New landing pattern seeks quieter skies near county airport

Windsor and Healdsburg residents may not have noticed it much yet, but the skies over their homes may already appear to be a little less busy with planes coming in for a landing at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport.

A new flight path that took effect 12 days ago shifts the majority of commercial and corporate aircraft away from Windsor and Healdsburg in an attempt to reduce complaints about noisy or low-flying air traffic into the airport.

“It’s still pretty new,” said Jon Stout, the airport manager. “I’m not sure most people are aware of it yet.”

The new landing approach, which went into effect Nov. 13, will be one of the topics at a Windsor Town Hall meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday hosted by north county Supervisor Mike McGuire. The meeting is part of the culmination of a $55 million, year-long construction project intended to fulfill federal safety mandates and attract more commercial air service by extending the airport’s two runways.

McGuire said the flight path will “benefit tens of thousands of North County residents for years to come.”

He said it grew out of more than 30 community and neighborhood meetings over the past 2½ years in cooperation with Windsor officials, Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St.Helena, and the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA officials will be on hand at the meeting to explain the change and answer questions.

Stout called the new landing pattern over less-populated areas farther to the west “an optimized approach” that also will cut down on fuel emissions.

“I think it will help. It’s not going to be the magic cure. It will definitely help with certain neighbors,” he said.

The new final approach primarily will apply to commercial and corporate aircraft flying under instruments and not to general aviation aircraft or aircraft under visual flight rules.

McGuire said the new final approach allows for a continuous descent in which airplanes stay up higher for longer and come in at reduced engine capacity, as opposed to the noisier, stair-step approach that planes use now.

“The new approach also saves jet fuel - between 50 and 70 gallons per landing,” he said.

The change comes following the completion of the newly extended main runway at the airport, the biggest portion of the $55 million project paid mostly through federal funds. The main runway was extended nearly the length of three football fields to 6,000 feet, the size required for most regional jets.

Currently Alaska Airlines is the only passenger airline serving the airport, with five daily flights using 76-seat turbo prop planes going to destinations of Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland and Seattle.

Stout said Alaska Airlines flights coming from the north are likely to take the new approach, since it also saves on fuel. But some Alaska flights coming from the south may still rely on a visual approach - especially in good weather - and take another descent that keeps them up in the air for less time, and includes flying over more populated spots.

Stout said there was a spike in complaints beginning in July due to the main runway closure which shifted air traffic around to another runway during construction.

“Different parts of Windsor to the north and toward Sebastopol and Graton weren’t used to seeing that volume,” he said.

Complaints increased by about 60 percent, he said. So far this year there have been just over 300 complaints, compared to about 150 annually the last couple years.

Stout said the turbo props used by Alaska are relatively quiet. Newer jet engines have also gotten quieter, he said.

County officials are hoping to attract jet passenger carriers with destinations such as Denver, Salt Lake City or Phoenix, and also reinstate flights to Las Vegas.

Stout has tried to woo carriers including United, Delta, American and Allegiant, but for a variety of reasons, he said there has been little progress.

Some carriers are like American are focused on a merger. But he said in general there is a shortage of aircraft.

“Airlines have gotten good at capacity control,” he said, referring carriers’ ability to ensure full flights. Demand by passengers for flights continues to outpace the supply of aircraft and companies are cautious about any route expansion.

“They are being selective in what they do,” Stout said.

The airport’s number of passengers reached an all time high last year with 227,998 passengers and is on track to exceed that by more than 5 percent this year.

But the number of flights at the Sonoma County Airport was actually much higher decades ago when aircraft costs were relatively low.

In 1978, the heyday of general aviation and the high-water mark for local flights, there were 178,000 operations, which includes both take off and landings, Stout said.

By comparison, in 2013, there were 79,999 operations, also down significantly from the recent pre-recession high of 131,874 in 2007.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com or twitter@clarkmas.