Please visit bayareajetnoise.com for more information

1. Airplane Noise Over
Mountain View
Changes to The Highways Above Us
Robert Holbrook
January 2017

2. Bottom line
• ‘Highways in the sky’, stable for years, are in play
• Procedural changes in March 2015 caused a nationwide uproar
• Mid-Peninsula hit hard, including Mountain View
• Major flight path to SFO could be shifted over Mountain View
• Changes will shape our communities for years to come
• Noise corridors
• Noise at night
• Demand doubles 20-40 years, depending on airport
• Airports being optimized for maximum capacity - now
• Mountain View should form alliances and engage the FAA
• Surrounding communities fighting hard
• FAA engaged – and responding
• Regional forum to engage the FAA
We need to be represented in decisions affecting us

3. Four highways above us
• SJC reverse-flow traffic was concentrated and seems louder
• ~15% of days are reverse flow – SJC noise office
• Almost three times as much traffic directly overhead over much of MV
• More than twice as much, after adjusting for weather and growth of SJC
• Surf Air growing fast
• Some of the noisiest turboprops
• Six month trial ended – over us again
• Arrivals to SFO from north and south increasingly fly over MV
• A major flight path to SFO could be shifted over MV
• Congressional Select Committee formally asked FAA to evaluate
• Mountain View not represented
• 180 flights a day and growing – everyday, at all hours
Is the biggest yet to come?

4. What’s going on?
FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012
• Modernization of aviation
technology (Nextgen)
• Precision Based Navigation (PBN)
• 15-year strategy
• For airlines
• Maximize fuel efficiency and
reduce CO2 emissions
• Reduce cost of air traffic control
• Grow capacity (tighter sequencing)
• For residents
• Quieter flights on a per-flight basis
• Concentration
• How’s that working out?
Tighter
Sequencing
Wake
Optimization
Current
Capacity

6. About noise
• Industry driving FAA on Nextgen, via Congress
• Noise not a priority for airlines
• Airlines oppose measurements
• Some noise reductions save money
• FAA bar for ‘significance’ is extremely high
• For most, almost a doubling of loudness
• … or nearly four times as many flights
• Issue: FAA lacks authority for improvements
• Congress needs to fix this
Who’s watching out for us?
$3000, installed
The ‘Airbus whine’

7. The FAA’s noise metric
Outdated and harshly criticized
• 24h average
• Night penalties
• CA: Evening penalties
• Low frequencies
discounted
• dBA-weighting
These all count the same!

8. San Jose Reverse Flow

9. SJC reverse flow
40% increase projected for 2016-2026 (2009 est.)
14% increase last year

10. Flights into SJC fly low (~3000’)
but that’s not new
Big airplanes around MV City Hall (2km)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2013
2014
2015
2016
Month

11. 2015: Final waypoint moved 6 miles
from JESEN to ZORSA

12. 12/5/14
224 flights

13. 3/10/16
224 Flights

14. Central Mountain View - 12/5/2014
224 flights evenly dispersed

15. Central Mountain View – 3/10/16
224 flights concentrated

16. Heavily affected areas

17. Especially annoying hours
Count of hours with 4 or more flights
1 km MV City Hall
2013
2015
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2013
2014
2015
2016

18. FAA on concentration
• “…more precise navigation paths… in many instances concentrate the
noise over a smaller geographic area directly beneath those flight
paths.
• “…we’ve seen an increasing level of public debate, of political interest
and litigation as it relates to the deployment of these procedures.”
• The FAA has “stepped up its public engagement across the United
States” in response to the reaction.
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2016-10-24/faa-declares-steady-progress-nextgen-atc-modernization
Michael Huerta, Director FAA, Oct 2016
City of Mountain View should engage

19. SJC reverse flow
What can be done
• Shift the target waypoint back to where it was
• Use technology to recreate pre-Nextgen dispersion
• Back off ‘high altitude to the runway', for now
• Fast track technology (GBAS, GIM-S/Path Stretch, …)
• Investigate whether reverse flow days can be ‘called’ less often
• Airplanes seem louder. Fly quieter! (Topic for later)
• Ongoing community engagement with San Jose Airport and the FAA
• Regional committee including affected cities

20. Surf Air

21. Arrivals from the south to San Carlos
Rapid growth of Surf Air
• ‘All-you-can-fly’
• High growth
• San Carlos as of June ‘13
• ~20 flights daily, M-F
• Evening and early
morning
• Noisy turboprops
• Pilatus PC-12 single-
engine
• Low altitudes
• Six-month trial
• ~60% of flights over bay
• Ended 1/5/17
• Concern: rapid growth
Surf Air are not ‘good neighbors’– San Mateo Supervisor Dan Horsley, June 2016

22. Surf Air
What can be done
• Arrival route - FAA is considering the Bay approach
• Pressure from Atherton and cities around San Carlos
• “We’re committed to being a good corporate citizen and neighbor. We want
to find a way to keep the reduced noise plan” – Jim Sullivan, Surf Air SVP
• Pressure Surf Air to use quieter planes
• Apply safety requirements of other commuter airlines
• Airplanes with <10 seats have lower safety requirements
• Ongoing community engagement with San Carlos Airport and the FAA
• Regional committee including affected cities

23. SFO Traffic
BDEGA East and West
The Fight over SERFR
The Proposed Highway over Mountain View

24. SFO traffic
2014-2040 forecast: 70% increase in demand
FAA Presentation to Select Committee – 9/29/2016

25. Flights into SFO from the north
BDEGA East and West
• West leg: runway 28L
• East leg: runway 28R
• Growth in demand for
28R from other routes
• BDEGA has shifted
• 2005: West was 43%
• 2016: West is 72%
• …and the pie is bigger
• Great idea! Use
BDEGA East if capacity
allows
East leg
West leg

26. Other changes to BDEGA
• Night time procedures
• …especially during the time when new
procedures are being implemented,
controllers are requested to use best
efforts to keep aircraft as high as
possible over land – and perhaps
utilize a slightly longer path over the
Bay to dissipate this additional
altitude.
-- SFO Roundtable
• Shifting noise!
• Sta Clara County not represented
• Teardrop extending south
• Longer queues to SFO over the
Bay?
• Eventual solution: Time-Based
Flow Management (TBFM)
We need representation

27. Big controversy: ‘Big Sur’ vs SERFR
• LA-SFO: 2nd busiest US corridor
• March 2015: FAA shifts BSR
procedure (‘Big Sur’) to SERFR
• No reason given
• Noise shifted and increased
• Shifted over many cities
• New procedures were noisier
• Airspace wasn’t adjusted
• Reps Eshoo, Farr and Speier
formed Select Committee
• FAA attempting to revert to old
ground path… for now
• Other suggestions
Vectored flights
BSR SERFR
Santa Cruz
Capitola
Los Altos
MENLO waypoint

28. Huge spike in complaints with Nextgen
Hundreds of thousands
Nextgen introduced

29. Vectored flights
• 50% of SERFR flights are vectored
• Adds delay, so flights can line up
• Does return to BSR ground path
mean less vectoring over MV?
FAA Presentation to Select Committee – 9/29/2016
Vectored Flights
BSR: July 1-31 2014
SERFR: July 1-31 2016

30. The proposed highway
A disaster for Los Altos and Mtn Vw
• Select Committee asked the FAA to
evaluate a flight path that would
cut through Los Altos and Mtn Vw
• 180 flights per day, every day
• All hours, day and night
• … and growing
• Flight path would shift 3m south
• Rengstorff and Central
• …and maybe further east
• Conflict with SJC airspace?
• Subtle political maneuvering
• Other cities very aggressive
• Mountain View not represented
This must not happen!

31. SFO
What can be done
• Vigorously oppose noise shifts
• Respect historical flight paths and homeowner decisions
• Biggest financial decision in a person’s life
• Monitor progress of reversion to earlier ground track
• MV should proactively engage so that we are not outmaneuvered politically
• Planes are louder. Fly quieter!
• Ongoing community engagement with SFO and the FAA
• Representation at SFO roundtable for affected communities
People must be able to choose where to live without fear
that a flight path will be moved over their home

32. Reduce Airplane Noise for All
Instead of shifting noise

33. Governance
• Congress should give the FAA a mandate to reduce noise
• Minimize noise in place
• Address increases in noise caused by NextGen
• Citizens Advisory Committee should advise the FAA on Nextgen
• Balance the Industry Advisory Committee
• SFO Roundtable should add representatives from affected cities
• SJC Roundtable should be established with representation from all
affected cities
• Request a technical liaison from the FAA (like SFO)
• Acquire expertise through member fees (like SFO)
• Protect existing curfews
The interests of airlines and airports must be balanced
by the interests of the communities they affect

34. Governance within Mountain View
• The City of Mountain View should take an ongoing ‘seat at the table’
• Follow-up Select Committee (disbanded) recommendations
• Secure a seat on the Ad-Hoc Subcommittee of the Select Committee
• The FAA bought into the regional committee process – SFO Roundtable 1/12/17
• Later, a permanent successor Committee
• Prioritize airplane noise
• City Council subcommittee on Airplane Noise, as Palo Alto is being asked to do
• Establish guiding principles for the City
• Formulate the City’s position on recommendations affecting us
• Review official correspondence from the City
• Interface with residents and regional representatives
• Identify where expert support is needed
• Enhance Resources and Capabilities
• Palo Alto has dedicated staff, retained expert noise and aviation consultants,
secured outside counsel and federal legislative advisors

35. Flying quieter
Airplane noise is not intuitive – a lot more than altitude
• Minimize use of jet engines
• Engine-idle descents
• Steeper descents
• Other cities have them
• Reduce airframe noise
• Fly slower
• Minimize ‘flying dirty’
• When to apply speed brakes
• Avoid razor-sharp concentration
• A growing problem
• Technology can help
• A complex optimization!
Airframe noise doubles with
each 26-32% increase in speed
Jet noise doubles with each
25% increase in exhaust speed
Airplanes often add new sources of
noise as they descend

36. Get the measures and incentives right
• Sensible FAA mandates
• Fast track technology to reduce noise
• Lufthansa investing to reduce noise to 50% of 2000 levels by
2020 also pilot training for noise
• Good faith noise metrics that reflect people’s experience
• Before and after noise tests
• Incentives for airports to reduce noise
• FAA sponsorship of noise reducing technology
• Incentives for airlines to reduce noise
• Landing fees scaled to noise
• Heathrow: 15% quieter airplanes
• Financial incentives for quieter approaches
• Incentives for airlines to invest in quieter technologies

37. Why we care
• Quality of life
• Health
• Welfare of schoolchildren
• Economic value
• Many residents can’t afford to move

38. Call to action: make your voice heard
• Join a mailing list
• Sign a petition
• Log flight complaints
• Let your City Council know you care
• Raise awareness

39. Resources
• Flight Complaints
• One-click interface: http://stop.jetnoise.net
• Records flight ID, equipment, origin, destination, altitude and speed
• Submits to San Francisco International Airport, but not San Jose or San Carlos
• Mineta San Jose Airport complaints: http://www.flysanjose.com/m/noise.php
• Surf Air (San Carlos Airport) Complaints
• Flightradar 24 real-time flight tracker. Very cool! www.flightradar24.com
• iOS and Android apps
• Get educated
• BayAreaJetNoise. www.BayAreaJetNoise.com
• QuietSkiesNorCal. www.QuietSkiesNorCal.org
• Sky Posse: Sky Posse: Be careful, they advocate ‘equitable distribution’ which can mean shifting
noise
• Palo Alto Plan. www.paloaltoplan.org
• Many other sites
• Rep Eshoo Information and feedback
https://eshoo.house.gov/constituent-services/airplane-noise-in-the-18th-congressional-district/
• Sunnyvale City web page on Airplane Noise:
http://sunnyvale.ca.gov/Departments/OfficeoftheCityManager/AirplaneNoise.aspx
• Presenter: r@holbrook1.com

40. Questions and Feedback

41. Appendix

42. Number of Reverse Flow Hours
7am-11pm with at least 3 flights
2013
2014
2015
2016
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2013
2014
2015
2016
• On average, 12% of hours are Reverse Flow
1/17

43. Airbus Vortex Generator
$3000 per airplane, installed
• Required at some airports in Europe

44. Vectoring over Mountain View
July 2014 South Bay Arrivals into SFO

45. Vectoring over Mountain View
July 2016 South Bay Arrivals into SFO

46. Select Committee statement
• Finally, the Committee recommends that the FAA assess the
feasibility of establishing a different waypoint for entry to the final
approach into SFO on the SERFR arrival procedure (or any procedure
that may replace it for arrivals from the south). A different waypoint
could be established and located either to the east and/or north of
MENLO, or by using existing waypoints FAITH, ROKME, or DUMBA.
The new waypoint should be at a location that allows flight over
compatible land uses (i.e., over water or sparsely populated land
masses) and at a high enough altitude to ensure noise exposure of
approaching aircraft is minimized. The Committee acknowledges that
this Recommendation potentially involves working with stakeholders
to revise the San Jose International Airport Class C airspace to
maintain safety clearance requirements if the FAITH or ROKME
waypoint options are pursued.

47. Parking lot
• Compare speed at ZORSA for planes taking RNAV branch
• Increase in flights to SFO over MV. Check a couple of months at least
• Citizen advisory committee to NextGen.
• The goal of the Task Group effort is to ‘keep the aircraft on the PBN procedure from EnRoute to the
runway while maintaining or increasing throughput.’ (RTCA PBN TSS NAC report Oct5)
• Performance-based Navigation must not require tight corridors over populous areas. (PBN TSS
report Oct5)
• GBAS is required for PBN
• Ground-based Interval Management – Spacing (GIM-S)
• GIM-S is an EnRoute tool, resident in the TBFM and ERAM systems, that extends the time-based
solution to 400-500 miles from the arrival airport and provides EnRoute controllers speed queues
to keep aircraft on the appropriate time schedule. (p13 PBN TSS report Oct5)
• 2021-2025 Ground-based Interval Management – Spacing (GIM-S)/Path Stretch , GIM-S with
Path Stretch allows the aircraft to be metered when a speed solution
alone does not exist. When necessary, a path stretch clearance Stretch
would be issued and completed in level flight prior to top of descent.
Today, controllers complete this task via high workload vectoring.
• Terminal Sequencing and Spacing
• FAA plans are for initial site IOC at Seattle in FY19, with sites complete by 2022. These sites are:
IAH, SEA, LAX, ATL, PHX, DEN, SFO, CLT, and LAS.

48. In progress: Interval Management – Spacing (IM-
S) Arrivals, Approach & Cruise (AA&C)
Jim Linney and Bruce DeCleene FAA Oct 2015
ADS-B Presentation to Meeting of the NextGen Advisory Committee, Oct 2015
Jim Linney and Bruce DeCleene, FAA

49. Optimum Descents, Closely Spaced Ops,
Precision Approach
“The Enterprise View of Nextgen” Presentation to Meeting of the NextGen
Advisory Committee, Oct 2015 - Paul Fontaine, FAA

50. Future Applications: Ground Based Interval
Management Spacing with Wake Mitigation
ADS-B Presentation to Meeting of the NextGen Advisory Committee, Oct 2015
Jim Linney and Bruce DeCleene, FAA

51. Federal Aviation
Administration
NorCal March 5, 2015 SJC Arrivals
51
Airport
RNAV Replacement
Procedure
Legacy
Procedure
Feeder Fixes
Departure
Airport
Transition
KSJC
BRIXX RNAV OPD
STAR (R30)
GOLDEN GATE
STAR CHBLI
MFR, EUG, YYJ, PDX,
HIO, SEA, BFI, PAE,
YVR, LMT, YEG, PSC,
GEG
..CHBLI
Q5.HUPTU..CHBLI
FRLON RNAV OPD
STAR (R12)
BRINY STAR GGULF MFR, EUG, YYJ, PDX,
HIO, SEA, BFI, PAE,
YVR, LMT, YEG, PSC,
GEG
..GGULF
Q1.ETCHY..GGULF
SILCN One RNAV
OPD STAR (R30 &
R12)
ROBIE/JAWWS
STAR
TROXX LAS, PHX, other south
eastern airports
...MAKRS..TROXX
All SoCal airports ..SCTRR..TROXX
Source: NorCal Metroplex Stage IV Users Briefing, 2/23/15

52. 12/5/14 - 224 flights

53. 3/10/16 - 224 Flights

54. 12/5/14 - 224 flights

55. 3/10/16 - 224 Flights

56. Old Mountain View – 12/5/14

57. Old Mountain View – 3/10/16