Aircraft Noise and Community Impacts

Despite significant improvments in aircraft noise technology and operational practices, the disturbance caused by aircraft noise in communities surrounding airports remains a significant threat to aviation growth. Aircraft noise affects sleep and health and interferes with relaxation, speech, and cognitive performance. Investigation of noise complaints reveals that there are also a number of non-acoustic issues that affect local residents, and are exacerbated by noise events. Community disturbance gives rise to opposition which can lead to operational restrictions and growth constraints. Environmental regulations seek to limit the number of people affected by aircraft noise but technological and operational improvements that have reduced the noise of individual aircraft movements have been offset by traffic growth making this difficult to achieve especially where poor land use planning has allowed urban encroachment upon airports. At the same time, attitudes are changing, so that levels of noise considered acceptable in the past will no longer be considered so in the future. As a result, airports face a significant challenge to minimize noise and maximize tolerance among their neighbors if they are to continue to grow and contribute to sustainable development.