Noisy Airport Mitigation Ideas

Thank you for Ryan Cruz’s reporting on the optimistic collaboration between Santa Barbara and Goleta regarding the ongoing noise from the Santa Barbara Airport. And thanks to Goleta’s Mayor Paula Perotte and Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse for agreeing on working together to create some relief for the impacted neighborhoods

in both cities.

Short of relocating the entire airport (and restoring historic Goleta Slough to the ocean) the only hope for the long-suffering citizens is some kind of mitigation. This mitigation could take several forms: 

(1) Transform, extend and upgrade the private aircraft runway 15L and 15R and 33L and 33R and require all non-scheduled airline aircraft to use this runway for arrivals and departures. This will dilute the number of aircraft using the main runway to scheduled airline aircraft only. The ratio of private jets to scheduled airline jets is huge on any given day. Equip this runway with state-of-the-art avionics that will allow zero visibility take offs and landing. 

(2) Require all scheduled airline aircraft to be equipped with the latest “hush kit” technology in order to operate at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport. 

(3) With the help of Congressmember Salud Carbajal, engage with the FAA to establish a curfew between midnight and 6 a.m., and to establish new and improved arrival and departure flight paths that don’t have aircraft flying over homes at 500 feet altitude or less, as they do now. Conversation frequently stops over coffee while the planes go by.

(4) Sure, do the studies, but get this done in a timely manner. Citizens want relief yesterday, not five more years down the road. 

The Santa Barbara airport has plenty of resources to throw at noise mitigation and should be compelled to do so. As a lawyer friend of mine says, “We can do this the hard way or we can do this the easy way.” The last place citizens need to go is a class action suit or similar. What a terrible waste of money and good will that would be. 

The airport’s new director, Chis Hastert, himself a pilot and a Goleta resident, has the opportunity, along with the Airport Commission, to really make a new model going forward: airport expansion with proportionate noise mitigation. These should go along the same timeline. 

It is great to be able to fly almost anywhere in the world now, conveniently, from Santa Barbara, so let’s appreciate that and keep our local fences mended by bringing airport noise and air pollution in line with expansion. We can do this.