviation Director Lance Lyttle. The forum is a recurring regional body that meets bimonthly, with 2021 meetings hosted by various neighboring cities and institutions including Burien, Highline College, Tukwila, and SeaTac.

The SEA Stakeholder Advisory Round Table (StART) is a voluntary regional forum established in 2017 by the Port of Seattle to foster cooperation between the Port and six neighboring cities — SeaTac, Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, Tukwila, and Federal Way — on issues related to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport operations, planning, and community impacts. The group brings together community members, city employees, airline representatives, and the FAA to share information and develop practical solutions for reducing airport noise and other impacts on surrounding communities. These operating procedures, enacted May 20, 2021, outline StART's membership structure, governance roles, and the responsibilities of its Steering Committee and independent facilitator.

The Burien Airport Committee held a virtual meeting on May 18, 2021, to discuss issues related to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including proposals to invite Port Commission President Fred Felleman to a future meeting and presentations on sustainable aviation fuel and aviation's climate impacts. The committee also reviewed updates on the SEA Stakeholder Advisory Round Table (StART) and Burien's planned comments on the Port of Seattle's Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP). Draft minutes from the April 20, 2021 meeting, which featured guests from Public Health Seattle-King County and the Port of Seattle, were also submitted for approval.

This April 2021 Port of Seattle briefing summarizes the history and future of noise mitigation programs at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Since 1985, the Port has spent approximately $300 million sound-insulating around 9,400 homes, nine schools, and other buildings, and roughly $100 million acquiring over 1,400 single-family homes and mobile home units in high-noise areas. The briefing also covers ongoing and future sound insulation plans, as well as a new FAA policy affecting homes that were insulated before 1993.

A April 2021 Airlines for America presentation to the Sea-Tac Stakeholder Advisory Round Table outlines the slow recovery of the U.S. airline industry from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that Sea-Tac was closer than most peer airports to restoring pre-pandemic service levels. The presentation highlights that domestic leisure travel was leading the rebound while business travel bookings remained depressed, and that full systemwide passenger recovery was not expected until 2023-2024. On environmental matters, it notes that despite nearly a five-fold increase in passengers since 1975, commercial aviation reduced its U.S. noise footprint by 94% through 2019 and accounted for just 2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The April 28, 2021 StART (SEA Stakeholder Advisory Round Table) meeting covered air travel recovery forecasts, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's aviation outlook, and updates on the Port of Seattle's Noise Insulation Program, which has spent approximately $400 million on sound insulation and property acquisition since 1985. Key noise-related discussions included progress on a late-night flight limitation program, a potential glideslope adjustment for Runway 34R, and temporary noise monitoring deployments in communities surrounding the airport. Residents and working groups continued to raise concerns about the health impacts of late-night cargo flights, while federal funding opportunities for expanded noise insulation efforts were explored.

This document is the agenda for a StART (SEA Stakeholder Advisory Round Table) meeting held on April 28, 2021, via Zoom, focused on air travel recovery and airport noise issues near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Key topics included a national airline recovery forecast presented by Airlines for America, a local SEA aviation forecast, and an overview of the Port of Seattle's Noise Insulation Program. The meeting also featured updates from the Federal Policy Working Group and the Aviation Noise Working Group, along with a public comment period.

This April 2021 presentation from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) reviews the airport's passenger activity recovery following COVID-19, noting that passenger volume had reached roughly 55% of 2019 levels while aircraft operations had recovered to nearly 80%. It outlines the data inputs, assumptions, and scenario-based approach used for financial planning, including factors such as airline schedules, travel restrictions, load factors, and aircraft size. Multiple recovery scenarios—high, baseline, and low—were developed to project future domestic and international passenger numbers and aircraft operations.

The Burien Airport Committee held virtual meetings in early 2021 to address community concerns about Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including noise pollution, air quality, and public health impacts on nearby residents. The April 20, 2021 agenda featured a Public Health Seattle and King County presentation on airport-related pollutants, updates on the SEA Stakeholder Advisory Round Table (StART) noise and federal policy working groups, and discussion of noise abatement departure procedures. The committee, chaired by Councilmember Sofia Aragon, was actively engaging with Port of Seattle commission items and coordinating with federal and state officials on airport noise policy reform.

This document summarizes an April 12, 2021 Aviation Noise Working Group meeting held via Zoom, where Port of Seattle representatives provided updates on efforts to reduce aircraft noise around Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Key topics included progress on raising the 34R glideslope angle from 2.75 to 3.1 degrees (complicated by FAA ownership of equipment), a report on late-night flight noise violations by cargo carriers like FedEx and Amazon Prime Air, and a recap of a study comparing close-in versus distant departure procedures. The group also discussed the Port's temporary noise monitoring program, with current deployments in Normandy Park and Vashon Island and a planned deployment in Burien.