Phoenix Residents Take Legal Action About New Flight Paths

By Alexandra Olgin, Associated Press
Published: Monday, August 3, 2015 - 6:07pm
Updated: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - 8:33am

Phoenix homeowners who say flight paths that have plagued their neighborhoods with noise want a federal appeals court to step in. This legal action is in addition to the city’s lawsuit filed in June.   

A group of residents from historic neighborhoods filed this petition for review with the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals last Friday.

The petition asks the court to examine the Federal Aviation Administration's final decisions on implementing certain paths at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The new departure routes implemented in September of 2014 as part of a nationwide update have led to noise complaints from residents in central Phoenix historic neighborhoods. They took this separate legal action claiming more specific environmental and historic interests. Steve Dreiseszun is part of the group that filed the legal action.

“The costs of doing nothing are great,” he said. “The costs of living with these changes are greater. There is real impact on these neighborhoods not only on our quality of life but on our property values.”

The FAA said in April it wouldn’t entertain flight path adjustments just to mitigate noise. The FAA has filed a motion to dismiss the City’s case.