The Long Beach Airport operates under a strict noise ordinance that requires commercial airlines to schedule flights between 7am and 10pm. JetBlue Airways is exploring the possibility of offering international flights out of Long Beach but has not yet announced specific details. City residents have asked whether adding international flights would increase noise levels.
Staff Writer
Contenders for Long Beach’s 4th District council seat agree at least on one thing— they have no desire to change the City’s reputedly strict noise ordinance for its airport traffic. With a special municipal election less than two months away, Herlinda Chico, Richard Lindemann and Daryl Supernaw are vying for the spot on the City Council that was recently vacated by Patrick O’Donnell when he won his bid for a seat in the State Assembly.
The winner of O’Donnell’s seat in the April 14 election will only enjoy one year on the council dais before he or she will have to run again for office. However, if a major airline quickly pursues a plan to offer international flights out of the Long Beach Airport, councilmembers will be in a critical position to shape the future of the city’s air travel and the quality of life for the residents who live near the airport.
JetBlue Airways drew media attention last year when the company first announced that it would like to offer more than just domestic flights. The airline has not rolled out a detailed plan, but a spokesman for the company suggested that JetBlue wants to use its existing flight slots for some international destinations.
In a phone interview with the Signal Tribune, Robert Land, senior vice president of government affairs and associate general counsel for JetBlue Airways, said that his company voiced interest in serving international destinations using some of its “existing flight authority,” but, he added, the airline “has gone no further than an expression of that interest.”
Land confirmed that, so far, his company has only talked about destinations south of the U.S. border into Central America, and he said that following a City Council study session on the airport-noise ordinance held on Feb. 17, his company will continue to discuss the matter further. He offered no timeline for any future announcements.
Long-time city residents may remember the fights that date back as far as the 1980s to get a noise ordinance on the books. During the study session, Assistant City Attorney Michael Mais presented to the City Council a brief history of the struggles to get the ordinance passed. Mais detailed how the City went through 12 years of litigation with federal authorities until the matter was resolved in 1995.
One of the major accomplishments of the noise ordinance is that it established a “soft curfew” for the airport and required commercial flights to be scheduled between 7am and 10pm. It also established standards for acceptable noise levels. There are exceptions to some of the rules, but operators could face fines and even criminal prosecution if they violate the ordinance.
Mais called the ordinance an “asset” to the city, calling it “one of the most restrictive noise-control ordinances in the country.” During his presentation, he did not encourage any attempts to modify the municipal code because city officials did not want to jeopardize “the current status of local control over the airport.”
Right now, the noise ordinance requires a minimum number of 41 commercial flights per day. Anticipating that JetBlue will eventually present a plan to offer international flights, several residents warned against change to the noise ordinance at the study session at City Hall last Tuesday. The three candidates for the 4th District council seat were present for the meeting.
“None of us are opposed to seeing our airport prosper,” Chico told the Council during the public-comment period. “However, we have to be judicious, and the proposed additions would have a severe negative impact on our air quality and the health of thousands of the families that live in and around the flight path. Long Beach has a strong history of working to find the balance between the many successes of our airport while protecting the quality of life of our neighborhoods. So the airport-noise compatibility ordinance is critical to the continued success and partnership that we have.”
In a later phone interview, Chico described concerns of some of the residents.
“I think,” she said, “that!some of the residents that have been in this fight for a long time are a little skeptical because there have been things promised in the past that haven’t always been delivered, and so I think that they are going to be vigilant in holding people accountable.”
In interviews with the Signal Tribune, all three candidates for the 4th District acknowledged that since JetBlue has not rolled out a plan, it was difficult to take a definitive position on it.
Supernaw remembers his family’s involvement in the 1980s with a community group that advocated for the original noise ordinance. He remembers the loud engines of Boeing 727s at the time and contrasted those models to the modern planes that now fly to and from Long Beach.
He said he doesn’t think there wouldn’t be a lot of difference among the three candidates’ attitudes about the noise ordinance. Since JetBlue has not released any further details on the airline’s plan, Supernaw also did not say he had formed any judgment on the airline’s interest in international flights.
“It’s just a critical issue to the Los Altos area,” Supernaw said, “and it really depends on how the issue is framed moving forward.”
Lindemann also stated his strong support for the noise ordinance, but he also seemed to be receptive to the idea of international flights. In a phone interview with the Signal Tribune, he said he agreed with residents who said that a noise ordinance has nothing to do with planes that fly out of the country.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Lindemann said, “whether it’s going international or whether it’s going domestic, a flight is a flight, and!if you can have 41 flights, and we’re not using all of those, does it matter that this one’s going to Mexico instead of New York?” ß
