Planes Are Loud

The Independent‘s article regarding aircraft noise over Santa Barbara was interesting in that historically this has been a Goleta issue. Goleta residents have become accustomed to the City of Santa Barbara taking the all-too-familiar approach that it has done all it can do in accordance to federal regulations. Further, the article mentions that intrusions remain low at 1,600 complaints per month. Really? For a small airport such as ours, I think that’s a lot of complaints! If I’m doing the math correctly, that’s 53 complaints per day in any given month.

I have no doubt the city is doing all it can do in accordance to federal regulations, but I think it could be doing much more, something that would not require anything more than good administrative practice. With the PublicVue method of reporting aircraft noise, the city could crunch the data then spit out the details on the aircraft offenders, daily. Why not rate airline contractors by approach performance or offer discounts to airlines that use quiet aircraft? Have that as a line item during contract negotiations.

I think we can all agree that we are fortunate to have such a convenient airport that strives to offer diverse destinations, but let’s not sacrifice our desire to be free from loud, intrusive aircraft noise and listen to the city tell us its hands are tied over and over again.