The U.S. Court of Appeals granted the Federal Aviation Administration an additional 30 days to explore its legal options and flight path impacts following their defeat in court to the city of Phoenix.
The court decided after a three-year legal battle that the FAA broke federal law by changing their flight paths without notifying residents. The FAA had 45 days to file an appeal to the decision, and have continued to fly over resident’s homes in that time.
“Nothing’s changed,” said Opal Wagner, who resides under the flight paths. “They haven’t changed flight paths or done anything to our knowledge to comply with the court’s order.”
The FAA will use the 30-day extension to work with the city of Phoenix “to explore options to provide noise relief, maintain airspace safety, and ensure proper study of flight path impacts,” according to the Sky Harbor website.
During this time, the FAA will continue to have the ability to file an appeal to the decision.
Wagner, who is the vice president of the Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition Group, said the unchanged flight paths were “understandable because they still have legal remedies that have not yet been exhausted.”
“This is obviously a very complicated process,” said Steve Dreiseszun, a Phoenix resident whose home is under the flight paths. “And the court has said to the FAA that they needed to vacate the routes that were instituted in 2014, so with that in mind, we understand the complications of going back are great and the FAA is looking at how to do all that.”
The extension was filed on Oct. 6 and the city filed a letter agreeing not to oppose the extension on Oct. 11. The extension was granted one day later.
In 2014, the FAA instituted new flight paths to and from Sky Harbor that led to two lawsuits and thousands of noise complaints from Phoenix residents under the paths.
The flight path changes were initially instituted for gas conservation and safety issues as part of their Next Generation Air Transportation System plan, according to the FAA.
Residents said in a 2014 meeting with the Phoenix City Council their property values decreased as a result of the changes made by the FAA.
The flight paths were changed from going west along the Salt River for eight or nine miles to going over neighborhoods that had never seen air traffic before for about two miles, said Dreiseszun said in August.
At a Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee meeting in 2015, Deputy Aviation Director Chad Makovsky said flights were so loud that people in the affected areas could not be heard while talking.
Though the FAA has still not reversed their flight path changes, residents are remaining patient with the process.
“I wish that they would have immediately complied with the court order but I don’t think anyone was surprised that they’re looking at their legal options,” said Wagner. “We’re hoping we win in the final eventuality, but they do still have some rights to appeal.”
The FAA has until Nov. 16, 2017 to appeal.
Contact the reporter at lsoto6@asu.edu
