It is starting again. Housing developments are encroaching on small airports that serve local communities like Boulder and Broomfield, Colorado. And the neighbors are complaining about noise. In Broomfield people or a person living next to the airport is complaining about too many planes being operated in flight training. That is what Jeffco is about. Flight schools have operated there for tens of years.
Recently a new resident near the Boulder Airport is starting a petition to close the airport and rezone it for "affordable housing." The real reason for the petition is she does not like to hear the planes. They mostly operate during the day, so I doubt the sound is annoying her during the evening.
So the question is why are people upset by an activity that is no more noisy than semi-trucks on the highways, or gas lawn mowers and leaf blowers in the area. It occurs to me the problem is aviation is not something people understand. They do not see the benefit to the community. They believe pilots just happen or that the airlines train pilots aways from where they live. But the practical problem is that the local airport operators do nothing to relate the airport to the community. At the time the airports were established they were out in a field. They were called air fields. As cities have gotten bigger they have surrounded the air fields.
What can be done to make airports part of the community? One idea that caught my attention was an airport that was building a observation platform so people could sit with their families and watch the planes take off and land. Another approach is to designate space on the airport for picnic tables. Some airports have restaurants on the field. Deer Trail in Phoenix is perfect example. The restaurant at Sedona Arizona Airport was a great place to eat. The key is to bring the residents to the airport. Even with the fencing requirment after 9/11 the airport can be a place to be enjoyed by the non-flying public.
Wake up airport operators. Stop being so exclusive.
Kommentare