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Transportation Planning
Philadelphia International Airport
The City of Philadelphia and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are undertaking efforts to expand Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and change flight patterns.
Airspace Redesign Project
The FAA is redesigning aircraft routes in the New York City/New Jersey/Philadelphia areas in order to increase the efficiency and reliability of these routes and the air traffic control system and to reduce delays. In September 2007, the FAA officially chose the “Integrated Airspace with Integrated Control Complex” alternative in its Record of Decision, the agency’s decision on how to proceed with the project. The FAA originally proposed to fan departing westbound flights from PHL in seven directions immediately after takeoff instead of being required to fly over the Delaware River until reaching an altitude of 3,000 feet before making turns. This fanning would permit aircraft to take off at more frequent intervals and would direct a large number of planes to turn to the north immediately after takeoff, leading them over central Delaware County. However, in response to Delaware County Council’s request to reduce the number of directions planes would fly after takeoff, the FAA reduced the number to three directions.
While the FAA predicts that this “mitigated” proposal would reduce the overall impact to Delaware County compared with the original proposal, it would significantly increase noise, air pollution, and the risk of an aircraft accident over a populated portion of the County that has not historically had a significant volume of airplanes flying over it at a low altitude. The municipalities most impacted include Chester City; Brookhaven, Media, Parkside, and Rose Valley Boroughs; and Edgmont, Middletown, Nether Providence, Ridley, Thornbury, and Upper Providence Townships. These municipalities face up to a 281% increase in noise vibrational energy. A map prepared by DCPD show these noise impacts.
On December 19, 2007, the FAA began to implement the new departure headings at PHL. The number of noise complaints to PHL’s noise hotline increased by about 1400% after this date. Between September 4, 2007 and December 18, 2007, Delaware County residents called the hotline 58 times to complain, or .54 call per day. Between December 19th and April 3, 2008, County residents called the hotline 881 times to complain, or an average of 8.23 calls per day. Ten percent of the complaint calls were made between midnight and 5:00 a.m.
Hearing an unusually loud aircraft over your home? The Airport has a noise hotline – 215-937-6750 – that residents can call to report it.
In 2006, the County filed a letter of comment to the FAA and objected to its preferred alternative and the shortcomings of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Subsequent to that, the County hired Williams Aviation Consultants (WAC) to review and analyze the DEIS. WAC concluded that FAA’s favored alternative would reduce delays by only about 3%, data was outdated and was manipulated to show a benefit, other alternatives were ignored, and the noise impact was ignored or downplayed. The FAA did not include military, general aviation, private planes, and traffic from 80% of the airports in the region in its traffic analysis. It also assumed good weather all the time (71% of PHL delays are caused by bad weather). The ignored alternatives include more efficient air traffic control, more use of other airports, improving PHL’s infrastructure, rail service, and the cumulative benefits of individual strategies.
Delaware County Council filed a lawsuit on September 14, 2007 in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, initiating the legal challenge against the FAA. The County contended that the FAA had not fully studied the environmental effects of the plan and that it will result in only small reductions in flight delays. Numerous other state, county and local governments in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut also filed lawsuits against the FAA. This court dismissed the lawsuit on June 10, 2009.
Runway 17-35 Extension
PHL began construction on the extension of Runway 17-35 in 2006. The newly extended runway was completed and dedicated on May 8, 2009. This north-south runway at the eastern end of the Airport was lengthened from 5,460 feet to 6,500 feet by extending the runway 640 feet to the north and 400 feet to the south. In order to accommodate the extension, Route 291 was closed at this location. While access to the Airport from Delaware County on Route 291 is still available, through traffic and Route 291 itself have been routed onto Bartram and Island Avenues. The runway extension will permit more flights by larger jets to use the runway and is expected to reduce flight delays by one to two minutes per flight. This runway may be demolished when the Capacity Enhancement project is completed.
Capacity Enhancement
The FAA completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement in 2010 and selected an improvement alternative for restructuring the main runways at the airport. This alternative would construct a new east-west runway partially on fill in the Delaware River, which would require the relocation of the United Parcel Service facility. This new runway would permit two parallel runways to be used at the same time. This alternative would extend east-west runway 8-26 further east onto Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) property. In October 2011, this project was estimated to cost $6.4 billion
The chosen alternative would relocate the United Parcel Service facility to a residential area of Tinicum Township. This would result in the loss of 72 homes, 80 businesses, and up to 3,300 jobs in Lester. It would also result in the loss of tax revenue for Tinicum Township, the Interboro School District, and the County. On May 26, 2009, the County and Tinicum Township filed suit against the City of Philadelphia, asking the Delaware County Common Pleas Court to uphold a Pennsylvania law requiring the City to get consent from the Township and County before buying land in an adjacent municipality. The court ruled that the law was valid and enforceable, but that it was preempted by federal aviation law. The County appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Representing both the County and Tinicum Township, Assistant Solicitor Patricia Biswanger argued before that Court in September 2011. No decision has been issued yet. The County and Tinicum have since been asked by the Third Circuit to participate in mediation, which both agreed to do. The County and Tinicum had been negotiating with the City even before the mediation, and both are hopeful of reaching a resolution of the issues in this matter in early 2012.
For the latest information, go to the FAA’s Airspace Redesign page. For local projects, visit PHL’s Runway 17-35 Extension Project EIS page and the Capacity Enhancement Program page.
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